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ANNUAL
REVIEWS Further Psychological Wisdom
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Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

Ursula M. Staudinger1 and Judith Glück2

1
Jacobs Center on Lifelong Learning and Institutional Development, Jacobs University,
28759 Bremen, Germany; email: sekstaudinger@jacobs-university.de
2
Department of Psychology, Alpen-Adria University Klagenfurt, 9020 Klagenfurt, Austria;
email: judith.glueck@uni-klu.ac.at

Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011. 62:215–41 Key Words

First published online as a Review in Advance on personality, expertise, subjective theories, adjustment, personal growth
September 7, 2010

The Annual Review of Psychology is online at Abstract

psych.annualreviews.org
Wisdom represents a fruitful topic for psychological investigations for
This article’s doi: at least two reasons. First, the study of wisdom emphasizes the search
10.1146/annurev.psych.121208.131659
for the continued optimization and the further cultural evolution of
Copyright  c 2011 by Annual Reviews. the human condition. Second, it exemplifies the collaboration of cog-
All rights reserved
nitive, emotional, and motivational processes. The growth and scope of
0066-4308/11/0110-0215$20.00 psychological wisdom research over the past few decades demonstrate
that it is possible to investigate this complex construct with empirical
rigor. Since the 1970s, five main areas have been established: lay defini-
tions of wisdom, conceptualizing and measuring wisdom, understanding
the development of wisdom, investigating the plasticity of wisdom, and
applying psychological knowledge about wisdom in life contexts.

215
 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

Hall (1922), in his pioneering conceptual piece

Contents on senescence, was probably the first psychol-
ogist to mention the concept of wisdom. He
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
associated the development of wisdom in a per-
SUBJECTIVE THEORIES
son with the emergence in later adulthood of a
OF WISDOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
meditative attitude, philosophic calmness, im-
Core Components of Wisdom
partiality, and the desire to draw moral lessons.
in Subjective Theories . . . . . . . . . . 218
In other words, in early psychological writings,
Wisdom and Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
wisdom was described as an ideal endpoint of
Individual Differences in Subjective
human development. It was not until the 1970s
Conceptions of Wisdom . . . . . . . . 219
that empirical wisdom research began (Clayton
Cross-Cultural Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
1975).
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Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
In contrast to most other topics of psycho-
EXPLICIT THEORIES
logical study, the notion of “wisdom” has such
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

OF WISDOM:
a rich ideational history and carries so many
CONCEPTUALIZATIONS
religious and philosophical associations that it
AND MEASUREMENT . . . . . . . . . . 221
almost seems to defy any attempt at empirical
The Distinction Between Personal
study (Staudinger & Baltes 1994, Staudinger
and General Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . 221
& Glück 2010). Therefore, psychological work
Approaches to the Study
on wisdom is often based on an analysis of
of General Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
the historical as well as the contemporane-
Approaches to the Study
ous philosophical wisdom literature (Assmann
of Personal Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
1994, Brugman 2006, Curnow 1999).
Self-Report Measures
Since the 1970s, five areas of psycholog-
of Personal Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
ical wisdom research have been established:
Performance Measures
(a) providing a lay definition of wisdom,
of Personal Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
(b) conceptualizing and measuring wisdom,
ONTOGENESIS OF WISDOM . . . . . 229
(c) understanding the development of wisdom,
PLASTICITY OF WISDOM . . . . . . . . . 232
(d ) investigating the plasticity of wisdom, and
FIELDS OF APPLICATIONS
(e) applying psychological knowledge about
FOR WISDOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
wisdom in life contexts.
Teaching Wisdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Before we venture into these fields, how-
Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
ever, we highlight some general issues to be
CONCLUSIONS AND
considered when reviewing psychological wis-
FUTURE RESEARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
dom research. First, we note that wisdom con-
cerns a body of insights, heuristics, and skills
that can manifest themselves in many differ-
ent ways, only one of which is the wise person.
INTRODUCTION Even though from a psychological perspective
The quest for wisdom is roughly as old as hu- this seems to be the most obvious if not im-
mankind. We are able to document this deep portant focus, we argue that cultural crystal-
human concern for wisdom at least since writ- lizations of wisdom as we find them in proverbs
ing made it possible to later retrieve very early and other texts, such as religious writings or
examples of the wisdom literature dating back as constitutional texts, are as relevant to the psy-
far as the third century B.C. (e.g., Mesopotamia, chological study of wisdom as the investigation
Egypt). Similarly, an interest in and a concern of personality characteristics of a potentially
for wisdom have accompanied the rise of mod- wise person or the investigation of behaviors
ern psychology from its early days. G. Stanley indicative of wisdom. Second, we suggest that

216 Staudinger · Glück

 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

use of the notion of “wisdom” or “wise” is con- human development (Schindler & Staudinger
fined to existential and uncertain matters of life, 2005).
and someone or something is called wise only if
the range of definitive criteria is fully instanti-
ated. Although the word “wise” in everyday lan- SUBJECTIVE THEORIES
guage is often used in a much more inflationary OF WISDOM
manner, the scientific usage ought to be precise. Ever since the beginnings of psychological wis-
Therefore, third, an increase in competence dom research, the search for what “wisdom” ac-
that results from experience cannot immedi- tually is and how it can be defined has been an
ately be equated with an increase in wisdom. important, if not the most central, area of inves-
In this vein, a distinction between two types of tigation. In particular, attention has been paid
positive adult development has been suggested, to folk conceptions about wisdom, that is, how
by University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - Wilson Library on 05/13/11. For personal use only.

namely, between an increase in adjustment and ordinary people who are not familiar with psy-
in growth (e.g., Staudinger & Kessler 2009, chological constructs perceive and define wis-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

Staudinger & Kunzmann 2005). According to dom. The reasons why folk conceptions of wis-
this distinction, a high level of adjustment, dom have been investigated in more depth than
which without doubt is positive and functional, is the case for other constructs, such as intelli-
would not be sufficient to be labeled wisdom. gence, may include its rich cultural history and
Rather, the notion of wisdom should be re- its loftiness as an ideal state of being, as well
served for phenomena that can be described as as the fact that the criteria indicative of wis-
follows. dom are by definition consensual (Staudinger
Wisdom concerns mastering the basic 1996). Wisdom often becomes manifest in so-
dialectics shaping human existence, such as the cial situations, such as advice-giving and guid-
dialectic between good and bad, positivity and ance (Montgomery et al. 2002). When it comes
negativity, dependency and independence, cer- to issues of wisdom, there is no easily retriev-
tainty and doubt, control and lack of control, able answer to the question of what is “right” or
finiteness and eternity, strength and weakness, “wrong.” However, based on the fundamental
and selfishness and altruism. Mastery of such precondition that the well-being of the indi-
dialectics in the sense of wisdom does not vidual and that of the community need to be
mean that a decision for either one or the balanced (Sternberg 1998), a consensus can be
other side is taken but rather that both sides reached within a community of practice as to
are essential for grasping human existence. what constitutes wise advice or even a wise per-
Wisdom embraces these contradictions of son. In other words, wisdom follows a consen-
life and draws insights from them. It further sual rather than an objective criterion of truth
develops heuristics about when and under (Habermas 1970). If so, then what people view
which circumstances to focus on which side of as characteristic of wisdom is relevant also to
each of these opposites (Staudinger 1999b). In theoretical models (Bluck & Glück 2005).
terms of psychological functioning, three facets Most studies of subjective theories of wis-
need to be integrated: a cognitive, an emo- dom have used descriptor-rating methods
tional, and a motivational facet: (a) deep and (Bluck & Glück 2005). Such studies (e.g.,
broad insight into self, others, and the world; Clayton & Birren 1980, Glück & Bluck 2010,
(b) complex emotion regulation (in the sense Glück et al. 2010, Holliday & Chandler 1986,
of tolerance of ambiguity), and (c) a motiva- Jason et al. 2001, Sternberg 1985) usually con-
tional orientation that transcends self-interest sist of two steps. First, participants generate lists
and is invested in the well-being of others of attributes they associate with wisdom. These
and the world (Staudinger & Kessler 2009). lists are merged into a master list, removing
Mastering this kind of challenge clearly is not idiosyncrasies and synonyms, and the master
an obligatory but rather an optional task of list is presented to another, larger sample of

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

participants who rate each term for its centrality crystallized and fluid aspects of intelligence:
to wisdom. Methods such as multidimensional Both an experience-based body of broad and
scaling or factor analysis are used to extract un- deep life knowledge and the ability to reason
derlying components from these ratings and well and think logically about novel problems
to label them according to their most typical are associated with wisdom, although the
attributes. former aspect is viewed as more central. The
Another approach to studying subjective second component, searching for insight,
theories of wisdom focuses on people’s percep- bridges cognition and motivation: Wise in-
tions of actual instances of wisdom in them- dividuals are willing and able to understand
selves or others. For example, several stud- complex issues deeply rather than superficially.
ies investigated whom people view as wise If they are lacking sufficient information, they
and why. In some studies (e.g., Orwoll & will search for that information rather than
by University of Minnesota - Twin Cities - Wilson Library on 05/13/11. For personal use only.

Perlmutter 1990, Paulhus et al. 2002), partic- form a premature judgment. Third, a related,
ipants named historical or famous persons they more motivational-emotional component is
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

considered as wise. Other more qualitative re- wise people’s reflective attitude: Rather than
search (e.g., Montgomery et al. 2002, Sowarka making quick judgments or being guided by
1989) focused on why participants found a par- strong emotions, they prefer to think deeply
ticular person from their own environment about people, the world, and themselves.
wise. Finally, in some studies, people were asked Their attitude of looking at all sides of an
when in their life they had been wise them- issue also implies a willingness to be critical of
selves (Bluck & Glück 2004, Glück et al. 2005, themselves, a balanced manner of regulating
Oser et al. 1999). According to studies by Oser their own emotions rather than getting carried
and colleagues (1999), wise acts seem to be away by strong feelings, and an unobtrusive
characterized by the following seven features: self-presentation. Fourth, wise people also
(a) they are paradoxical, unexpected; (b) they tend to show high levels of concern for
are morally integer; (c) they are selfless; others: In addition to being cognitively able
(d ) they overcome internal and external dic- to see others’ perspectives, they transcend
tates; (e) they strive toward equilibrium; ( f ) they their self-interests and care deeply for the
imply a risk; and ( g) they strive toward improv- well-being of others. Because this attitude goes
ing the human condition. Most individuals con- beyond one’s family and close friends, wise
sidered as wise were in their second half of life, people often engage in civic activities for the
and typically they had guided others in diffi- benefit of others. These four components man-
cult situations (Montgomery et al. 2002). The ifest themselves in concrete activity rather than
forms of wisdom that participants perceived in only in theory: Wise individuals are assumed
their own past varied with participants’ current to have real-world problem-solving skills that
age (Glück et al. 2005). enable them to apply their knowledge and judg-
ment to concrete problems faced by themselves
and others. Additional components of wisdom
Core Components of Wisdom found in some studies include spirituality and
in Subjective Theories connectedness to nature ( Jason et al. 2001),
Researchers have labeled the components iden- the emancipatory nature of wisdom (Chandler
tified in descriptor-rating studies differently, & Holliday 1990), and humor (Webster 2003).
although the actual content is quite similar Notably, elements of these components, es-
across studies. Bluck & Glück (2005) summa- pecially cognitive ability and concern for oth-
rized the results from the available descriptor- ers, are already present in the wisdom con-
rating studies by grouping the respective ceptions of elementary-school children (Glück
components into five consistent categories. et al. 2010). Thus, the concept of wisdom seems
The cognitive-ability component combines to be culturally transmitted across generations

218 Staudinger · Glück

 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

(cf. wise figures in fairy tales, fantasy stories, people’s minds, people differ in the weights
and games). And indeed it has been argued they assign to the different components. Indi-
from a stance of evolutionary hermeneutics vidual differences in conceptions of wisdom are
that wisdom has adaptive value for humankind related to age, gender, experience, and exper-
(Csikszentmihalyi & Rathunde 1990). tise. For example, Sternberg (1985) found that
university professors from different disciplines
Wisdom and Age agreed only partly in their conceptions of wis-
dom. Art professors defined wisdom largely as a
Most people seem to believe that wise persons
balance of logic and intuition, philosophy pro-
are usually old (Clayton & Birren 1980, Orwoll
fessors focused on deep and nonbiased thinking,
& Perlmutter 1990), and in fact, most persons
and business professors emphasized awareness
whom laypeople nominate as wise are at least
of limitations and on long-term perspectives.
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60 years old (Baltes et al. 1995, Denney et al.

Thus, the hierarchy of wisdom descriptors most
1995, Jason et al. 2001, Maercker et al. 1998,
likely is based on people’s specific experiences,
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

Orwoll & Perlmutter 1990). In experimental

including the specific kinds of complex prob-
studies, laypeople usually rate older individu-
lems they have faced and their best perceived
als as wiser (Knight & Parr 1999, Stange 2005;
solutions.
but see also Hira & Faulkender 1997). Wisdom
In a similar vein, age differences in autobi-
was also one of only two positive characteris-
ographical wisdom narratives have been found
tics that laypeople viewed both as positive and
(Glück et al. 2005). Adolescents, people in their
as specific to old age (Heckhausen et al. 1989).
thirties, and people in their sixties differed in
On the other hand, however, older age is viewed
what they considered as instances of wisdom
as neither necessary nor sufficient for wisdom:
in their own lives, and indeed those differences
Most people are aware that not everyone devel-
reflected the developmental tasks and priorities
ops wisdom with old age, and that young peo-
of each age group. Also, conceptions of wisdom
ple can also be quite wise. The association of
seem to become more differentiated with age.
wisdom and age seems to be derived from the
Older adults view affective aspects as more cen-
idea that experience with the ups and downs
tral to wisdom, distinguish fluid and crystallized
of human life, which is a central component
aspects of the cognitive component, and asso-
of implicit theories of wisdom (e.g., Clayton
ciate wisdom less closely with old age than do
& Birren 1980, Glück & Bluck 2010, Holliday
younger age groups (Clayton & Birren 1980,
& Chandler 1986, Sternberg 1985), indeed fol-
Knight & Parr 1999).
lows a cumulative age trajectory. However, as
Gender differences in conceptions of wis-
we discuss in the Ontogenesis of Wisdom sec-
dom are relatively small. Men nominate more
tion below, this does not seem to be the case
men for wisdom than do women (Denney et al.
(Staudinger et al. 1992, 1994).
1995, Glück et al. 2010, Jason et al. 2001,
Orwoll & Perlmutter 1990, Sowarka 1989), but
Individual Differences in Subjective the characteristics that people associate with
Conceptions of Wisdom men’s and women’s wisdom do not seem to dif-
The consistency with which components of fer much, at least in descriptor-rating studies.
wisdom are identified across studies does not Thus, wisdom may be a quality that is neither
mean that all people view these components as stereotypically male nor stereotypically female,
equally central to wisdom. In fact, an attribute and individuals viewed as truly wise may not
rated unanimously as central to wisdom could fit with either stereotype (Aldwin 2009, Ardelt
not correlate with other attributes because of 2009). On the other hand, when people re-
lacking variance. Thus, although the core com- call experiences of themselves as wise, men re-
ponents of wisdom show how the structure port more job-related events and women report
of this complex construct is represented in more family- and illness-/death-related events,

www.annualreviews.org • Psychological Wisdom Research 219

 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

and this effect is maintained when differences courage, justice, humanity, temperance, and
in employment status are controlled (Glück transcendence; Dahlsgaard et al. 2005). Note,
et al. 2009). It is not clear whether these gen- however, that there are languages, especially in
der differences only concern the areas in which nonindustrialized parts of the world, that do not
men and women perceive their own wisdom even have a word for “wisdom” (Rösing 2005).
or in which it is requested, or whether there Even if the core idea of wisdom as an ideal
are also gender differences in what men and endpoint of human development is largely
women consider as manifestations of wisdom universal, some of the more specific meanings
(Levenson 2009). of wisdom may differ across cultures, and they
Rather than analyzing differences be- change with history. It seems likely that some
tween predefined groups of people, ratings features that people associate with wisdom are
of wisdom-related attributes have also been related to the values and ideals of a particular
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cluster-analyzed (Glück & Bluck 2010). Such culture. For example, most Buddhists believe
clustering revealed two predominant types that higher levels of wisdom can be achieved
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

of conceptualizing wisdom: Individuals with by conscious effort, whereas most Christians

(a) a cognitive conception rated knowledge do not (Rappersberger 2007). At the same
and experience, understanding complex issues, time, some components seem to form the
and (to a lesser degree) self-reflection and core of the concept of wisdom independent of
self-evaluation as most central to wisdom. cultural context. For example, it seems unlikely
Individuals with (b) an integrative conception that unbalanced emotionality or self-centered
also endorsed such characteristics but viewed values would be viewed as typical for wisdom in
tolerance, empathy, an orientation to the a culture, even if they may be viewed as positive
greater good, and love for humanity as about qualities in a given societal context. In a
equally important. The relative frequency of philosophical analysis of Eastern and Western
the cognitive conception of wisdom decreased wisdom literatures, self-transcendence, that
significantly across young adulthood, suggest- is, a perspective on others and the world
ing that the experiences of this life period that is not biased by a self-enhancing focus
may teach many people that the complexities (e.g., Levenson et al. 2005; see also Orwoll &
of adult life require more than cognition (cf. Perlmutter 1990), was identified as a largely
Clayton & Birren 1980). Interestingly, this universal feature of wisdom (Curnow 1999).
change is also reflected in the fact that younger Most studies interested in cultural differ-
adults perform worse than middle-aged adults ences in people’s conceptions of wisdom have
when it comes to problems with a strong emo- compared the differences between “Eastern”
tional component (Blanchard-Fields 1986). and “Western” conceptions (e.g., Takahashi
& Bordia 2000, Takahashi & Overton 2002,
Yang 2001). American and Australian young
Cross-Cultural Studies adults, for example, rated the term “wise” as
So far, we have focused on studies with most similar to “experienced” and “knowl-
Western samples. Thus, the question arises edgeable,” whereas Indian and Japanese groups
whether the idea of wisdom as an ideal associated “wise” most closely with “discreet,”
endpoint of human development is universal “aged,” and “experienced” (Takahashi &
across cultures and religious traditions—and Bordia 2000). Takahashi & Overton (2005)
if so, to what degree the actual components concluded from a review of such studies on
of wisdom and their relative importance differ cultural differences that two broad modes of
across cultures. An analysis of virtues prevalent wisdom can be distinguished: an analytic mode,
in Eastern and Western philosophical and prevalent in Western cultures, that emphasizes
religious writings identified wisdom as one of knowledge and cognitive complexity, and a
six core virtues (the other five of which are synthetic “Eastern” mode that focuses on the

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

integration of cognition and affect. In contrast, The Distinction Between Personal

Glück & Bluck (2010) found that both analytic and General Wisdom
and synthetic conceptions of wisdom are
We suggest that psychological wisdom re-
frequent among Western laypeople. Conse-
search may profit from subsuming the dif-
quently, it seems important to not overem-
ferent lines of work under two main head-
phasize differences between cultural groups
ings, namely personal wisdom, on one hand,
without attending to within-group differences.
and general wisdom, on the other (Staudinger
1999b, Staudinger et al. 2005). This distinction
is loosely related to the philosophical separa-
Summary
tion between the ontology of the first and the
To summarize, people in Western and Eastern third person (Searle 1992). The ontology of the
societies have clear conceptions of what wisdom first person indicates insight into life based on
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is or whom they would nominate as wise. Per- personal experience. In contrast, the ontology
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

haps surprisingly, there is great consensus about of the third person refers to the view on life
the central components of such subjective con- that is based on an observer’s perspective. In
ceptions of wisdom. Wisdom is conceived of as loose analogy to Searle’s first-person perspec-
the perfect integration of mind and character tive, personal wisdom refers to individuals’ in-
for the greater good. Still, there is also mean- sight into their selves, their own lives. Analo-
ingful interindividual variability in how the var- gous to the third-person perspective, general
ious components are weighted. wisdom is concerned with individuals’ insights
into life in general, from an observer’s point
of view, that is, when they are not personally
EXPLICIT THEORIES concerned.
OF WISDOM: The distinction between personal and gen-
CONCEPTUALIZATIONS eral wisdom might be helpful when trying to
AND MEASUREMENT settle some of the ongoing debates in the field of
The second line of empirical psychological in- wisdom research (e.g., Ardelt 2004). For heuris-
quiry on wisdom addresses the question of tic purposes, Table 1 assigns many of the ex-
how to conceptualize wisdom based on psy- tant approaches in research on wisdom to ei-
chological theorizing and consequently how to ther a personal-wisdom or a general-wisdom
empirically investigate expressions of wisdom. perspective (after Staudinger et al. 2005). Note
Researchers are usually quite aware that it is that this categorization is sometimes difficult to
a courageous undertaking to try to study wis- make because the original authors do not de-
dom empirically. Wisdom is a complex and scribe their conception of wisdom along the dis-
content-rich phenomenon, and many scholars tinction between personal and general wisdom.
have claimed that it defies attempts at scien- Consequently, the assignment is based on infer-
tific identification. However, research on ex- ences on our behalf and is based on the relative
plicit theories of wisdom has made remarkable emphasis placed on either personal or general
progress at measuring wisdom in terms of per- wisdom. Of course, as with any dichotomy, this
sonality characteristics, characteristics of adult distinction is made for heuristic purposes and is
thought, and performance on existential and oversimplifying.
uncertain life tasks. Some of these approaches The two types of wisdom do not necessar-
are more strongly process-oriented (e.g., wis- ily have to coincide in a person. A person can
dom as a characteristic of adult thought), and be wise with regard to the life and problems
others are more outcome-oriented (e.g., wis- of other people and can be sought out for ad-
dom as a pattern of personality characteristics vice from others because of her wisdom, but the
or as problem-solving behavior). very same person does not necessarily have to be

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

Table 1 Tentative assignment of conceptions of wisdom and closely related constructs to the distinction between personal
and general wisdom
Authors Approach to wisdom Personal wisdom General wisdom
Self-report measures
Ardelt Three components: cognitive, reflective, affective X
Erikson/Whitbourne Ego integrity (as opposed to despair) X
Helson & Wink High personal growth/low adjustment X
Transcendent wisdom (as opposed to practical)
Levenson et al. Self-transcendence X
Ryff Personal growth (dimension of psychological well-being) X
Webster Five components: experience, emotion regulation, X
reminiscence/reflectiveness, openness, humor
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Performance measures
Dörner & Staudinger Self-concept maturity X
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Loevinger Ego development (integrated level) X

Labouvie-Vief High affect complexity/low affect optimization X
Mickler & Staudinger Realizing one’s own potential while considering the X
well-being of others and society
Berlin wisdom paradigm Expertise in the fundamental pragmatics of life X
Neo-Piagetian Postformal stage of cognitive development (e.g., reflective X
perspectives judgment, dialectical thinking)
Sternberg Application of tacit knowledge to maximize the common X
good by balancing interests

wise about her own life and her own problems. Berlin wisdom paradigm, Baltes & Staudinger
To test this contention, the two types of wis- 1993; Sternberg’s balance theory of wisdom,
dom need to be conceptualized and measured Sternberg 1998).
independently of each other.
Different research traditions have led to a
focus on one or the other type of wisdom. Approaches to the Study
The approaches primarily geared toward per- of General Wisdom
sonal wisdom are usually based in the tradition The Berlin wisdom paradigm defines wisdom
of personality research and personality devel- as expertise in the fundamental pragmatics of
opment. In this perspective, wisdom describes life (e.g., Baltes & Staudinger 2000). The fun-
the mature personality or an ideal endpoint of damental pragmatics of life refer to deep in-
personality growth (e.g., Erikson 1959 or Ryff sight and sound judgment about the essence of
& Heincke 1983). When thinking about wis- the human condition and the ways and means
dom from this vantage point, there is also a of planning, managing, and understanding a
close link to research on personality growth good life. The term “expertise” implies that
and learning from traumatic events (e.g., stress- wisdom is a highly differentiated body of in-
related growth, Park et al. 1996; posttraumatic sights and skills usually acquired through ex-
growth, Tedeschi & Calhoun 2004). The ap- perience and practice. Expertise in the funda-
proaches primarily investigating general wis- mental pragmatics of life is described according
dom typically have a stronger connection with to five criteria (two basic and three meta crite-
the historical wisdom literature (i.e., wisdom ria). The first criterion, rich factual knowledge,
as sound advice or life insight independent of concerns knowledge about such topics as hu-
individuals) and an expertise approach (e.g., man nature, lifespan development, variations in

222 Staudinger · Glück

 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

developmental processes and outcomes, inter- reliable and provide an approximation of the
personal relations, and social norms. The sec- quantity and quality of wisdom-related knowl-
ond criterion, rich procedural knowledge, in- edge and skills of a given person. Responses to
volves strategies and heuristics for dealing with such fictitious problems primarily tap knowl-
the meaning and conduct of life, for example, edge and heuristics about life problems in
heuristics for giving advice or ways to handle general and therefore most likely are emotion-
life conflicts. The third criterion is lifespan con- ally less challenging than solving existential and
textualism, that is, to consider life problems in difficult personal life problems (see below the
relation to the domains of life (e.g., education, section on Personal Wisdom). Indication of the
family, work, friends, leisure, the public good of external validity of this paradigm was obtained
society, etc.) and their interrelations and to put from studying people who were nominated as
these in a lifetime perspective (i.e., past, present, wise according to nominators’ subjective beliefs
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and future). Relativism of values and life prior- about wisdom. Wisdom nominees received
ities is the fourth criterion of wisdom. It means higher wisdom scores than comparable control
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

to acknowledge and tolerate interindividual dif- samples matched for age and professional
ferences in values while at the same time being background (Baltes et al. 1995).
geared toward optimizing and balancing the in- Sternberg’s balance theory conceptualizes
dividual and the common good. The last crite- wisdom as the application of tacit knowledge to
rion, the recognition and management of un- life problems involving conflicts between differ-
certainty, is based on the idea that human beings ent life domains or stakeholders (e.g., Sternberg
can never know everything that is necessary to 1998, 2000). Tacit knowledge, a core term in
determine the best decision in the present, to Sternberg’s theory of practical intelligence, is
predict the future perfectly, or to be 100% sure procedural, domain-specific knowledge about
about why things happened the way they did how to reach a certain goal within a certain
in the past. A wise person is aware of this un- system. Concerning wise solutions to difficult
certainty and has developed ways to manage it. problems, the goal is to achieve a common
Uncertainty as well as the dialectic between good; that is, to optimize the outcome across all
knowledge and doubt are features of wisdom interests involved. A wise solution is balanced
that play an important role in ancient (e.g., as it takes conflicting intrapersonal, interper-
Socrates: The only real wisdom is knowing you sonal, and extrapersonal interests into account,
know nothing) as well as contemporaneous con- over the long and short terms, through the infu-
ceptions (e.g., Brugman 2006, Meacham 1990). sion of positive ethical values (Sternberg 2008,
To elicit and measure general wisdom- Sternberg et al. 2007). It is also balanced in how
related performance, participants are presented it deals with the problem context: by adapting
with difficult and existential life problems such to the context, by changing it, or by choosing
as the following: “Imagine a good friend of a different context, depending on the nature of
yours calls you up and tells you that he/she the problem and the circumstances. Based on
can’t go on anymore and has decided to com- his general method for assessing tacit knowl-
mit suicide. What could one/you be thinking edge, Sternberg (1998) has proposed a measure-
about, how could one/you deal with this situ- ment approach for wisdom: Participants rate
ation?” Participants are then asked to “think the quality of a number of possible solutions to
aloud” about the problem. Their responses are vignettes of difficult life problems. Their rat-
recorded and later transcribed. To quantify ings are compared against ratings from experts
performance quality, a select panel of judges, in the field.
who are extensively trained and calibrated, Wisdom has also been conceptualized in
evaluates the protocols of the respondents the neo-Piagetian tradition of cognitive de-
according to the five wisdom criteria using velopment (Labouvie-Vief 1990, Riegel 1975).
seven-point scales. The obtained scores are Researchers in this tradition have proposed that

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

cognitive development is not completed when events (e.g., Ardelt 2005, Kramer 2000), as is
an adolescent has mastered formal-logical central in related conceptions such as posttrau-
operations, as this level of cognition is not matic or stress-related growth, but they agree in
sufficient for dealing with the complexities of that learning from the socioemotional changes
human experience. The main issue in postfor- and challenges of an individual’s personal life
mal cognition is the realization that universal experience is necessary for making progress on
truths, as required for formal logic, can seldom the path toward personal wisdom. Thus, per-
be identified in the more complex problems sonal wisdom bears resemblance to the notions
that humans face. Such problems (e.g., inter- of “maturity” and “personal growth.” Concep-
personal conflicts) are often characterized by tions of personal wisdom can be found in clini-
the presence of multiple truths, incompatible cal, personality, and developmental psychology.
goals, contradictions, and high levels of un- Given space limitations, only a selection
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certainty. Thus, tolerance of ambiguity and of conceptions can be discussed here: (a) ap-
willingness to compromise are more useful than proaches in the tradition of wisdom as a per-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

strict formal-logical decision-making. Such sonality characteristic; (b) two relevant concepts
ways of thinking are obviously characteristic of that do not explicitly deal with wisdom but are
wisdom. Included in conceptions of postformal closely related—Loevinger’s concept of ego de-
thinking are a focus on dialectical cognition velopment (e.g., Loevinger & Wessler 1978)
(i.e., the integration of contradiction; Riegel and Labouvie-Vief ’s dichotomy of affect com-
1975) and the integration of cognition and plexity and affect optimization (e.g., Labouvie-
emotion (Labouvie-Vief 1990). Neo-Piagetian Vief 2003); (c) an operationalization of person-
conceptions of wisdom were frequently studied ality growth that is based on the self-concept
in the early stages of psychological wisdom literature about maturity; and (d ) a conception
research (e.g., Arlin 1990, Kitchener & of personal wisdom that has been designed in
Brenner 1990, Kramer 1983, Labouvie-Vief analogy to the Berlin wisdom paradigm.
1990, Pascual-Leone 1990). Studies in this
domain found that in comparison with non-
postformal thinkers, postformal thinkers are Self-Report Measures
less susceptible to cognitive biases and show of Personal Wisdom
higher levels of moral development. Several theoretical models of personal wisdom
have been translated into self-report measures.
Summary. The approaches to the empirical This seems to be an obvious methodological
study of general wisdom originated from cogni- choice, provided personal wisdom is defined as
tive research. By a focus on the dilemmas of life, a personality characteristic or an attitude or per-
which is the content area of wisdom, the clas- spective on the self. Some critical issues in the
sical notion of cognition gets expanded to in- use of self-report for measuring wisdom are dis-
clude emotional and motivational aspects. The cussed at the end of this section.
performance orientation “imported” from cog-
nitive research, however, has been maintained Measures based on the Eriksonian
and successfully applied to a phenomenon as tradition. Some measures of wisdom are
complex as wisdom. Thereby the study of wis- based on Erik Erikson’s (1959) theory of
dom was very much enriched. identity development. Erikson conceptualized
wisdom as an optimal endpoint of identity
development attained through mastery of a
Approaches to the Study number of crises encountered in an individual
of Personal Wisdom life course. In particular, he believed that
Models of personal wisdom differ in whether resolution of the late-life crisis of integrity
they put special emphasis on difficult, negative versus despair, that is, the full acceptance of

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

one’s life as it has been rather than despair adjustment and life success. The two groups
about the paths one did not take, is essential high on personal growth (achievers and seek-
to wisdom and implies transcendence of self- ers) were both expected to grow in personal
focused priorities. Whitbourne and colleagues wisdom, but only the seekers (low environmen-
(e.g., Walaskay et al. 1983–84) have developed tal mastery, high personal growth) were found
self-report scales measuring attainment of each to do so (Helson & Srivastava 2001). The latter
of Erikson’s developmental stages. finding again confirms the importance of differ-
Carol Ryff also investigated Erikson’s de- entiating between adjustment and growth (e.g.,
velopmental stages early in her career (Ryff & Staudinger & Kunzmann 2005).
Heincke 1983). She characterized wisdom as
integration of all facets of the self, coordina- Ardelt’s three-dimensional wisdom scale.
tion of opposites, and transcendence of personal On the basis of both lay and expert theo-
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agendas in favor of collective or universal issues ries of wisdom, Monika Ardelt (e.g., 2003,
(Orwoll 1988). More recently, she has inte- 2004) defines wisdom as a combination of per-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

grated her earlier work into a complex concep- sonality characteristics with three broad com-
tualization of psychological well-being (PWB; ponents. The cognitive component is based
Ryff & Keyes 1995, Ryff & Singer 2006). Ryff on a constant desire to understand the truth
was an early advocate of the importance of eu- about the human condition, especially about
daimonic aspects of well-being (Ryan & Deci intra- and interpersonal matters, and includes
2001, Waterman 1993), that is, focusing on the the knowledge resulting from this desire. The
attainment of well-being by realizing the po- reflective component refers to the ability to
tential of one’s self through growth. She has take multiple perspectives, which also implies
developed a questionnaire measuring six dis- self-examination and self-insight. The affec-
tinct components of psychological well-being tive component is defined as “sympathetic and
that includes a scale of personal growth and compassionate love for others,” that is, a pos-
one of purpose in life. And indeed, Ryff ’s itive, empathetic attitude toward others. Fol-
scales of personal growth and purpose in life lowing the classical traditions of personality
have been found to be among the strongest assessment, Ardelt (2003) developed a self-
correlates of personal and general wisdom- report scale (three-dimensional wisdom scale;
related performance (Glück & Baltes 2006, 3DWS) to measure the three dimensions of wis-
Mickler & Staudinger 2008, Staudinger et al. dom. The 3DWS shows significant and posi-
1997). tive correlations with mastery, subjective well-
Along these lines, Helson & Srivastava being, purpose in life, and subjective health
(2001) used two PWB dimensions, environ- and negative relations with depressive symp-
mental mastery and personal growth, to in- toms, death avoidance, fear of death, and feel-
dex social and personal maturity, respectively. ings of economic pressure. Education and oc-
Building on work by Wink & Helson (1997; cupation were both positively correlated with
see also Helson & Wink 1987), which dis- 3DWS scores (Ardelt 2003).
tinguished between practical and transcendent
wisdom, they assumed that environmental mas- Webster’s self-report wisdom scale. Jeffrey
tery, or effectiveness in the outer world, and Webster (2003, 2007) has developed a self-
personal growth, or intrapsychic development, report wisdom scale (SAWS) that measures
often preclude each other. In fact, they show five interrelated dimensions of wisdom, which
very low correlations (see also Schmutte & Ryff need to operate together in a wise person in
1997). Crossing these two dimensions leads to a holistic manner. He defines wisdom as “the
four personality types. In a longitudinal study, competence in, intention to, and application of
the two groups high on environmental mas- critical life experiences to facilitate the optimal
tery (conservers and achievers) increased in development of self and others” (Webster 2007,

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

p. 164). The first dimension is experience, of the transience of external aspects of one’s
especially difficult and morally challenging sense of self. Integration means overcoming
experiences that deeply affect the individual. the separation among different “inner selves,”
The second dimension, emotion regulation, that is, accepting and integrating all facets of
refers to sensitivity to and the ability to deal one’s self. Finally, self-transcendence refers to
with subtle as well as strong emotions. The independence of the self of external definitions
third dimension, reminiscence and reflective- and dissolution of mental boundaries be-
ness, implies that wise people reflect upon their tween self and others. The authors argue that
life in order to make meaning, maintain their “self-transcendence is equivalent to wisdom
identity, identify strengths and weaknesses, and and implies the dissolution of (self-based)
deal with difficulties. Openness, the fourth di- obstacles to empathy, understanding, and
mension, refers to wise people’s interest in new integrity” (Levenson et al. 2005, p. 129). They
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possibilities, perspectives, and problem-solving have developed the adult self-transcendence

approaches, which helps them to build up a inventory (ASTI). Self-transcendence as mea-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

large repertoire of skills. The final dimension, sured by the first ASTI version is negatively
humor, is not often mentioned in psychological related to neuroticism and positively related to
accounts of wisdom, but Webster argues that openness to experience, conscientiousness, and
the ability to see comical aspects even in serious agreeableness as well as to meditation practice.
situations reflects a positive kind of detachment
that may be quite typical for wisdom. SAWS Summary. With regard to their definitions of
shows positive correlations with measures of (personal) wisdom, the reviewed approaches
generativity and ego integrity; women score show considerable overlap [except for the con-
higher than men. Further, SAWS scores ception by Levenson et al. (2005), which takes a
correlate negatively with attachment avoid- more specific approach] and are highly consis-
ance (but not attachment anxiety; Webster tent with the findings from subjective theories
2003). of wisdom. The authors have proposed self-
report measures of personal wisdom or con-
Levenson’s work on wisdom as self- structs closely related to it. Although these mea-
transcendence. Levenson and colleagues sures are obviously highly practical and easy to
(2005; see also Le & Levenson 2005) administer, the high face validity of scale items
introduced a measure of wisdom as self- may pose a problem for valid measurement.
transcendence based on an account of wisdom Self-report measures are always influenced both
by the philosopher Trevor Curnow (1999). by intentional positive self-presentation and
Curnow identified four central features of wis- by inaccuracy of people’s self-judgments. The
dom in both European and Asian philosophy: latter, however, may pose a particularly se-
self-knowledge, detachment, integration, and rious problem when wisdom is being mea-
self-transcendence. Certainly, Curnow (1999) sured (see also Aldwin 2009): If wisdom en-
is not the only one to point to the importance tails self-reflection and self-criticism, favorable
of self-transcendence for wisdom (see also e.g., self-judgments in self-report scales may ac-
Kohut 1978, Labouvie-Vief 2003, Mickler tually be negatively correlated with wisdom.
& Staudinger 2008, Orwoll & Perlmutter A highly naı̈ve person with high self-esteem
1990). may score much higher in a self-report scale
Levenson and colleagues (2005) argued that than a wise person trying to evaluate him-
Curnow’s four features can be conceptualized or herself as accurately as possible against a
as developmental stages. Self-knowledge is high standard. In this respect, performance-
awareness of what constitutes one’s sense based measures of personal wisdom may be
of self in the context of roles, relationships, at a unique advantage compared to self-report
and beliefs. Detachment refers to awareness approaches.

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

Performance Measures In sum, this pattern of results around

of Personal Wisdom Loevinger’s measure of ego development sug-
Loevinger’s ego levels. It was Jane Lo- gests that central features of personal (but also
evinger’s ambition to capture character de- general) wisdom, such as moving beyond the
velopment in a stage model similar to the given, seeing reality more clearly, and tran-
Piagetian model of cognitive development scending extant social norms, do not come with-
(Loevinger & Wessler 1978). Loevinger con- out costs. It seems that being faced with the
ceived the stages of ego development as a suc- complexities of one’s own life in the way that is
cessive progression toward psychological ma- true for a person at high levels of ego develop-
turity, unfolding along the four dimensions ment does not necessarily lead to greater happi-
of impulse control, interpersonal style, con- ness, but instead may actually invoke more wor-
scious preoccupations, and cognitive styles. ries and self-criticism as well as the insight that
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The model comprises eight stages (impulsive, further self-development is needed (“I know
that I don’t know”).
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

self-protective, conformist, self-aware, consci-

entious, individualistic, autonomous, and inte-
grated) that are characterized by increasingly Labouvie-Vief ’s approach to personal
mature forms of those four dimensions. Most wisdom. Combining Piaget’s cognitive the-
people are categorized to be in the third to fifth ory with psychoanalytic notions and ideas from
stage, that is, the conformist, self-aware, and adult attachment theory, Gisela Labouvie-Vief
conscientious stage. The self-aware stage is the proposed developmental models of self as well
modal stage in late adolescence and adult life. as emotional understanding (e.g., Labouvie-
The eighth stage, the integrated stage, is rarely Vief 1982, Labouvie-Vief et al. 1989). Building
observed in random samples. on this earlier work, her most recent publica-
Loevinger’s ego level (Loevinger & Wessler tions have focused on the development and/or
1978) is measured by content coding of stan- maturation of self- and affect-regulation. In this
dardized self-descriptions. It has been found to most recent approach, she has developed a no-
be positively related with ego-resiliency, inter- tion of growth or maturity that combines affect
personal integrity, and regulation of needs, or optimization, that is, the tendency to constrain
mastery of socioemotional tasks and impulse- affect to positive values, with affect complexity,
control, as well as indicators of mental health that is, the amplification of affect in the search
(for reviews see Cohn & Westenberg 2004, for differentiation and objectivity. In her no-
Manners & Durkin 2000). Interestingly, ego tion of maturity, it is crucial that the search
level is also positively correlated with number for complexity and differentiation is combined
of lifetime psychiatric visits and regular psy- with, or rather constrained by, a search for op-
chotherapeutic sessions. It is unclear whether timizing positive affect in any given situation.
psychotherapy helped subjects to advance de- At the same time, the search for positive affect
velopmentally or whether later-stage capacity is embedded in the ability to experience events
to see ambiguities in life increased their willing- and other persons in an open and differentiated
ness to seek psychotherapy (see Dörner 2006). fashion. Combining the two (dichotomized) di-
The latter interpretation is in line with the posi- mensions of affect complexity and affect opti-
tive quadratic relation between neuroticism and mization results in four “personality” types.
ego level (i.e., higher neuroticism at low and Labouvie-Vief & Medler (2002) expected
high ego levels) and a negative quadratic rela- individuals with high levels on both dimen-
tion between conscientiousness and ego level sions to also function best in other aspects
(i.e., lower conscientiousness at low and high of psychological adjustment. And indeed, this
ego levels). Openness to experience, extraver- group showed high ego levels, high fluid intel-
sion, and agreeableness show positive linear re- ligence, and adaptive coping patterns, excluding
lations with ego level. repressive or regressive strategies. In contrast,

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

individuals high in affect optimization but low significant associations existed with fluid as
in affect complexity scored second highest on well as crystallized intelligence (Dörner &
positive affect but were characterized by repres- Staudinger 2010). This lack of a significant re-
sive coping styles and somewhat lower intel- lationship with intelligence is most likely due to
lectual ability. Their counterpart group, those the absence of a problem-solving component in
with high affect complexity but low affect opti- the measurement paradigm, in contrast to the
mization, shows a kind of mirror image: With other previously presented performance mea-
the lowest scores on repression and high intel- sures of personal wisdom.
ligence scores, they can be regarded as the most
open and “realistic” group. Finally, individuals The Bremen measure of personal wisdom.
low on both dimensions demonstrate the lowest Another performance measure of personal wis-
levels of functioning across different indicators. dom starts out from the Berlin general wis-
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In sum, it seems that the “complex type” (high dom paradigm but adapts it to index personality
on affect complexity and rather low on affect growth (Mickler & Staudinger 2008). One rea-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

optimization) comes closest to what we have son for this close alignment was to keep method
called personal wisdom. variance as low as possible when establishing the
relationship between general and personal wis-
Self-concept maturity of personal wisdom. dom. The measure is also based on one of the
The measure of self-concept maturity is based core assumptions of developmental psychol-
on the self-concept literature (Dörner & ogy that it is the dialectic between assimilation
Staudinger 2010). Five self-concept facets were and accommodation that promotes growth (cf.
identified as theoretically meaningful indica- Piaget). In other words, our expectations need
tors of personal wisdom: complexity of the self- to continuously be challenged by new experi-
concept, self-concept integration, affect bal- ences, and we need to emancipate ourselves in
ance, self-esteem, and value orientation. It thinking and feeling and transcend the struc-
was hypothesized that only combining these tures within which we have been socialized (e.g.,
five components reflects an appropriate oper- Chandler & Holliday 1990).
ationalization of personal wisdom. That is, a Five criteria (two basic and three meta),
profile of the five self-concept facets was es- which have been defined to index personal wis-
tablished that should serve as a prototype of a dom, are based on the literature about per-
mature personality as reflected in the notion sonality development and growth. The first
of self-concept maturity (SCM). The first three basic criterion is rich self-knowledge, that is,
components are measured using an adapted ver- deep insight into oneself. A self-wise person
sion of Linville’s self-concept measure. This should be aware of his or her own competen-
measure asks respondents first to nominate self- cies, emotions, and goals and should have a
aspects and subsequently to describe themselves sense of meaning in life. The second basic cri-
for each of the self-aspects using 20 positive and terion requires a self-wise person to have avail-
20 negative adjectives. Self-esteem is measured able heuristics for growth and self-regulation
using the Rosenberg self-esteem scale, and (e.g., how to express and regulate emotions or
value orientation is measured with an abbrevi- how to develop and maintain deep social rela-
ated version of the Schwartz value orientation tions). Humor is an example of an important
questionnaire (for details, see Dörner 2006). heuristic that helps to cope with various dif-
As hypothesized, SCM correlated strongly ficult and challenging situations. Interrelating
and significantly with other measures of per- the self, the first meta criterion, refers to the
sonal wisdom, especially with Loevinger’s ability to reflect on and have insight in the pos-
ego development and the newly devel- sible causes of one’s behavior and/or feelings.
oped personal-wisdom task presented below Such causes can be age-related or situational or
(Mickler & Staudinger 2008), whereas no linked to personal characteristics. Interrelating

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

the self also implies that there is an awareness while controlling for age, the relationship
about one’s own dependency on others. The between personal wisdom and fluid intelli-
second meta criterion is called self-relativism. gence followed an inverted U-shape, implying
People high in self-relativism are able to eval- that among highly intelligent persons, there
uate themselves as well as others with a dis- is a significant negative correlation of fluid
tanced view. They critically appraise their own intelligence with personal wisdom. Follow-up
behavior but at the same time display a basic ac- analyses suggested that this may be due to dif-
ceptance of themselves. They also show toler- ferences values, in particular, the value domain
ance for others’ values and lifestyles—as long as of “universalism.” Extremely intelligent people
they are not damaging to self or others. Finally, may tend to be rather egotistical and focused
the third meta criterion is tolerance of ambi- on achievement as opposed to interpersonal or
guity, which involves the ability to recognize social issues. Concerning personality variables,
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and manage the uncertainties in one’s own life openness to experience was the most important
and development. It is reflected in the aware- predictor—the other Big Five variables were
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

ness that life is full of uncontrollable and unpre- uncorrelated with personal wisdom.
dictable events, including death and illness. At
the same time, tolerance for ambiguity includes Summary. Given the methodological prob-
the availability of strategies to manage this lems involved with self-report measures of per-
uncertainty through openness to experience, sonal wisdom, it is encouraging that a num-
basic trust, and the development of flexible so- ber of performance measures are available that
lutions. Analogous to the Berlin general wis- demonstrate satisfactory reliability as well as re-
dom paradigm, personal wisdom is measured by assuring overlap in their covariance structures.
a thinking-aloud procedure while solving a dif-
ficult and existential personal life problem and
subsequent rating of the response transcripts ONTOGENESIS OF WISDOM
(see Mickler & Staudinger 2008 for details). The distinction between personal and general
In a first study, the new performance wisdom is also relevant when exploring the
measure of personal wisdom showed good con- ontogenesis of wisdom. First, there is reason
vergent validity (Mickler & Staudinger 2008). to assume that indeed the dynamic between
It was positively correlated with other measures personal and general life insight is at the heart
of personality growth, such as Ryff ’s personal of eventually attaining wisdom. Decades of
growth and purpose in life and Loevinger’s research on self-regulation as well as research
ego development, as well as with benevolent on the therapeutic process have demonstrated
personal values and psychological mindedness that it is much more difficult to obtain insight
(California Psychological Inventory; Gough into one’s own life (let alone apply it) than into
1964), a concept measuring interest in the the difficulties and problems of others (e.g.,
thoughts and feelings of other people. With Greenwald & Pratkanis 1984). Thus, general
regard to discriminant validity, personal wis- wisdom may be less difficult to attain than
dom showed substantial overlap with measures personal wisdom (first empirical evidence
of general wisdom but also significant unique for this claim has been ascertained: Mickler
variance. As was to be expected for a measure & Staudinger 2008); therefore, progress in
of personal maturity rather than adjustment, it general wisdom may precede that in personal
was uncorrelated with indicators of subjective wisdom. We know, however, from research
well-being, such as life satisfaction, negative on the development of the self-concept that
or positive emotions, and adaptive motives infants appropriate general knowledge about
such as power, achievement, and hedonism. the world before they are aware of the self.
Also, personal wisdom is not preempted by From research on the self later in ontogeny,
knowing a person’s intelligence. Interestingly, we have learned that self-related information is

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

processed differently than general information. experiences, they contribute primarily to the
Under certain conditions, we do have better formation of personal wisdom (cf. Erikson’s
memory for self-related information. How- model of personality growth), and if they are
ever, threatening or inconsistent self-related applied to general knowledge and experiences
information is often suppressed or modified, with life in general, they primarily contribute
which may hinder the development of personal to the formation of general wisdom. Based
wisdom. Most likely, in the course of ontogeny, on the assumptions of this model, age is not
both types may alternate in taking the lead. necessarily related to higher levels of wisdom-
Generally, the development of wisdom is a dy- related performance, as many other variables
namic process in which cognitive, affective, and need to come together for progress to occur.
motivational resources develop interactively In a similar vein, Glück & Bluck (2007,
through the reflection of experience. Glück 2010) have proposed the MORE wisdom
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Conceptually, a model has been postulated model, a model of the development of wisdom
that requires a set of factors and processes to through life experience. The acronym MORE
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

“cooperate” for general as well as personal is derived from mastery, openness, reflection,
wisdom to develop (e.g., Staudinger et al. and empathy/emotion regulation. A sense of
2005). First, there are personality characteris- mastery means that wise individuals are aware—
tics such as crystallized and fluid intelligence probably more than are others—of the uncon-
(as necessary but not sufficient conditions), trollability of much of human life, but they do
creativity, openness to new experience, social not react with helplessness because they know,
competence, emotion-regulation competence from previous experience, that they will be able
(exploiting the dialectics of positive and neg- to cope with whatever happens to them. Open-
ative emotions), an ethical value orientation, ness to experience, as mentioned above, is a gen-
as well as an intermediate level of self-esteem eral curiosity and interest in new perspectives
and agency that provide the necessary basis for and experiences. A reflective attitude, also a key
challenging oneself and the world around. factor in virtually all conceptions of personal
Second, the model presumes that the de- wisdom, emphasizes the motivation to think
velopment of wisdom is advanced by certain deeply and take different perspectives on expe-
expertise-specific factors, such as a strong mo- riences, including one’s own role in them. Em-
tivation to learn about life (general wisdom) or pathy and emotion regulation imply that wise
oneself (personal wisdom), practice with diffi- persons perceive, care for, and are able to reg-
cult (personal and/or general) life situations, ulate others’ and their own feelings.
and guidance by a mentor. Third, the model Turning to empirical evidence on the de-
assumes the operation of macrolevel facilitative velopment of (personal or general) wisdom, we
experiential contexts. For example, certain pro- mostly have cross-sectional data and evidence
fessions and historical periods are more con- on general wisdom, as measured according
ducive to the development of wisdom than oth- to the Berlin wisdom paradigm, available to
ers, and age also facilitates as well as constrains date. Within this limitation, the empirical
the range of experiences. work on the ontogenesis of wisdom has pro-
These three sets of factors influence not duced outcomes consistent with expectations.
only which kinds of experiences one makes but Contrary to work on the fluid mechanics of
also how experiences are subsequently analyzed cognitive aging, older adults perform as well
to form insights. Social-cognitive processes of as younger adults (>25 years; overview in
life reflection (i.e., life planning, life manage- Staudinger 1999a). It seems that wisdom-
ment, and life review; Staudinger 2001) are related knowledge emerges between the ages
assumed to be critical for the development of of 14 and 25 years (Pasupathi et al. 2001). This
wisdom-related knowledge and judgment. If holds true when controlling for intelligence
these processes are applied to autobiographical during that period. But as expected, growing

230 Staudinger · Glück

 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

older is not enough to become wiser. Rather, involvement (e.g., being interested, inspired)
we found that older adults performed better than the rest of the sample. This pattern
on typical dilemmas of old age, and young suggests that wisdom might go along with a
adults performed better on typical dilemmas more realistic, less self-enhancing, and less
of young adulthood (Staudinger et al. 1992). positively biased view on life, but at the same
However, when age has been combined with time with better emotion-regulating skills.
wisdom-related experiential contexts, such as Also, individuals with higher wisdom-related
professional training and experience in matters scores tended to endorse values referring to
of life (e.g., clinical psychology), higher levels personal growth, life insight, societal engage-
of performance were observed (Smith et al. ment, the well-being of friends, and ecological
1994, Staudinger et al. 1992). protection more than other individuals did.
In line with the historical wisdom literature, When comparing these findings on general
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which portrays wisdom as the ideal combi- wisdom with first evidence ascertained on cor-
nation of mind and virtue, it was found that relates of personal wisdom, similarities and dif-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

wisdom-related performance is best predicted ferences emerge. Neither general nor personal
by measures located at the interface of cogni- wisdom have a linear positive relationship to
tion and personality, such as a judicial cognitive age. For example, a recent study presented evi-
style (i.e., “seeking to understand why and what dence from a 34-year longitudinal study on per-
it means that people think what they think, say sonal wisdom in an Eriksonian sense (Sneed
what they say, and do what they do”; Sternberg & Whitbourne 2003). With considerable in-
1990, p. 154), creativity, and moral reasoning terindividual differences, integrity scores in-
(Staudinger et al. 1997). Neither fluid and crys- creased in young adulthood, dropped some-
tallized intelligence nor personality (Big Five) what around age 40, and then began to increase
independently of each other made a significant again. Many aging adults may focus on stabiliz-
contribution to wisdom-related knowledge and ing previous self-perceptions in order to main-
judgment. Interestingly, a very different predic- tain well-being rather than engaging in deep
tive pattern is found when wisdom-related per- life reflection (Mickler & Staudinger 2008,
formance in adolescence is considered, where Sneed & Whitbourne 2003). Research with the
cognitive development seems to be a crucial Bremen measure of personal wisdom found that
basis for the emergence of wisdom-related age is not only unrelated (as is the case for gen-
knowledge (Staudinger & Pasupathi 2003). eral wisdom) to personal wisdom, but it is even
Wisdom-related performance is also substan- negatively related for the three meta criteria,
tially correlated to moral reasoning (assessed that is, self-relativism, interrelating the self, and
in the Kohlbergian tradition), a relationship tolerance of ambiguity (Mickler & Staudinger
that is mediated by personality characteristics 2008). Declining cognitive resources may make
and intelligence (Pasupathi & Staudinger abstract thinking, which is required more to sat-
2001). Consistent with a threshold model, isfy the meta- than the basic wisdom criteria,
high levels of wisdom-related performance are more difficult for older adults. Also, younger
unlikely among those with low scores in moral adults’ higher levels of openness to experience
reasoning. may be an added advantage when it comes to
General wisdom as measured according to testing established self-related insights against
the Berlin wisdom paradigm is unrelated or new evidence, which is a prerequisite to further
only weakly related to subjective well-being developing self insight. Further, self-criticism
(Kunzmann & Baltes 2003). Wise individu- is less crucial for general wisdom-related per-
als reported experiencing both positive (e.g., formance than for personal wisdom. Similarly,
happy, cheerful) and negative affect (e.g., angry, personal growth is generally negatively related
afraid) less frequently than other individuals, to age (Ryff & Keyes 1995), and ego devel-
but they reported a higher degree of affective opment peaks in early midlife and declines

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

thereafter (Cohn & Westenberg 2004). When self-understanding, honesty and reliability,
interpreting such findings, contemporaneous spirituality, and self-reported wisdom itself
societal restrictions of growth opportunities in (cf. Park 2004). While such self-perceptions
old age need to be taken into account (e.g., Ryff of growth may be delusional (Maercker &
& Singer 2006, Staudinger & Kessler 2009). In Zoellner 2004), it seems plausible that per-
addition, it has been suggested that the develop- sonal wisdom is fostered by the experience of
mental task of old age, that is, coming to terms fundamental changes that “force” individuals
with one’s own life as lived (Erikson 1959), may to grow (Nolen-Hoeksema & Larson 1999)
prejudice older adults’ life reflection toward a by challenging them to reorganize—but not
positive evaluation (Kennedy et al. 2004). completely destroy—their assumptions about
Second, personal wisdom shows a signifi- life and priorities.
cantly smaller relationship than does general
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wisdom with indicators of subjective well-

being. It is not enough to master the tasks of PLASTICITY OF WISDOM
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

everyday life and thereby increase subjective Be it general or personal wisdom, in previ-
well-being in order to gain in personal wisdom. ous studies of wisdom-related performance, the
Again, this finding underscores the importance average levels observed in unselected samples
of distinguishing between different types of were rather low, leaving a lot of space for
positive development during adulthood and improvement. And indeed, empirical studies
into old age (Staudinger & Kessler 2009). have found support for the positive plasticity of
Sincere self-reflection and self-criticism as well wisdom-related performance. In two interven-
as facing negative emotional states, all of which tion studies, Staudinger and coworkers found
are necessary steps on the road to personal that by either providing for a certain type of
wisdom, obviously are not prone to increase social performance context, that is, discussing
subjective well-being in the sense of hedonic the difficult life problem with a real or imag-
well-being as captured by measures of life sat- inary confidant (Staudinger & Baltes 1996),
isfaction or positive and negative affect. These or by teaching a certain knowledge search
processes, however, are prone to increase eu- strategy (Böhmig-Krumhaar et al. 2002), gen-
daimonic well-being as captured by measures eral wisdom-related performance was signifi-
of personal wisdom (Waterman 1993). cantly increased. Thus, interventions that help
Third, personal life events did not to activate individuals’ actual wisdom-related
contribute to the prediction of general reserves can enhance wisdom-related perfor-
wisdom-related performance, but they played mance. However, activation of abstract concep-
an important role when predicting personal tions about wisdom (by means of the instruction
wisdom scores (Mickler & Staudinger 2008). to “try to give a wise response”) does not lead
This is in line with the finding that traumatic to increases in performance (Glück & Baltes
life experiences can be conducive to the 2006).
development of (personal) wisdom (e.g., Baltes Similarly, a first intervention study using
et al. 1995), a notion prominent in concepts the Bremen measure of personal wisdom
such as posttraumatic growth (e.g., Calhoun & was successful, but also once more proved
Tedeschi 2006), stress-related growth (Aldwin different from general wisdom. In contrast to
& Levenson 2001, Park et al. 1996), or growth the findings for general wisdom (Staudinger
through adversity (e.g., Joseph & Linley & Baltes 1996), personal wisdom was not
2006). After negative experiences such as facilitated by the opportunity to exchange ideas
accidents, life-threatening illness, or the death with a familiar person before responding to
of a close other person, many people report a personal-wisdom task. Rather, it was found
self-perceived increases in aspects of personal that instruction about how to infer insight from
growth such as compassion, affect regulation, personal experiences (cf. life review; Staudinger

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

2001) significantly increased personal wisdom interpreted to foster transcendence of self-

scores (cf. Staudinger et al. 2006). The authors centered patterns of perception, emotion reg-
interpreted this finding such that in the case ulation, and motivation as well as judgment
of personal wisdom, the exchange with a (Singer & Ricard 2008). In turn, this kind of
well-known other person may be less helpful, transcendence can be linked to components
as relationships tend to develop in ways that of wisdom and training interventions derived
partners get along well without touching upon from the Berlin paradigm or Sternberg’s bal-
sensitive issues. Thus, for personal wisdom ance theory that at first sight seem juxtaposed
to be facilitated, it seems more useful to seek to spiritual approaches to wisdom.
support from someone unknown and trained For example, Sternberg (2004, Sternberg
to support the life-reflection process, such as a et al. 2009) has proposed to foster the develop-
psychotherapist. ment of wisdom by teaching certain skills and
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In sum, experimental studies yielded the ways of thinking, which can be viewed as pre-
first encouraging evidence that both general decessors or components of wisdom, as part of
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

and personal wisdom can be facilitated. Con- educational curricula. Such a wisdom curricu-
sequently, we may ask how such wisdom- lum would include, for example, reading clas-
conducive conditions can be implemented in sical wisdom literature, practicing dialectical
everyday life. thinking, and encouraging students to reflect
and discuss their own values (Sternberg 2001a,
Sternberg et al. 2009). In this vein, the ontoge-
FIELDS OF APPLICATIONS netic model of wisdom, introduced above, can
FOR WISDOM help to identify crucial antecedents of wisdom
that may be fostered very early in life. For ex-
Teaching Wisdom
ample, empathy (Eisenberg 2008) and mindful-
An obvious application of the growing psycho- ness (Langer 1989) may be candidate constructs
logical knowledge about the antecedents of wis- that can be fostered in childhood. A family cli-
dom as well as facilitating and hampering con- mate that models values of acceptance, respect,
ditions would be to develop effective methods and nonselfishness and later encourages discus-
to teach wisdom, be it in children or in adults. sion of moral perspectives and value differences
Some such approaches have been or are cur- could be another ingredient. Mindfulness train-
rently being developed based on psychological ing in kindergarten and elementary school may
research; other approaches come from ancient help children to concentrate and to learn to per-
religious and spiritual traditions. A broad spec- ceive oneself, others, and the world around.
trum of conceptions of teaching for wisdom is As discussed above, the acquisition of per-
presented in Ferrari & Potworowski (2008); ap- sonal wisdom presents a still bigger challenge.
proaches focusing on school contexts are sug- The personal-wisdom intervention study de-
gested by Sternberg and colleagues (2009). scribed above (Staudinger et al. 2006), for ex-
It has been argued that whether wisdom is ample, supported the assumption that certain
viewed as teachable and which teaching meth- ways to reflect upon our experiences (i.e., life
ods are considered the most promising seem reflection) as well as a knowledgeable coun-
to depend on how one defines wisdom (Ferrari terpart to support this reflection process may
2008; see Curnow 2008 for a historical overview be one way to proceed—both are central ele-
of the different meanings of teaching wisdom). ments of most psychotherapeutical approaches.
We are not so sure whether this statement per- The importance and facilitative effect of a “wis-
sists once we look more closely into the specific dom mentor” can be found in almost all ap-
goals and actual mechanisms of transforma- proaches to wisdom, be they ancient or contem-
tion. For instance, certain religious practices, poraneous, religious or scientific. In fact, many
such as meditation (e.g., Rosch 2008), may be people remember episodes in which someone

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

(a therapist, a grandparent, a close friend, or has developed a psychological model that

maybe just a stranger) told them something defines leadership as a synthesis of creativity,
that they considered wise because it trans- intelligence, and wisdom. Specifically, he
formed their perspective on a problem or sit- derives from his balance theory of wisdom
uation fundamentally. Such “small transforma- (Sternberg 1998) that wise leadership makes
tions,” achieved just by words, are often long use of creativity, successful intelligence, and
remembered and may be the instances where expertise in the respective field to (a) seek a
wisdom most often shows in the real world common good, (b) balance different interests,
(Montgomery et al. 2002). Thus, as the social and (c) deal with environments appropriately
nature of wisdom suggests, much “training” in (i.e., by adapting to, shaping, or selecting
wisdom can be obtained by observing, interact- them). Due to his/her cognitive complexity,
ing with, and getting advice from a wise mentor reflection, and self-criticism, a wise leader will
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(Glück & Bluck 2010). Research has also shown, not show cognitive fallacies such as prioritizing
however, that in the case of personal wisdom, short-term over long-term perspectives or
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

the mentor should not be too closely involved overestimating one’s own knowledge or power.
with the mentee. Otherwise, established rela- In this vein, wise leaders will effectively draw
tional patterns compromise an impartial view. upon the strengths of others in their team and
not only rely on themselves.
We tend to believe that although wisdom
Leadership may be a highly desirable quality for those in-
When researchers ask people to name famous dividuals who steer the fates of our modern so-
wise individuals, a number of the typical nomi- ciety and economy, there are some systematic
nees can be referred to as leaders, e.g., Mahatma reasons (e.g., strong interests such as the search
Gandhi, Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, for power or the optimization of profit) why
and Nelson Mandela (Paulhus et al. 2002). wisdom, in the strict sense that we have sug-
All of these individuals have inspired large gested in this article, may be a rare quality of
numbers of people to follow them and their those who are successful enough to reach and
vision and have been successful in changing the maintain leadership positions. Thus, wisdom
world in fundamental ways. It is not surprising, may only partly, or under specific conditions,
therefore, that connections between leadership be necessary and effective for good leadership.
and wisdom have been made by a number of Early leadership theories assumed that
researchers. certain general traits make some people prone
Leadership is a somewhat vague term that, to be leaders (for a modern trait perspective
similar to wisdom, has been associated with a on leadership, see Zaccaro 2007, Zaccaro et al.
large number of positive qualities rather than 2004). Specifically, intelligence, adjustment,
clearly differentiated from other constructs. extraversion, conscientiousness, openness to
Sternberg (2003) emphasizes the distinction experience, dominance, and self-efficacy are
between leadership and management: Man- frequently named as relevant traits (Foti &
agement refers to problem-solving and goal Hauenstein 2007, Judge et al. 2002, Lord et al.
creation within the framework of a given 1986). This list shows some overlap but also
organization, whereas leadership involves notable differences from typical correlates of
visionary qualities aimed at development wisdom (e.g., Staudinger et al. 1997). Intelli-
of individuals and the organization, based gence and openness to experience are important
on a broad and future-oriented perspective. parts of both constructs. However, wisdom is
There is a growing literature on wisdom related to intermediate rather than high levels
in leadership and management (see, e.g., of extraversion, whereas conscientiousness
Kilburg 2006; Rooney & McKenna 2007; clearly is important for life success (i.e., lead-
Sternberg 2003, 2007). Sternberg (2003, 2007) ership) but not as important for transcending

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 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

given circumstances (i.e., wisdom). Dominance particular, the larger goals of an organization
does not often go well with self-criticism can be more or less compatible with wisdom.
and unobtrusiveness, and high levels of self- The wise public leaders named above all repre-
efficacy may be an indicator of internal control sent movements that changed societies at large
illusions (such as Sternberg’s omnipotence (i.e., transcended given circumstances) toward
fallacy) rather than seeing through illusions a greater common good. An organization or a
(Dörner 2006, McKee & Barber 1999). Other civic movement may, however, also follow self-
important facets of wisdom such as emotional centered (e.g., profit-maximizing) or malevo-
complexity, balance, self-transcendence, and lent (e.g., racist) goals. Such goals are obviously
benevolent values are typical of some but incompatible with wise leadership even if the
certainly not all successful leaders. organizational structure allows them.
In contrast to trait theories, situational-
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contingency models of leadership (e.g., Fiedler

1965/2006, Vroom & Jago 2007) assume that
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CONCLUSIONS AND
the efficiency of a leadership style depends on FUTURE RESEARCH
the demands of the situation, for instance, on
In recent years, a notable increase of psycho-
features of the organizational context. In relat-
logical work on the topic of wisdom has been
ing such approaches to wisdom, one may argue
observed, a development that may be related
that some contexts are more conducive to wise
to a general interest in features of a positive
leadership than others. For example, there is
psychology as well as an ever-increasing uncer-
evidence that wise leadership is possible only
tainty of individuals about how to lead their lives
in organizational cultures that value support-
in postmodern and destructuralized times. The
iveness und team orientation as opposed to ag-
growth and scope of research over the previous
gressiveness or decisiveness (Limas & Hansson
few decades demonstrate that wisdom repre-
2004). Thus, although some qualities of wis-
sents a fruitful topic for psychological investi-
dom such as metacognition and self-reflection
gations, for at least two reasons. First, the study
(Kilburg 2006) or values emphasizing the com-
of wisdom emphasizes the search for continued
mon good (Sternberg 2003, 2007) may seem
optimization and the further cultural evolution
highly desirable in leaders, they may not be the
of the human condition; second, it allows for
best predictors of success in the economy or in
the study of the collaboration between cogni-
politics. Thus, in the face of economic crises,
tive, emotional, and motivational processes.
it may be more useful to devise structural de-
We expect that future research on wisdom
mands that counteract cognitive fallacies rather
will be expanded in several ways.
than hope for individual wise leaders to solve
the problem. 1. The further identification of social and
A situational contingency model would also personality factors and life processes rel-
suggest, however, that a truly wise leader knows evant for the ontogeny of wisdom. Why
which leadership style to use with whom and in do some individuals develop further on
what situation. For example, Malan & Kriger the road to wisdom in the course of their
(1998) have argued that the key to manage- life while most of us do not? Is it pos-
rial wisdom is perceptiveness to and tolerance sible to distinguish societies according to
of variability—for example, variability between how much they facilitate the development
organizational levels, over time, between peo- of wisdom? Wisdom theorists agree that
ple, between relationships, and in the construc- the development of wisdom is a complex
tion of meaning in the work context (see also interaction of intraindividual, interindi-
Limas & Hansson 2004). As mentioned above, vidual, and external factors that dynami-
it seems likely that these traits are more con- cally interact over the course of an indi-
sistent with some contexts than with others. In vidual life (e.g., Baltes & Staudinger 2000,

www.annualreviews.org • Psychological Wisdom Research 235

 PS62CH09-Staudinger ARI 11 November 2010 12:33

Brugman 2006, Kramer 2000, Sternberg 3. More specific work on contemporary cul-
1998). To date, however, only very few tural similarities and differences. Cross-
longitudinal data are available that help cultural comparisons need to be carried
to trace these interactions and possibly out with an open mind toward any out-
identify different types of developmen- come and with the use of a variety of mea-
tal trajectories leading toward wisdom surement paradigms. The application of
(e.g., Helson & Roberts 1994). These in- stereotypical conceptions of Eastern and
vestigations into the ontogenesis of wis- Western wisdom will not help to further
dom will also help to clarify the develop- our understanding of the phenomenon in
mental dynamics between personal and the long run. It seems important that re-
general wisdom. To further our insight searchers in this area move beyond the in-
into the development of wisdom, it will vestigation of cultural differences in sub-
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also be important to apply recent neu- jective theories of wisdom and begin to
ropsychological work on social-cognitive study actual expressions of wisdom in dif-
Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2011.62:215-241. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org

processes. ferent cultural contexts.

2. The further exploration of wisdom 4. The differentiation between personal and
beyond the person. As mentioned at the general wisdom and their ontogenetic dy-
beginning of this review, wisdom does namics. The controversy among wisdom
not necessarily need to be viewed as a researchers about the definition of wis-
characteristic of individuals, but may also dom will probably never be resolved un-
be seen as a characteristic of problem equivocally. The question may not be
solutions in a very general sense. While which model is “right,” but rather how
psychological wisdom research has had much can be learned about wisdom by in-
a tendency to focus on wise individuals, tegrating the findings from different con-
creativity researchers distinguished four ceptualizations and operationalizations of
ways of looking at their subject early wisdom, as well as what can be learned for
on (Rhodes 1961): person, product, designing the best interventions that are
process, and press (i.e., the environ- apt to facilitate wisdom.
mental demands). Wisdom research All of these approaches may contribute to
would likely profit from studying the building a psychological art of living based on
wisdom of “products” such as political life insight and life composition by integrating
or legal decisions and the “processes” the analytic, aesthetic, and moral aspects of hu-
of dealing wisely with life problems or man life (Staudinger 1999b) and to improving
environmental factors such as effects of societal ways of fostering wisdom and of deal-
social-contextual conditions, in addition ing with difficult problems of today’s world in
to personal characteristics on wisdom. a wise way (e.g., Sternberg et al. 2009).

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT
The authors are not aware of any affiliations, memberships, funding, or financial holdings that
might be perceived as affecting the objectivity of this review.

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Annual Review of
Psychology

Volume 62, 2011 Contents

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Prefatory
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The Development of Problem Solving in Young Children:

A Critical Cognitive Skill
Rachel Keen p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 1
Decision Making
The Neuroscience of Social Decision-Making
James K. Rilling and Alan G. Sanfey p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p23
Speech Perception
Speech Perception
Arthur G. Samuel p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p49
Attention and Performance
A Taxonomy of External and Internal Attention
Marvin M. Chun, Julie D. Golomb, and Nicholas B. Turk-Browne p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p73
Language Processing
The Neural Bases of Social Cognition and Story Comprehension
Raymond A. Mar p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 103
Reasoning and Problem Solving
Causal Learning and Inference as a Rational Process:
The New Synthesis
Keith J. Holyoak and Patricia W. Cheng p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 135
Emotional, Social, and Personality Development
Development in the Early Years: Socialization, Motor Development,
and Consciousness
Claire B. Kopp p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 165
Peer Contagion in Child and Adolescent Social
and Emotional Development
Thomas J. Dishion and Jessica M. Tipsord p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 189

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Adulthood and Aging

Psychological Wisdom Research: Commonalities and Differences in a
Growing Field
Ursula M. Staudinger and Judith Glück p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 215
Development in the Family
Socialization Processes in the Family: Social and
Emotional Development
Joan E. Grusec p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 243
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Psychopathology
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Delusional Belief
Max Coltheart, Robyn Langdon, and Ryan McKay p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 271
Therapy for Specific Problems
Long-Term Impact of Prevention Programs to Promote Effective
Parenting: Lasting Effects but Uncertain Processes
Irwin N. Sandler, Erin N. Schoenfelder, Sharlene A. Wolchik,
and David P. MacKinnon p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 299
Self and Identity
Do Conscious Thoughts Cause Behavior?
Roy F. Baumeister, E.J. Masicampo, and Kathleen D. Vohs p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 331
Neuroscience of Self and Self-Regulation
Todd F. Heatherton p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 363
Attitude Change and Persuasion
Attitudes and Attitude Change
Gerd Bohner and Nina Dickel p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 391
Cross-Country or Regional Comparisons
Culture, Mind, and the Brain: Current Evidence and Future Directions
Shinobu Kitayama and Ayse K. Uskul p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 419
Cognition in Organizations
Heuristic Decision Making
Gerd Gigerenzer and Wolfgang Gaissmaier p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 451
Structures and Goals of Educational Settings
Early Care, Education, and Child Development
Deborah A. Phillips and Amy E. Lowenstein p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 483

Contents vii
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Psychophysiological Disorders and Psychological Dimensions

on Medical Disorders
Psychological Perspectives on Pathways Linking Socioeconomic Status
and Physical Health
Karen A. Matthews and Linda C. Gallo p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 501
Psychological Science on Pregnancy: Stress Processes, Biopsychosocial
Models, and Emerging Research Issues
Christine Dunkel Schetter p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 531
Research Methodology
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The Development of Autobiographical Memory

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The Disaggregation of Within-Person and Between-Person Effects in
Longitudinal Models of Change
Patrick J. Curran and Daniel J. Bauer p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 583
Thirty Years and Counting: Finding Meaning in the N400
Component of the Event-Related Brain Potential (ERP)
Marta Kutas and Kara D. Federmeier p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 621

Indexes

Cumulative Index of Contributing Authors, Volumes 52–62 p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 000

Cumulative Index of Chapter Titles, Volumes 52–62 p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p 000

Errata

An online log of corrections to Annual Review of Psychology articles may be found at

http://psych.AnnualReviews.org/errata.shtml

viii Contents