"Gratitude is with me all the time": how gratitude relates to wisdom

Psychological Dimensions That Explain Integrity in Older Adults: Examination of a Structural Model

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this research was to confirm whether internal coping strengths, depressive symptomatology and gratitude disposition are significant predictors of integrity in older adults.

METHODS

Participated 394 Ecuadorian older adults with ages between 60 and 91 years old. Self-report were applied to assess the different variables under study. Specifically, integrity, coping, resilience, self-efficacy, mood and gratitude were assessed.

RESULTS

A confirmatory model was estimated to predict ego-integrity. A personal adjustment factor composed of problem-focused coping strategies, resilience and self-efficacy, and gratitude showed positive and significant relationships with ego-integrity, whereas negative mood negatively predicted integrity.

CONCLUSIONS

Integrity is a key variable to strengthen a coherent view of one's life history and highly relevant during ageing. Having personal strengths and dispositions that facilitate adaptation to ageing and maintaining a positive mood predicts the attainment of integrity.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Integrity is an adjustment factor that facilitates adaptation to the stressors of ageing and to major life changes and loss of control indifferent areas of life.

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

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

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

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

Gender Effect on Views of Wisdom and Wisdom Levels

Gender differences in wisdom are an important theme in mythology, philosophy, psychology, and daily life. Based on the existing psychological research, consensus and dispute exist between the two genders on the views of wisdom and in the levels of wisdom. In terms of the views of wisdom, the way men and women view wisdom is highly similar, and from the perspectives of both ordinary people and professional researchers of wisdom psychology, wise men and women are extremely similar. Regarding wisdom level, research has revealed that, although significant gender effects exist in the level of overall wisdom, reflective and affective dimension, and interpersonal conflict coping styles, the effect sizes were small, which indicated that these gender differences were not obvious. It would be desirable for future research to combine multiple wisdom measurements, strengthen research on the psychological gender effect of wisdom, and focus on the moderating role of age on the relationship between wisdom and gender.

The meaning and experience of gratitude for people living with dementia

RATIONALE

Supporting people to live well with dementia is an international government priority. People living with dementia experience a range of positive emotions despite the challenges associated with dementia. Further research is needed to explore how these positive experiences can be fostered to support well-being. There is empirical evidence of the benefits of gratitude in other clinical groups, but no studies have explored how gratitude is experienced by people living with dementia.

METHODS

In this mixed-methods study, eight people living with dementia shared their experiences of gratitude through interviews and gratitude diaries. Qualitative data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Quantitative data regarding diary use were analysed using descriptive statistics.

FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS

Gratitude holds interpersonal and transpersonal meanings for people living with dementia, balanced with challenges of dementia and ageing. This study offers insight into the existence and relevance of gratitude for people living with dementia, highlighting the importance of using multiple methods in dementia research. Positive psychology interventions informed by these findings may be effective in supporting well-being for people with dementia.

Second Acts and Second Chances: The Bumpy Road to Redemption

Throughout history, there are numerous examples of business and government leaders who have fallen from grace only to rise again, and have a “second act” and a “second chance” as a legitimate social actor or leader—that is, they achieved redemption. We explore “the road to redemption” of leaders—when and why it occurs, and what “bumps” prevent it. In our analysis, we conceptualize redemption as a process with three elements—remorse, rehabilitation, and restoration—and as an outcome (the restoration of legitimacy). We argue that achieving redemption is not a product of chance; rather, it is a social construction process of narrative creation and identity construction involving many parties. Also, the road to redemption is shaped by cultural-specific factors—and it is temporally dependent. From this framework, we identify new directions for the theory and practice of leadership.

Women and Men Differ in Relative Strengths in Wisdom Profiles: A Study of 659 Adults Across the Lifespan

Wisdom is a multi-component trait that is important for mental health and well-being. In this study, we sought to understand gender differences in relative strengths in wisdom. A total of 659 individuals aged 27-103 years completed surveys including the 3-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS) and the San Diego Wisdom Scale (SD-WISE). Analyses assessed gender differences in wisdom and gender's moderating effect on the relationship between wisdom and associated constructs including depression, loneliness, well-being, optimism, and resilience. Women scored higher on average on the 3D-WS but not on the SD-WISE. Women scored higher on compassion-related domains and on SD-WISE Self-Reflection. Men scored higher on cognitive-related domains and on SD-WISE Emotion Regulation. There was no impact of gender on the relationships between wisdom and associated constructs. Women and men have different relative strengths in wisdom, likely driven by sociocultural and biological factors. Tailoring wisdom interventions to individuals based on their profiles is an important next step.

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

Objectives

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

Method

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

Results

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

Conclusions

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

Respect, attentiveness, and growth: wisdom and beliefs about good relationships

OBJECTIVES

Human beings are social entities - our development occurs in and through interaction with others. Thus, it seems likely that relationships influence the development of wisdom, especially long-term intimate relationships in which couples share many important life experiences, and that wisdom, in turn, influences relationships. How wisdom relates to characteristics of intimate relationships has received little attention in the research literature. As a first step in a research program addressing this question, this study analyzed associations between participants' levels of wisdom and their views of a good relationship.

DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS

A sample of 155 individuals aged 23-90 years participated in two sessions including semi-structured qualitative interviews and questionnaires.

MEASUREMENTS

The participants were interviewed about their views of a good intimate relationship. Wisdom was measured using a self-report scale and two open-ended performance measures.

RESULTS

Wisdom was significantly related to some of the content categories identified in participants' views about a good relationship, although some correlations differed between wisdom measures. Emphasizing the relevance of mutual respect and conscious attention in relationships was related to both performance measures of wisdom. Paying considerate attention to the relationship and viewing it as a chance for personal development were each related to one measure of wisdom.

CONCLUSIONS

The results support the notion that wisdom is related to how participants regulate long-term relationships. We consider them as a promising first step in a research program investigating the dynamic interrelation between wisdom and intimate relationships.

More on the MORE Life Experience Model: What We Have Learned (So Far)

We have all had difficult times and challenges in our lives, and most of us feel that we learned something from those experiences. At the same time, few people actually become wise in the course of their lives - while most of us become (or remain) well-adapted and happy, generally satisfied, or even bitter or depressed. Why is it that some people, but not others, grow wise over time by learning from life's challenges (Linley & Joseph, 2004)? In the MORE Life Experience Model (Glück & Bluck, 2013), we argued that life challenges are catalysts for the development of wisdom, and that psychological resources crucially influence how people appraise life challenges, how they deal with them, and how they integrate them into their life story as time goes on. Based on the literature on wisdom and growth from challenging experiences, we proposed five resources as important for the development of wisdom: Mastery, Openness, Reflectivity, and Emotion Regulation including Empathy - in short, MORE. Since proposing the model, we have conducted a first empirical test of its predictions. This paper describes our expected and unexpected findings, which provide insights that we integrate to further refine and elaborate the MORE Life Experience Model. First, we describe the theoretical and empirical background of the original model.

Wisdom as the Mediator in the Relationships Between Meaning in Life and Attitude Toward Death

The goal of the presented research was to investigate if wisdom plays a mediating role in the relationships between meaning in life and the attitude toward death in the period of middle and late adulthood. A study was carried out that included 567 persons aged 40 to 75 years. Three measures were used: Personal Meaning Profile, Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale, and Death Attitude Profile-Revised. The conducted analyses allowed the authors to confirm the mediating role of wisdom in the relationships between meaning in life and fear of death as well as death avoidance in persons during the period of middle and late adulthood.

Measuring Wisdom: Existing Approaches, Continuing Challenges, and New Developments

The question how wisdom can best be measured is still open to debate. Currently, there are two groups of wisdom measures: open-ended performance measures and self-report measures. This overview article describes the most popular current measures of wisdom: the Berlin Wisdom Paradigm, the Bremen Wisdom Paradigm, Grossmann's wise-reasoning approach, the Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale, the Self-Assessed Wisdom Scale, and the Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory. It discusses the specific challenges of both open-ended and self-report approaches with respect to content validity, convergent and divergent validity, concurrent and discriminant validity, and ecological validity. Finally, promising new developments are outlined that may bridge the gap between wisdom as a competence and wisdom as an attitude and increase ecological validity by being more similar to real-life manifestations of wisdom. These new developments include autobiographical approaches and advice-giving paradigms.

The Cultivation of Pure Altruism via Gratitude: A Functional MRI Study of Change with Gratitude Practice

Gratitude is an emotion and a trait linked to well-being and better health, and welcoming benefits to oneself is instrumentally valuable. However, theoretical and empirical work highlights that gratitude is more fully understood as an intrinsically valuable moral emotion. To understand the role of neural reward systems in the association between gratitude and altruistic motivations we tested two hypotheses: First, whether self-reported propensity toward gratitude relates to fMRI-derived indicators of "pure altruism," operationalized as the neural valuation of passive, private transfers to a charity versus to oneself. In young adult female participants, self-reported gratitude and altruism were associated with "neural pure altruism" in ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and nucleus accumbens. Second, whether neural pure altruism can be increased through practicing gratitude. In a double-blind study, we randomly assigned participants to either a gratitude-journal or active-neutral control journal group for 3 weeks. Relative to pre-test levels, gratitude journaling increased the neural pure altruism response in the VMPFC. We posit that as a context-dependent value-sensitive cortical region, the VMPFC supports change with gratitude practice, a change that is larger for benefits to others versus oneself.

Hard-earned wisdom: Exploratory processing of difficult life experience is positively associated with wisdom

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 self-reflectively process significant life experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record

Effects of gratitude meditation on neural network functional connectivity and brain-heart coupling

A sense of gratitude is a powerful and positive experience that can promote a happier life, whereas resentment is associated with life dissatisfaction. To explore the effects of gratitude and resentment on mental well-being, we acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging and heart rate (HR) data before, during, and after the gratitude and resentment interventions. Functional connectivity (FC) analysis was conducted to identify the modulatory effects of gratitude on the default mode, emotion, and reward-motivation networks. The average HR was significantly lower during the gratitude intervention than during the resentment intervention. Temporostriatal FC showed a positive correlation with HR during the gratitude intervention, but not during the resentment intervention. Temporostriatal resting-state FC was significantly decreased after the gratitude intervention compared to the resentment intervention. After the gratitude intervention, resting-state FC of the amygdala with the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex were positively correlated with anxiety scale and depression scale, respectively. Taken together, our findings shed light on the effect of gratitude meditation on an individual’s mental well-being, and indicate that it may be a means of improving both emotion regulation and self-motivation by modulating resting-state FC in emotion and motivation-related brain regions.

What Do You Think You Are Measuring? A Mixed-Methods Procedure for Assessing the Content Validity of Test Items and Theory-Based Scaling

The valid measurement of latent constructs is crucial for psychological research. Here, we present a mixed-methods procedure for improving the precision of construct definitions, determining the content validity of items, evaluating the representativeness of items for the target construct, generating test items, and analyzing items on a theoretical basis. To illustrate the mixed-methods content-scaling-structure (CSS) procedure, we analyze the Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory, a self-report measure of wisdom (ASTI, Levenson et al., 2005). A content-validity analysis of the ASTI items was used as the basis of psychometric analyses using multidimensional item response models (N = 1215). We found that the new procedure produced important suggestions concerning five subdimensions of the ASTI that were not identifiable using exploratory methods. The study shows that the application of the suggested procedure leads to a deeper understanding of latent constructs. It also demonstrates the advantages of theory-based item analysis.