New Developments in Psychological Wisdom Research: A Growing Field of Increasing Importance

Underpinning Chinese international students’ stress and anxiety during the first wave of COVID-19 outbreak: The moderating role of wisdom

During the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Chinese diaspora, especially Chinese international students, were subjected to greater stress than others, because they were under pressure from both fear of infection and coping with acculturation (e.g., discrimination). Consequently, more research is needed to understand the anxiety induced by COVID-19 stresses on this specific cultural group. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between COVID-19 stress and individuals’ anxiety, and the moderating roles of Acceptance, Reframing, and Striving (ARS) coping, the family support coping strategy, and wise reasoning. To test our predictions, we collected data from 224 Chinese international students (CIS). Results indicated a strong and positive relationship between pandemic stress and anxiety. Surprisingly, both ARS and family support coping did not moderate the association between COVID-19 stress and anxiety. Instead, wise reasoning as a potential reflective coping strategy interacted with COVID-19 stress to predict anxiety. Specifically, wise reasoning predicted more anxiety when individuals perceived a low-level of COVID-19 stress, however, such a relationship disappeared when individuals perceived a high-level of COVID-19 stress. These findings about wise-reasoning extends our understanding of wisdom and how it plays a role in the context of COVID-19.

Looking Beyond Linear: A Closer Examination of the Relationship Between Wisdom and Wellbeing

There has been some controversy about the relationship between wisdom and constructs of the well-being complex. Some wisdom researchers argue that the ability to maintain a high level of well-being, even in the face of very negative experiences, is a core characteristic of wisdom. Other researchers argue that the willingness of wise people to reflect on the darker sides of life might jeopardize well-being. Studies mostly found moderate positive correlations of well-being with self-report wisdom measures and negative, zero, or low positive correlations with open-ended measures of wisdom. This paper tests the hypothesis that the relationship between wisdom and well-being is triangular rather than linear, with highly wise people being high in well-being, but people high in well-being not necessarily being highly wise. A sample of 155 participants (age 23 to 90 years) completed four wisdom measures and three measures from the well-being complex. We analyzed both linear relationships (using correlations) and triangular relationships (using Necessary Condition Analysis). Correlations of well-being with open-ended measures of wisdom were mostly insignificant; correlations with self-report measures of wisdom were mostly significant. However, scatterplots showed the expected triangular relationships and Necessary Condition Analysis indicated medium to large effect sizes for both open-ended and self-report wisdom measures. In sum, our findings show that even if wise individuals think more deeply about difficult aspects of the human existence, they are still able to maintain high levels of well-being.

The Wisdom Researchers and the Elephant: An Integrative Model of Wise Behavior

This article proposes an integrative model of wise behavior in real life. While current research findings depend considerably on how wisdom is conceptualized and measured, there are strong conceptual commonalities across psychological wisdom models. The proposed model integrates the components of several existing models into a dynamic framework explaining wise behavior. The article first specifies which real-life situations require wisdom and discusses characteristics of wise behavior. The core proposition of the model is that in challenging real-life situations, noncognitive wisdom components (an exploratory orientation, concern for others, and emotion regulation) moderate the effect of cognitive components (knowledge, metacognitive capacities, and self-reflection) on wise behavior. The model can explain the situation specificity of wisdom and the commonalities and differences between personal and general wisdom. Empirically, it accounts for the considerable variation in correlations among wisdom measures and between wisdom measures and other variables. The model has implications for the design of wisdom-fostering interventions and new wisdom measures.

Wisdom and value orientations: Just a projection of our own beliefs?

Objectives

This paper investigated which value orientations (1) people associate with wisdom and (2) are actually correlated with measures of wisdom. Conceptions of wisdom suggest benevolence and universalism as likely candidates.

Method

In Study 1, 160 university students reported their political orientation and completed a value survey for themselves and a very wise person; Study 2 used the same approach with a more diverse sample (N = 187). In Study 3, 170 participants completed a value survey and six measures of wisdom. In Study 4, 356 participants completed a wisdom measure and filled out a value survey for themselves and a very wise person.

Results

People consistently believed that wise individuals value benevolence, universalism, and self‐direction most; they also imagined wise individuals to be more universalistic but also more respectful of tradition than themselves. Several wisdom measures were uncorrelated with values; the positive correlations that were found were with benevolence, universalism, self‐direction, and respect for traditions.

Conclusions

Most people believe that wise individuals are concerned about the well‐being of others, have respect for cultural, religious, and individual differences and traditions, and care deeply about self‐direction, fairness, and equality as fundamentals of human society. Whether these relationships are also found empirically depends on which measure of wisdom is used.