The nature of wisdom
University of Waterloo
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People view wisdom through the
lens of applying knowledge and thinking logically as well as considering
others' feelings and perceptions, finds a new study led by University of
Waterloo researchers who looked at perceptions of wisdom across 12 countries
and five continents.
Researchers examined the underlying principles guiding who
we perceive as wise in political leadership, science, and daily life.
Across different cultures, participants' judgements
converged on two dimensions: reflective orientation and socio-emotional
awareness.
Reflective orientation includes characteristics such as
thinking logically, emotion control and application of knowledge.
Socio-emotional awareness includes characteristics like care
for other's feelings and attention to social context.
"To our surprise, the two dimensions emerged across all cultural regions we studied, and both were associated with explicit attribution of wisdom," said Dr. Maksim Rudnev, a postdoctoral research associate in psychology at Waterloo and lead author.
The study suggests how people around the world might judge,
support and trust leaders, educators and others in positions of influence.
One example is how people view U.S. former president Donald
Trump and current president Joe Biden.
"While both dimensions of wisdom work together, people
associate wisdom more with the reflective orientation. If someone is viewed as
not able to reflect and think logically, then perceptions of them as
socio-emotionally competent and moral won't compensate," said Dr. Igor
Grossmann, the senior corresponding author and the director of the Wisdom and
Culture Lab at the University of Waterloo.
"You could see it in the immediate aftermath of the
infamous Trump-Biden 2024 presidential debate: both candidates did not appear
reflective, yet Trump seemed to have won the debate with many viewers
perceiving Biden as socio-emotionally well-meaning but cognitively frail."
The collaboration among 26 research institutions was
coordinated by the Geography of Philosophy consortium and included researchers
from North and South Americas (Canada, U.S., Ecuador and Peru), Asia (China,
India, Japan, and South Korea), Africa (Morocco and South Africa), and Europe
(Slovakia).
The study involved 2,707 participants from 16
socio-economically and culturally diverse groups.
They were prompted to compare 10 individuals, including
scientists, politicians, and teachers, in the context of making a difficult
choice in a real-life scenario without a clear right or wrong answer.
The participants were then asked to rate the degree of
wisdom of these individuals and themselves.
The data was analyzed to identify underlying dimensions
governing perceptions of wisdom among individuals and between groups.
"Interestingly, our participants considered themselves
inferior to most exemplars of wisdom in regard to reflective orientation but
were less self-conscious when it comes to socio-emotional
characteristics," Rudnev said.
"Understanding perceptions of wisdom around the world has implications for leadership, education and cross-cultural communication. It is the first step in understanding universal principles in how others perceive wisdom people in different contexts."
