Thin-Slice Measurement of Wisdom

Resting state default mode network is associated with wise advising

Default mode network (DMN) may be associated with wisdom (i.e., mature understanding of life featured by perspectival metacognition) when advising from a self-referential perspective due to the involvement of the DMN in reflecting on personal life experiences. After a resting-state functional MRI scan, 52 adults advised some youths going through life dilemmas, half from a second-person perspective and half from a third. After advising each youth, participants indicated the psychological distance they felt between themselves and the youth. The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF) was measured in the DMN during resting states. Moreover, trained raters rated the participants' advice on wisdom criteria (i.e., metacognitive humility (MH), meta-level flexibility, and perspective-taking). The results showed that participants felt a significantly smaller psychological distance from the youth when advising from the second- than the third-person perspective. Moreover, only when advising from the second-person perspective was MH associated with ALFF in regions within the DMN (i.e., right rostral anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex). The right rostral ACC showed a significantly greater association with MH from the second- than the third-person perspective. Therefore, resting-state DMN activities may be important for self-involved wisdom performance (e.g., giving advice directly to others).

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.

Expressions of anger during advising on life dilemmas predict suicide risk among college students

Research has demonstrated a relationship between anger and suicidality, while real-time authentic emotions behind facial expressions could be detected during advising hypothetical protagonists in life dilemmas. This study aimed to investigate the predictive validity of anger expressions during advising for suicide risk. Besides advising on life dilemmas (a friend's betrayal, a friend's suicide attempt), 130 adults completed the suicidal scale of the Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Participants' anger during advice-giving was measured 29 times/s by artificial intelligence (AI)-based software FaceReader 7.1. The results showed that anger was a significant predictor of suicide risk. Increased anger during advising was associated with higher suicide risk. In contrast, there was no significant correlation between suicide risk and duration or length of advising. Therefore, measuring micro expressions of anger with AI-based software may help detect suicide risk among clinical patients in both traditional and online counseling contexts and help prevent suicide.

Stronger resting-state neural oscillations associated with wiser advising from the 2nd- but not the 3rd-person perspective

This is the first electroencephalogram study exploring the personal perspective effect on wise advising. Participants advised hypothetical protagonists in life dilemmas from both the 2nd- and 3rd-person perspective. Their advice for each dilemma was rated by two independent raters on wisdom criteria, i.e., metacognitive humility, metacognitive flexibility, and perspective taking. The results revealed that participants felt a significantly shorter psychological distance from protagonists when advising from the 2nd- (vs. the 3rd-) person perspective, p < 0.001. However, there was no significant effect of perspective condition on the wisdom score. Nevertheless, stronger resting-state absolute EEG powers in the frontal lobe were associated with wiser advising from the 2nd-, but not the 3rd-person perspective. Moreover, Z tests revealed that the correlations between the resting-state absolute EEG powers and wisdom scores were significantly stronger during advising from the 2nd- than the 3rd-person perspective. These results suggest that advising from the 2nd-person perspective was more self-related, and mental activities during rest contributed to advising from the 2nd- but not the 3rd-person perspective.

Effects of Causal Attribution and Implicit Mind-Set on Wisdom Development

This study investigates the relationship between motivation and the development of wisdom. Eighty Canadian participants were interviewed and completed Ardelt's Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS). Using a mixed method design, we assessed wisdom definitions, interpersonal causal attributions, and mind-set about developing wisdom. A chi-square analysis revealed a significant relationship between attribution and mind-set about wisdom development. Two multivariate analyses of variance showed that both factors significantly influenced wisdom scores on the 3D-WS. These results suggest that people who consider wisdom development to be controllable and believe that their personal wisdom can be developed (i.e., growth mind-set) tend to be wiser, regardless of their definition of wisdom. By introducing the importance of mind-set and attribution, this study will open new avenues for research on teaching for wisdom and allow educators to develop programs to cultivate wisdom that focus on altering attribution and mind-set.

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.

Sadder but wiser: Emotional reactions and wisdom in a simulated suicide intervention

Scholars within the Berlin paradigm have analysed participants' responses to a hypothetical vignette about a friend's suicide ideation. However, no study has yet focused on participants' emotional reactions to this scenario, an important aspect of wisdom performance. We conducted a Thin-Slice Wisdom study where participants were asked to give advice to a hypothetical friend contemplating suicide. We analysed their emotional profiles using facial expression analysis software (FACET2.1 and FACEREADER7.1). Participants' verbal responses were also transcribed and then scored by 10 raters using the Berlin criteria. Results revealed that the sadder the participants felt, the wiser their performance. Wiser participants may have been better at exploring this sad, but true, existential human dilemma.