Hard-Earned Wisdom: Exploratory Processing of Difficult Life Experience is Positively Associated with Wisdom
Abstract
Laypersons and experts believe that wisdom is cultivated through a diverse range of positive and negative
life experiences. Yet, not all individuals with life experience are wise. We propose that one possible
determinant of growth in wisdom from life experience is self-reflection. In a life span sample of adults
(N = 94) ranging from 26 to 92 years of age, we examined wisdom’s relationship to self-reflection by
investigating “why” people report reflecting on the past (i.e., reminiscence functions) and “how” they
reflect within autobiographical memories of difficult life events (i.e., autobiographical reasoning). We
assessed wisdom using self-report, performance, and nomination approaches. Results indicated that
wisdom was unrelated to the frequency of self-reflection; however, wiser people differed from others in
their (a) reasons for reminiscence and (b) mode of autobiographical reasoning. Across 3 methods for
assessing wisdom, wisdom was positively associated with exploratory processing of difficult life
experience (meaning-making, personal growth), whereas redemptive processing (positive emotional
reframing, event resolution) was positively associated with adjustment. This study suggests that developmental
pathways in the wake of adversity may be partially determined by how individuals selfreflectively
process significant life experiences.
... The empirical study profiled here is not an exception to this trend, as we only tracked participants for one year. This may not capture the full impact of adversity on wisdom, which may take longer to develop after facing challenges (Ardelt & Jeste, 2016;Weststrate & Glück, 2017). Notably, researchers should be careful not to make vague arguments about the optimal timing of adversity, and instead use clear definitions and pre-registered hypotheses. ...
Does wisdom help people navigate adversity and grow from it? We present a new multilevel framework of wisdom and well-being in response to adversity that integrates perspectives on post-traumatic growth and resilience. We tested our framework with a year-long longitudinal study (N = 499) that captured the following features of wisdom in participants’ reflections on adversity: intellectual humility, open-mindedness to change, perspectivism, and prosocial aspirations. We also examined how self-reflection, meaning-making, and capitalization (relational support when sharing events with others) influence changes in wisdom over time. Results showed that wisdom differences between individuals were associated with more self-distanced reflection, greater emotional and cognitive significance of adversity, and greater capitalization. However, self-distanced reflection was the only factor that predicted increases in wisdom over time within individuals. Moreover, higher levels of wisdom were associated with higher subjective and relational well-being across individuals, but not with changes in well-being within individuals over time. Additionally, wisdom was best represented as a network rather than a hierarchy of features. We discuss the findings within the context of the existing literature on wisdom and adversity, from which we identify three methodological shortcomings that have characterized past studies: the overuse of cross-sectional designs that do not capture change over time; a lack of temporal specificity that confounds different stages of coping; and an overarching cultural bias that ignores diverse perspectives on wisdom and adversity. We conclude by suggesting future research directions to address these limitations.
... It can also be manifested by the willingness to open up new experiences, realize the potential, and improve self and behavior from time to time. One's personal growth can be seen from his open attitude, creativity, and readiness to face life transitions, by which he has the opportunity to grow from time to time through difficult life experiences (Weststrate & Glück, 2017;Gostoli, 2017;Akram, 2019;Bagnall, 2020). This is because the knowledge he possesses has increased to deal with changing life transitions and readiness to grow from time to time. ...
Psychological well-being is a positive and critical aspect the students must have. However, research to identify individual psychological conditions, especially in completing final projects, is rarely done. For this reason, this study aimed to describe the psychological well-being of students who are completing their final projects. The research method used was a survey. The sample of this research with a sample of 271 students. Researchers utilized students' psychological well-being scales to collect the data. The instrument obtained 32 items considered valid. The data analysis used is descriptive analysis using SPSS 24. The results showed that 32% of students had psychological well-being that tended to be high to very high, 36% had psychological well-being at a moderate level, and 32% had psychological well-being that tended to be low to very low. Individual psychological well-being was described more by personal growth than by the individual's ability to master the environment, autonomy, self-acceptance, purpose in life, and positive relationships with others.
... To note, in the wisdom literature, one study has looked at the relationship between mental and somatic practices (e.g., meditation, classical ballet) and wisdom (Williams et al., 2016). Difficult life challenges, such as near-death experiences, have also been found to predict enhanced wisdom via greater self-reflection (Glück et al., 2019;Kinnier et al., 2011;Webster & Deng, 2014;Weststrate & Glück, 2017). For our SELF-TRANSCENDENCE & WISE REASONING 6 contribution, we attempt to identify if more accessible life experiences--specifically, self-transcendent ones--may facilitate wisdom. ...
Having good moral character often involves shifting one’s focus of attention from the self to others and the world. Across three studies (N = 605 adults), we found converging evidence that self-transcendent experiences, specifically awe and flow, enabled the expression of wisdom, as captured by wise reasoning and epistemic humility measures. Study 1 found that dispositionally awe- and flow-prone people have stronger wise reasoning and epistemic humility abilities, over and above dispositional happiness. Consistent with Study 1, Study 2 found that, across diverse recalled experiences, individuals who experienced more awe showed greater wise reasoning, and those who experienced more flow showed greater epistemic humility. In Study 3, using situated interventions, we induced awe (watching a video involving vast nature scenes) and flow (composing a song using an online music maker) and compared them with neutral and amusement experiences. Compared to these control conditions, eliciting awe and flow facilitated one’s (1) ability to address interpersonal conflicts with wise reasoning, (2) ability to acknowledge one’s epistemic gaps, and (3) willingness to improve those aspects and one’s general moral character. Altogether, these findings reveal the promising role of self-transcendent experiences in motivating people to appreciate others’ perspectives beyond one’s own.
Emerging adults’ approaches to personal development in life may be revealed in their conception of wisdom resources (WRs), i.e., factors that lead to the development of wisdom. We explored the conception of WRs among 453 Chinese emerging and young adults aged 18–30. Participants completed an online questionnaire covering 19 potential WRs proposed by experts in the psychological study of wisdom and non-experts in Western and Chinese cultures. Participants indicated how much they agreed these factors lead to wisdom development. Afterward, they reported additional WRs not listed. The results revealed that “willingness to learn” was the most endorsed WR, while “religious/spiritual experience” was the least. Moreover, the conception of WRs varied significantly across different genders, ages, and education levels. Finally, although the conception of WRs among our participants was similar to that among Western laypeople, participants reported culturally unique WRs (e.g., motivation to pursue positive experiences, physical and psychological health). These findings may inspire future research on emerging adults’ wisdom development.
Assertions that reflection plays a critical role in both our individual growth and professional success are reinforced by personal experience and empirical research from around the world. Those keen to engage in the key skill of reflection can access a ‘sea of support’ that includes academic papers, modular-based websites, practical handouts, and peer assistance. In contrast, those wishing to engage in self-reflection are likely to be discouraged by the modest amount of quality information and resources that are readily available for practical use. Prompted, in part, by the concluding commentaries offered by Brownhill (2022a Brownhill, S. (2022a). Asking key questions of self-reflection. Reflective Practice, 23(1), 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2021.1976628[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], 2022b Brownhill, S. (2022b). Asking more key questions of self-reflection. Reflective Practice, 23(2), 279–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2021.2013192[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), this thoughtpiece offers a refreshing literature-based exploration of self-reflection as an essential act, facilitated by asking and answering additional key questions such as what additional definitions and types of self-reflection exist, what is the process of self-reflection, and how can self-reflective activity be undertaken and encouraged in others. Written to be accessible in both content and scope, this thoughtpiece serves as a constructive ‘go-to’/short resource that has the potential to help individuals self-reflect as part of their personal learning and professional development/practice with enhanced understanding, assurance, and enjoyment.
This chapter reviews both the empirical evidence and the prevalent theoretical positions on the relationship between wisdom and intelligence. In short, wisdom includes aspects of intelligence but is far more than “just” intelligence. Wisdom integrates the ability to think about complex issues in a complex way with certain personality facets such as openness to experience and empathy with others, motivational facets such as a deep curiosity about the fundamental questions of the human existence, and a willingness to critically reflect upon oneself, and ethical facets, such as a concern for a greater good that is strong enough to overrule more egoistical or self-enhancing goals. Together, these different components lead individuals to acquire a strong body of broad and deep knowledge about the human existence that makes these individuals a source of advice on how to live a good life.
Wisdom is such an elusive psychological construct that few people have considered it a viable field, though many are fascinated by the topic. Well-known psychologist Robert J. Sternberg of Yale University, perceiving the growth of interest in wisdom as a field, saw a need to document the progress that has been made in the field since the early '80s and to point the way for future theory and research. The resulting comprehensive and authoritative book, Wisdom: Its Nature, Origins and Development, is a well-rounded collection of psychological views on wisdom. It introduces this concept of wisdom, considers philosophical issues and developmental approaches, and covers as well folk conceptions of the topic. In the final section, Professor Sternberg provides an integration of the fascinating and comprehensive material.
Any complete science of personal wisdom must consider wisdom in a narrative mode. We argue that life narratives not only offer a rich viewpoint from which to study personal wisdom, but from a process perspective, we propose that crafting meaningful stories may be central to the development of personal wisdom itself. In particular, we point to two capacities that may be particularly important to the development of wisdom: autobiographical reasoning and narrative simulation. Autobiographical reasoning refers to the sophistication with which we reflect on our lives and gain insight from past experiences. Narrative simulation concerns our ability to project ourselves into the storyworld of historical and/or literary figures who are exemplars of wisdom and also our ability to simulate hypothetical narratives of our own lives that have not yet come to pass. Some evidence for this view is provided from a study on engagement with cultural master narratives of wisdom.
In the life story, autobiographical remembering and self-understanding are combined to create a coherent account of one's past. A gap is demonstrated between developmental research on the story-organization of autobiographical remembering of events in childhood and of life narratives in adulthood. This gap is bridged by substantiating D. P. McAdams's (1985) claim that the life story develops in adolescence. Two manifestations of the life story, life narratives and autobiographical reasoning, are delineated in terms of 4 types of global coherence (temporal, biographical, causal, and thematic). A review of research shows that the cognitive tools necessary for constrtlcting global coherence in a life story and the social-motivational demands to construct a life story develop during adolescence. The authors delineate the implications of the life story framework for other research areas such as coping, attachment, psychotherapeutic process, and the organization of autobiographical memory. DOI 10.1037/0033-2909.126.5.748
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Wisdom is such an elusive psychological construct that few people have considered it a viable field, though many are fascinated by the topic. Well-known psychologist Robert J. Sternberg of Yale University, perceiving the growth of interest in wisdom as a field, saw a need to document the progress that has been made in the field since the early '80s and to point the way for future theory and research. The resulting comprehensive and authoritative book, Wisdom: Its Nature, Origins and Development, is a well-rounded collection of psychological views on wisdom. It introduces this concept of wisdom, considers philosophical issues and developmental approaches, and covers as well folk conceptions of the topic. In the final section, Professor Sternberg provides an integration of the fascinating and comprehensive material.
Drawing from the author's psychological research on especially generative (that is, caring and productive) midlife American adults and on a reading of American cultural history and literature, this book identifies a prototypical story of the good life that many Americans employ to make sense of who they are, who they have been, and who they will be in the future. The central theme in this story is redemption - the deliverance from suffering to a positive status or outcome. Empirical research suggests that highly generative American adults are much more likely than their less generative counterparts to construe their lives as tales of redemption. Redemptive life stories promote psychological well-being, physical health, and the adult's commitment to making a positive contribution to society. But stories of redemption are as much cultural texts as they are individual psychological constructions. From the spiritual autobiographies composed by the Massachusetts Bay Puritans to the most recent episodes of the Oprah Winfrey Show, common scripts for the redemptive self may be found in religious accounts of conversion and atonement, the rags-to-riches stories of the American dream, and canonical cultural narratives about personal liberation, freedom, and recovery. The book examines the psychological and cultural dynamics of redemptive life narratives, including the role of American religion and self-help as sources for the construction of life stories and the broad similarities, as well as the striking differences in how African-American and Euro-American adults construct redemptive stories of the self. For all their psychological and cultural power, redemptive life stories sometimes reveal important limitations in American identity. For example, some versions of the redemptive self underscore the naïve expectation that suffering will always be overcome and the arrogance of seeing one's own life as the living out of a personal manifest destiny.
The rich and diverse contributions to this volume span a wide variety of disciplines, from psychology and philosophy to neuroscience, by some of the most influential scholars in the emerging science of personal wisdom. As such, it is a collection of essential readings and the first publication to integrate both the spiritual and pragmatic dimensions of personal wisdom.
The content of the book goes beyond speculative theory to present a wealth of scientific research currently under way in this expanding field. It also describes numerous promising methods now being deployed in the quest for scientific knowledge of the elusive, yet critical, phenomenon of personal wisdom. The book is an excellent introduction to the field for novice researchers as well as a stimulating and enlightening resource for established experts. Its broad appeal makes it a vital addition to the libraries of academics and practitioners in many disciplines, from developmental psychology to gerontology and from philosophy to contemplative religious traditions such as Buddhism.