Baltes Wisdom

8/12/2019 Baltes Wisdom

1/10

The Fascination of Wisdom: Its Nature, Ontogeny, and FunctionAuthor(s): Paul B. Baltes and Jacqui Smith

Source: Perspectives on Psychological Science, Vol. 3, No. 1, From Philosophical Thinking toPsychological Empiricism, Part I (Jan., 2008), pp. 56-64Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.on behalf of Association for Psychological ScienceStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40212228.

Accessed: 16/05/2014 23:36

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at.http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of

content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Sage Publications, Inc.andAssociation for Psychological Scienceare collaborating with JSTOR to digitize,

preserve and extend access to Perspectives on Psychological Science.

http://www.jstor.org
http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sagehttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=assocpsychscihttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40212228?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/stable/40212228?origin=JSTOR-pdfhttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=assocpsychscihttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=sage


2/10

PERSPECTIVES ONPSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE

TheFascination fWisdomItsNature,Ontogeny,ndFunctionPaul B. Baltes1andJacquiSmith1'22Max Planck nstituteorHumanDevelopment,erlin,Germany,nd 2DepartmentfPsychologyndInstituteorSocial Research,UniversityfMichigan

ABSTRACTWisdom as intrigued oth cholarsand lay-personssince antiquity. n the one hand, itsseeminglyetherealyetobvious ualities re timelessnd universal.On theotherhand,these amequalities re evolving ndresponsive o historical nd cultural hange.Novelsoci-etal and personal dilemmas mergeover time, nd thewaysand meansto deal with ecurring ilemmas re re-visited nd updated withprudence. Buildingon philo-sophicalanalysesofthe roleoftheoretical ndpracticalwisdomngoodconduct nd udgment bout ifematters,psychologists ave begunto apply scientificmethods oquestions bout the nature,function, nd ontogeny fwisdom.Weoutline hese esearch irectionsndfocusonthe Berlin Wisdom aradigm,whichwas one ofthe irstattempts obringwisdom ntothe aboratory. uturere-search on wisdomwould profit rom interdisciplinarycollaboration nd creativeapplicationof new methodsdrawnfrom developmental, ocial, and cognitive sy-chology.Throughouthecenturies, isdom as been exaltednmanyculturess a desiredesourceepresentinghe deal ntegrationofknowledgend action,mind nd virtueAssmann,994;Baltes, 004;Clayton Birren,980). nantiquity,isdom asreservedor ivine eings.twasworshippedutwasbeyondhereach fmortals,ntiltwas secularizedy heGreek hilos-ophersocrates,lato,ndAristotle.ince hatime,cholarsnwesternultures ave ontemplatedhenaturef hewisdomfhuman eings nd tsrole nthe onductf ife nd the rga-nization f ociety. hisdiscourse ontinuesncontemporarystudies f thics, olitics,cience,morality,nd hemeaningflife.Wisdomsassociated ith oodudgmentnd ctions hatcontributeo livingwell e.g.,Kekes,1983, 1988; Maxwell,2004; Nozick, 989; Nussbaum, 001; Thiele, 006). Kekes

(1988),for xample, ummarizeshe mportancefwisdom,Wisdoms like ove, ntelligence,nddecencyn thatt s agood hingohave nd hemore hatwehave f t he etter eare.Theopposite fwisdoms foolishness,niversallyecog-nized obea defect p. 145).Whereas hilosophersrovideloquentnd nsightfulom-mentariesbout henature,unction,ndontogenyfwisdom,they arelyeviseways o est heir roposalsmpirically.hisis thecontributionfpsychologicalcientists. ebegin hisarticlewith brief nd selective verviewfphilosophicalperspectivesn wisdomndhow hese rereflectedn con-temporarysychologicalesearchsee Baltes, 004;BirrenSvensson, 005; Brugman,006; Collins,1962; Sternberg,1990;Sternberg Jordan,005; Thiele, 006,for xtensivereviews). or llustrativeurposes, e then ocus nthepo-tential nd imits foneattempto nvestigateisdomrompsychologicalerspective,amelyhe pproachursuedy heBerlinWisdomroject. hisproject as stablishedyPaulB.Baltes t theMaxPlanck nstituteorHuman evelopmentnBerlinnthe 980s e.g.,Baltes, 004;Baltes, ittmann-Kohli,& Dixon, 984;Smith Baltes, 989) ndwasrevisedver heensuing earswith uccessive ohortsfcollaboratorse.g.,Baltes & Freund,003; Baltes,Gliick, Kunzmann,002;Baltes& Smith,990;Baltes& Staudinger,000;KunzmannBaltes, 005;Scheibe, unzmann,Baltes, 007). Finally, eturn o he uturend uggestome esearchirectionshat,nouropinion,might urtherontributeo understandinghiselusive ut undamentallymportantoncept.

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ONWISDOMThe substantialoundationsor ontemporaryeflectionboutthenature nd functionf wisdomwere aidbytheancientGreek hilosophers. isdom as stablisheds an ntellectualvirtuend as a means or ndividualsnd communitieso ivewelldespite heuncertaintiesfhumanifeKekes, 988;Nu-ssbaum, 001;Taylor,955).Sincethen,here as beencon-siderable ebate bouthe ssentialomponentsfwisdom.orexample,oes trequire ot nlyxtensiveracticalnowledge

Address correspondenceto Jacqui Smith, nstitutefor Social Re-search, University fMichigan,426 Thompson Street,AnnArbor,MI 48106-1248; e-mail: [email protected].

56 Copyright 2008 Associationor sychologicalcience Volume - Number

This content downloaded from 200.24.23.76 on Fri, 16 May 2014 23:36:03 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/10

Paul B. Baltes ndJacquiSmith

aboutways f ctingo deal with ifeproblems,ut lso tech-nical nd theoreticalscientific)nowledgebout ife?To be-comewise, o ndividualseed obe ofgood moral)haracterand ive good ife?Aristotle as one of the first oarguefor heprimacyfpractical ver heoreticalnowledgen decisions bouttheappropriatendethicalways o ct n ifematterse.g.,Taylor,1955).He believed hat ractical isdomnabled n ndividualtoresourcefullydapt heoreticalnd scientificnderstandingto concreteituationsnd dilemmase.g.,Kekes,1983; Nu-ssbaum, 001;Taylor,955).Practicalwisdom nAristotle'smodel resupposedhat n ndividual as lsomorallyirtuous.Practicalwisdoms usedto setprioritiesor ction, nd thisselectionrocesssguidedyntuitionndvalues nd emperedby motion.Havinginked nowledge,ction,nd udgmentowisdom,ancient hilosopherslso considered owwisdom ould be

cultivated,speciallynpublic fficialsesponsibleormakingdecisionsbout he ommonood nd welfarefthe itizensunderheireadershipBaltes, 004;Taylor,955).Aristotle,forxample,nsistedhat nlyndividuals ith ood haractercould cquirexcellencenpractical isdomnd hat oth oodcharacterndpractical isdomould etrainedTaylor,955).He advocatedong-termffiliationithmentorhowasknowntohave xemplaryharacterndto xhibitoodudgmentndaction.Subsequenthilosopherse.g.,Machiavelli, ietzsche,ndGadamer)ointedo he luralityfwisdoms it s constructedbyhumans or umansndplaced ess emphasis n the m-portancef moral haracterThiele, 006).The dea hathereis but ne good ife owhich ll humansspire s acknowl-edged sUtopian.nstead,hereremanyersionsf goodife,whichmeans hat herere alsomanyways oachieve xcel-lencewithinheconstraintsfsocially-acceptedaluesandethics. omehave argued hat hehallmark f wisdomsknowingow,where,ndwhen otakerisks ndto dealwithuncertaintye.g.,Brugman,006;Nussbaum,001).There sgeneralgreement,owever,hat he cquisitionfwisdom e-quires ime ndeffortndthatt nvolvesome ombinationfeducation,ractice,pprenticeship,ersonalxperience,nddeliberateeflectionboutifematters.PSYCHOLOGICALPERSPECTIVES ONWISDOM

The longstandingiscussionsn thephilosphicaliteratureprovide xtensivensightsntowaysofthinkingboutthecomplexityndconundrumsfwisdom. mong therssues,this iteratureighlightsuestionsbouta) the ssentialom-ponentsfwisdom,b) ts tructuree.g., he elativemportanceof ifferentypesfknowledge),nd c)howwisdomsacquired.It also setsoutthe difficultiesnvolvedn tryingo identifyuniversalersonalualities, alues, ules f onduct,rpath-ways owisdom-relatedutcomessuch s a good ife).

Given hisbackground,t is legitimateo askwhat psy-chological erspectiven he tudyfwisdom ightontribute.Oneagenda fpsychologicalcience s tostudy eneral ro-cesses of hemindnd behaviorsing tandardizedmpiricalandexperimentalethods.nthis egard,sychologistsevisemethods o investigatemplicit eliefs boutwisdom, oodjudgment,ndprudentehaviornsecondaryata e.g., exts,speeches, rthe ife tories f ndividuals ho reconsideredwise) r nvivo nthefield rthe aboratory.nothersycho-logical genda s to skquestionsboutndividualifferencesanddevelopment:owdoeswisdomevelop ver he ifespan,andwhyre omendividuals iserhan thers?Psychologicalesearch nwisdoms relativelyoungnd,given hephilosophicaloots f he opic,t sunderstandablycharacterizedy pproacheshat eflecthe ifferentnterestsfsocial-psychological,ersonality,ognitive,nd lifespan e-searchers. evertheless,everal heoriesnd methods avebeenestablished,nd these re embeddedn philosophicaltraditionsee Birren Svensson, 005). Indeed,Brugman(2006) oncludednhisreview f sychologicalerspectivesnwisdom hat almost ll philosophical otions boutwisdomhavebeen ncorporatednpsychologicalheories p.447).Initial esearchyClaytonnd Birren1980)examined hebeliefs nd mplicitheorieshat eople old bout henaturefwisdom nd thecharacteristicsfpeoplewho re consideredwise. hey eterminedhat isdomsassociated ithognitive,affective,nd eflectiveharacteristicsnd hat ise ersonsreknowledgeable,ature,olerant,mphatic,xperienced,ndintuitive.ubsequent tudieshave established hat ociallysharedconcepts f wisdom iffer rom oncepts f otherdesirable sychologicalharacteristics,uchas intelligence,creativity,r a mature ersonalityrofilee.g., Holliday&Chandler,986;Steinberg,985).Researchersave lso skedwhethermplicit eliefs boutwisdom iffercrossculturalgroups, rganizeudgmentnd behaviorn social life e.g.,professionalettings, entoring),r egulateersonal rowth.naddition,ontemporaryork ncludesmethods eveloped oassess thepersonalitynd affectiveharacteristicsttributedtowise ersonse.g.,Ardelt,004), s well s thosettributedowisdom-relatednowledgend behavior.All of theseap-proachesre describedn chaptersn Steinberg1990) andSteinbergndJordan2005).Wefocus n oneapproach,heBerlin aradigm,nthe ollowingection.THE BERLIN WISDOMPARADIGM: TS POTENTIALAND LIMITS

Since he arly 980s,PaulB. Baltes ndhiscolleaguest theMaxPlancknstituteor uman evelopmentn Berlinoughtto ntegrateoncepts fwisdom erived romhilosophyiththeoriesndmethodserivedromifespansychologyBaltes,2004). The BerlinWisdom rojects guidedbya heuristicframeworkhat efines isdom, akes roposalsbout he n-

Volume- Number 57



4/10


5/10

Paul B. BaltesandJacquiSmith

Fig. 2. TheBerlinWisdom aradigm:Antecedents,orrelates,ndconsequences fwisdom-relatedknowledgend behavior.Examplesof the widerangeofcontext-,xpertise-,nd person-relatedfactors ndprocesses hat ontributeialecticallyo the ntogenyndexpressionfwisdom-relatedknowledgendbehavior.Adaptedfrom altes & Smith, 990;Baltes et al., 1992;Baltes& Stau-dinger, 000;Kunzmann Baltes,2005: Pasupathi tal., 2001; Staudinger,996.)

GeneralPerson Factorse.g.,Cognitiveechanics . ft**rlenerai rrameworKramAMMrirMentalealth I ^ ft**rlenerai rrameworKramAMMrirCognitivetvle Wisdoms excellencenmindnd irtueCreativity , ropenness oExperience i ,*r Psychological FrameworkEgo trength | Examples Of Wtedoms excellencen he| Organizing condictndmeaningfmeFypartlao-S pacific ProcessesFactors BerlinWisdomParadigme.g., Experiencen ifematters 4 LifePlanning Wisdoms expertnowledgendudgment

M^tcX^ng LifGManagementm he undamentalragmaticsf He

with ematters LifeReview ~~~~cognitiveeuristics | | Basic CritierlaMotivationalispositions i Factual nowledge,roceduralnowledge(e.g., eneratfvity, .striveorxcellence | II ^?^\~n Basic ritierlaBCpenenaal Contexts UfespanontextuaUsmValue elativisme.g., Age J Recognrtfon/anagementfUncertaintyEducationParenthood ^^^^^^^^^-^^^^- ^^^^^^-^^^^^-

ProvidingentorsNp I JProfessionalworkontextHistoricaleriod

pertise-relatedactorse.g., xposureo ife ilemmasnd ig-nificantife vents,motivation,entorship),nd contexte.g.,age,cohort,istoricaleriod,ulture).We assume hat nthecourse fdevelopment,ll individuals ave ccess to andac-quireparts f his ocially hared nowledgeystemndap-proximateifferentevels f xpertise.hequestion fwhichcontextsnd actorsummarizednFigure specificallyperateto facilitater set constraintsn acquiring isdomboth ythemselvesnd ncombination)s still pen.Observablendicators f wisdom-in-actionnclude suchverbal ehaviorss exceptionallyoodudgment;ood dvice;insightfulommentarybout ifficultnd uncertain attersflife; ndnonverbalehaviors ssociatedwith oodconduct,emotionegulation,ndempathyn interpersonalndgroupcontexts. isdommighte observedn the ontentf docu-ment r as behavior-in-actionnthecontextffamilyife,discussion etween trangers, student-mentorr doctor-patient onsultation,r in morepublic situationse.g.,exchanges ithinndbetweenrganizations).

Examples fResearchDerivedFrom heBerlinFrameworkMembersf theBerlinWisdom rojecthave carried ut anumberf nvestigationssing ifferentethodsoexaminevariousomponentsf his ramework.ne setof tudies sedopen-endeduestionsndratingcales toexaminewhetherimplicitheoriesboutwisdomtructureoncepts fchange

duringdulthood. eckhausen, ixon, ndBaltes 1989),forexample, ound hatwisdom asone of hefew ositivehar-acteristicsxpectedobegainedn ate ife. altes ndFreund(2003)foundhat ifemanagementtrategiesuch s goalse-lection, ompensation,ndoptimizationfdevelopmenterereflectednproverbsnd phorisms.liick, luck, aron,ndMcAdams2005)examined hethermplicitheoriesbout hedevelopmentf ersonalharacteristicsssociated ith isdomareevidentn ifenarratives.A second etof tudies sed a methodntendedosimulatediscoursejudgmentndadvice) bout ifemattersn the on-text f ifeplanningSmith,999;Smith Baltes, 990), ifereviewStaudinger,mith, Baltes, 992), nd ifemanage-mentMaercker,992).A standardizedrocedureasdevisedinwhich articipantspontaneouslyhink loud about horthypotheticalignettesfdifficultnd uncertainife ituations.For xample:ne eceives callfromgood riend hoays hathe or he cannot oonanymorendwants ocommituicide,one s consultedy 15-year-oldirlwhowants ogetmarriedrightway,r one s part f dual-careerouplewhohave oweighhe ains nd osses nvolvedf nepartnerccepts oboffern differenttate.What ould ne onsidernddo?Whatadvice ouldbegiven? pontaneouspoken esponseso heseand similar ignettesrerecordednd transcribed.nlike e-search n ntelligencendeverydayroblemolving,here reno correct nswers o thesedilemmas:Wepropose hathighquality esponses equire xpert nowledgenthe undamentalpragmaticsf ife.Note hatwetypicallyo not sk ndividuals

Volume- Number 59



6/10

Wisdom

to talk about their wn ife decisions.Our prime nterest,n-stead, s in having common tandardized ask that llows acomparisonf esponses btained rom ifferentndividuals ndgroups.Anadditional eature four imulationpproach s importantbecause it integrates lementsof mplicit heories boutwis-dom. Based on the assumption hat there s a fairdegreeofconsensus about what constitutes wise response,we havepanels ofraterswhouse 7-point cales toassess thequalityofwisdom-relatednowledge vident n participants' esponses.Generally,ne group fraters rovide verallratings ased ontheir mplicittheories of wisdom e.g., howwise is this re-sponse?),whereas othergroupsare trainedexplicitly o rateresponses eparately n one or more f hefiveBerlin riteria fwisdom-relatednowledge.The collection and assessmentofwisdom-related nowledgeusing this standardized pproachappearsto be reliable nd valid see Baltes & Staudinger,000;

Smith & Baltes, 1990; Smith,Staudinger,& Baltes, 1994;Staudingertal., 1992).Our research rogramsing his imulationmethod as beenfertile. t includes several taskand designvariations.We haveinvestigated he effects f participant ge and professionalspecialization, ask type normativend nonnormativeitua-tions f ifeplanning,ifereview,ifemanagement),ndthe geoftheprotagonistsn thehypotheticalignettessee Baltes &Kunzmann, 004; Baltes & Staudinger,000, for eviews).Wealso studied hecharacteristics nd responses fpublicfigureswhowerenominated s beingwisebyan independent roup fprominentournalistswhowere notfamiliarwithour explicitmodel Baltes,Staudinger,Maercker, Smith, 995). Severalstudieshave examined number f ndividualdifferenceor-relates ofwisdom-relatednowledgee.g., personality,ntelli-gence, life experience,emotionregulation,motivation,ndpersonalvalues;Kunzmann Baltes,2003; Staudinger,opez,& Baltes,1997). Finally, askcontextnd nstructionave beenvaried oexaminewhetherr not esponses an be optimized ysocial and mnemonic nterventions.or example,are two ormoremindsbetter hanone? Staudinger 1996) and Baltes andStaudinger 1996) found hat heresponses fparticipants hocompleted taskalone werenotevaluated as highly s thosefromndividualswhohad theopportunityodiscusstheprobleminperson irst ith ne significantther rwith group r thosefromndividualswhowere nstructedoconsult n inner oiceof heir hoice i.e., First, hink ow personwhose dviceyouvaluemight espond ).The selection f ach of hesedesignfeatures, hich ddressdifferentuestions boutthenature ndontogenyfwisdom, sguidedbytheheuristic erlinframeworkutlined nFigure2.Since2000, researchersntheBerlingroup avedevelopednewmethods ostudy hesocial and emotional ehaviors hatwiseindividualsdisplay in addition to their exceptional verbalcommentariesbout lifemattersKunzmann& Baltes, 2005;Stange, 005). Inthe radition f mplicitpproaches, hesenew

studies nvestigatehe social and nonverbal ehaviors nd ac-tions hatmake ome ndividuals ppearto bewise nthe yesofotherse.g.,emotion ontroln stressfulituationsrempatheticlistening o someone ntrouble).

SummaryofMajor FindingsFirst, n the truespiritof wisdom as representing Utopianquality, igh evels ofwisdom-relatednowledgererare.Manyadults are on the way towardswisdom,but veryfewpeopledisplay high evelofwisdom-relatednowledgerbehavior swe assess it.Second,theperiodof ate adolescence and early dulthoodappears to be the primary ge window forwisdom-relatedknowledge o emerge e.g., Pasupathi,Staudinger, Baltes,2001). Todate,few ge-group ifferencesavebeenobservedntheaverage evelsofwisdom chievedduring dulthoodStau-

dinger, 999; see also Steinberg Jordan,005). Furthermore,findingsuggest hat achphaseof he ife oursefosterstsownspecificwisdom-related nowledge bout normative evelop-mental tasks and nonnormativevents. When the content fwisdomtasks is age-matched, eople showhigher evels ofperformancenthe ifeplanningnd ife eview imulationasks(see Smith Baltes,1990: Smith t l, 1994; Staudinger,999).Third, orwisdom-relatednowledgend udgmentodevelopbeyond he evel achieved in earlyadulthood, here re othercritical actorsnaddition oage. It takes complex oalition fenhancingfactors rom variety f domains psychological,social,professional, istorical) o chievepeak evelsofwisdom.Ifsucha coalition s present,ome ndividualsmay ontinuedevelopmental rajectoryowardhigher evels of the wisdomexpert ystem fknowledge. s a consequence,older dults repossiblydisproportionatelyepresented mongthe exclusivegroup f opperformersndpeoplenominated s wise. Wisdomis one domain n whichsome older ndividuals xcel. Simplygetting lder and reaching ld age, however,s not sufficientcondition orwisdom.Fourth, uring dulthood,ntelligences not the mostpow-erfulpredictor f wisdom-related nowledge. nstead, highpredictivevalue comes from combination f psychosocialcharacteristics nd lifehistory actors,ncluding pennesstoexperience, enerativity,ognitive tyle, ontactwith xcellentmentors,nd someexposure o structurednd critical ife ex-periences. Furthermore, eople higher in wisdom-relatedknowledgevince a complex ndmodulated rofilef motionsandvalues Kunzmann Baltes,2003). Theyvalue thewelfareofothersmore thantheirownhappinessand report ighen-gagement n ensuring hewell-being nd interests fothers,including hepreferredse ofnegotiationtrategiesn conflictresolution nd management.Fifth,nterventiontudies showthatpeople possess largeramountsofwisdom-related nowledge han s evident n ourstandardssessment rocedure. his ndicates that ompetence

60 Volume- Number



7/10

Paul B. Baltes andJacquiSmith

is oftenigherhan erformancendicates.or xample, eoplecan beguided o xpressmarkedlyigherevels fwisdom-re-latedknowledgeymemoryues or nstructionsoconsult ninner oice internalialogue ithignificantthers).hismayalso betruewhentcomes o motionegulation.Finally, isdoms manifestednnonverbalnd social be-havior. ctions onsidered obe appropriateo confidentialadvice ivinguch s attentiveistening,mpathy,nd emperedconcern ontributeo the ttributionhat personswise, s-pecially fcombined ith lder ge and a wiseverbal om-mentaryStange,005).In um,we onsiderhatt spossiblendworthwhileobringwisdomnto he aboratoryo that t canbe assessedwith helevel f cientificigorhat llowsnexaminationf ypotheses.TheBerlin aradigmrovides useful euristicrameworkorgeneratinguestionsndresearchesigns. evertheless,au-tion ndcreativitys requiredo that hewisdom onstructundernvestigationnanexperimentalettingetainsome fthe lusivendcomplex ualitiesssociated itht n mplicittheories.

OUTLOOK: PROMISINGFUTUREDIRECTIONS INRESEARCHONWISDOMIn our iew, isdoms a researchopic hat oldsmuch romisefor hefutures psychologistsurnheirttentionopositivequalities ndexcellencen human ehaviorndtosignificantcontributionsade o he ommonood f ociety.nparticular,as suggestedyphilosophers,tudies f henature,ntogeny,and pplicationfwisdom ill lsofurtherur nderstandingflife uality,ndividualompetence,ocial ustice, ndhumandignityBaltes, 004;Kekes, 988;Steinberg Jordan,005).There s stillmuch o investigatebouttheantecedents,correlates,nd unctionsfwisdomndwisdom-in-actionrompsychologicalerspective.ersonal ife xperiencesndex-posure odifferenteliefsndvalues ndaily ife n a multi-culturalettingr nparticularistoricaleriodsf oliticalndsocietal hangemay roveobe importantnfluencesn facili-tatinghe cquisitionfwisdom. one f hemanyndividualdifferenceonstructse.g., ntelligence,ersonality)hat heBerlinroupndothersave onsideredn tudiesodatehaveexplainedmore han small hare f hereliable ariancenwisdom-relatednowledgendbehavior.urthermore,eknowrelativelyittle boutwisdom-in-actiononly small etofwisdom-relatedignettes,asks,and behaviors ave beenstudiedn the ieldnd aboratory.What esearch irections ighte most ruitful?ursug-gestionsomewithhe aveat hatheyeflectur wnifespantheoreticalndmethodologicaliasesandthe tate f he it-eratureboutwisdomn2006 refero haptersnSteinbergJordan,005,fordditionaluggestions).pecifically,epro-pose hat utureesearchhould xpand he ange f asks ndbehaviorsxamined,mploy ynamicndmicrolongitudinal

designs o ddress uestionsbout ntogenyndfunction,ndconnect sychologicalpproacheso wisdom ithnterdisci-plinaryffortsounderstandhe iopsychosocialynamicshatorchestrateptimal uman evelopmentndfosteritalitynoldage.Expanding heRangeofWisdom-Related asksandBehaviors xaminedTheBerlin roupnd thers ave xaminedrelativelymall etofvignettesescribingifficultilemmas f ife lanning,ifereview,nd lifemanagementn thethink-aloudimulationprocedure.nthe nehand,t s importantohave standardset vailable o facilitateeplicationffindingsndprovidebenchmarkor omparison.ut, n the ther and,we did notdesign hesevignetteso be thedefinitiveests fwisdom-re-latedknowledge,nd hey avenot een ubjectedo xtensiveanalysisodetermineheir sychometricroperties.Thetime sripe odevisenew ignettesndtocompare er-formancecrosswisdom-relatedasks. n separate tudies,sreportednvarious ublicationse.g.,Baltes t l., 1995;Smith& Baltes, 990;Smitht l.,1994;Staudingert l.,1992),wesuspectedhat ome f ur ignettesnd ome asksmightavebeenmore ifficulthan thersnd hat heremay e differencesinsensitivityoexceptionalatherhan verageevelwisdom-related nowledge.uchmethodologicalorkequiresccess olarge amples nd n nterestntest atteryonstruction.hishas not een primaryocus f heBerlin roup.Futureesearchould lso address nowledgebout oolishbehaviors the ounterpartfwisdome.g., teinberg,004).For xample,ommentariesboutwhyctions nd ife ecisionsoutlinednvignettesrefoolishouldbe rated n theBerlincriteriao ee if uch extsuewisdom-relatednowledge.nintriguinguestions whethereople n verageindt asier osaywhat ot odo o asto void eingabeled oolishhanogivewisdom-relateddvice bout otentiallydvantageousctionsthat romoterowth.ndeed, ne additionalndicatorf ex-pertisen wisdom-relatednowledgebout he onductf ifemaybe that dvice ncludes positive onstructiveatioorbalance) f uggestionsbout hingsodo over hingso void.Beyondxtendingherange fvignettessed n theBerlinthink-aloudimulationrocedure,erecommendevisingewways o xamine isdom-relatednowledgendbehaviorn helaboratory.nparticular,ecent orkn Berline.g.,Kunzmann& Baltes, 003,2005) consideringspects f motionegula-tion, alues, ocial nteraction,ndnonverbalisteningehavior(Stange, 005) offers newwindowntheexpertystemfwisdom. comparativetudyf he eactionso nstructionshatcuedifferentmplicitheoriese.g., ctwiselys.be mart)mayalsobe informative.heseresearchirectionsremore me-nable oexperimentalettingsndare ess cost- ndtime-in-tensivehan hink-aloudrotocolsr nterviewshatmust ecollectednd cored.

Volume- Number



8/10

Wisdom

Employing ynamic ndMicrolongitudinalesigns orQuestionsAboutOntogenynd FunctionThemajorityf indingsbout he evelopmentfwisdomn heliterature,ncludingurown, re based on cross-sectionalcomparisonsf relativelymall selectsamples.Age-groupdifferencest a single ointntime o notnecessarilyeflectdevelopmentalrajectories.ne xceptiono his ritiques thelongitudinaltudy f personalityerspectiven wisdom e-ported yHelson ndcolleagues e.g.,Helson& Srivastava,2002).There re lternativeso ongitudinaltudies vermany ears,such smicrolongitudinalnddynamicesigns.Microlongitu-dinal designs, orexample, ould be used to investigatequestionsbout heroleofexposuredirectndindirect)oparticularife events or heacquisition fwisdom-relatedknowledge.deally, newould iketo have a pre-/posteventdesignwith dditionalmeasurementccasions cheduledn-between nd withonger erm ollow-ups,ut thismaynotalways epossible.Microlongitudinalesignsould lsobeapplied o nvestigatethedynamicsfwisdom-in-actionn settingsssociatedwitheitherhe pplicationr cquisitionfwisdom. opeople earnfromoolishife ecisions,orxample? studyo ddress hisquestionmighteconductedsing computerimulationfhypotheticalame f ife rwith nlinenternetr PalmPilotmethodology.imilar esigns ould xplorenline election fgoals nthe onstructionf lifeplan, rthey ouldmonitorwisdom-relatedehaviorsuch s groupmanagementnd ne-gotiationn thecontext fcomplex, ifficult,nduncertaintasks. hetemporalnddynamicrocess f dvicegivingndmentoringndyadssanotherreaworthyfnvestigationromwisdomerspective.Studies f hese opics odatehave ypicallynvolvedinglesessions f ata ollectionnd o allow nlyimitednsightntotheprocess ndoutcomesfwisdom-relatedehavior.t s anopenquestion hetherarticipantsnsuchmicrolongitudinal

studieswould how hangesn the uantityndqualityfwis-dom-relatedesponsesnd behaviorsver imewith epeatedexposureoanissue,person,rtask.What redictsecomingwiser,emainingtable, r howing reductionn wisdom-re-lated erformance?uch methodologynables simulationffamiliarityndexperienceomewhatndependentf ge andcohort. epeated xposureoan advisor r mentor ay lsoproduce hangesn theperceptionfthequality fwisdom-related nowledgefthat erson. ll ofthese uestionsndmany thers bout ndividual ifferencesn intraindividualtrajectoriesfwisdom-relatednowledgendbehaviorould eaddressed singmultilevelesignsnd nalysistrategies.Connection oResearch nOptimalHumanDevelopmentandAgingMany sychologicalesearchersaluethe nvestigationf n-dividualharacteristicsndprocesseshat ssist dults odealwith hechallenges fliving nd aging n an increasinglycomplex orld. esearch nwisdoms attractiven his ontext,because t ntegratesdeas about ptimizationndsuccessfulagingwith recognitionftheultimateonstraintsntheseendeavorsBaltes Freund,002;Bakes, mith, Staudinger,1992).As indicatednFigure , theremay e some se n n-tegratingesearch n wisdom ith therpproacheso under-standing ptimal uman evelopment.n this ntegration,eviewwisdom-relatednowledget a societal ndindividuallevel as contributingo the benchmarkfgood onduct ndjudgmentbout ifematters.hisknowledgeystem rovidescriticaldirectionn the orchestrationf life-managementstrategiesuch as selection,ptimization,ndcompensation.Finally, rocessesf ife ongingcalled ehnsuchtnGerman,encompassingonceptsuch s goals, egrets,opes,wishes,possible elves, dealselves, ersonal rojects,nd ife asks)are relevant ecause all individualsre confrontedith heconstraintsfontogeneticncompletenessnd imperfection,

Fig. 3. Theoreticalmodel f he nteractingoles fwisdom; election,ptimization,ndcompensationSOC) life-managementtrategies;nd ifespanlongingsn theconstructionfoptimal uman evelopment.Adapted rom altes& Freund, 002;Baltes& Kunzmann, 003; Scheibe,Kunzmann,& Baltes,2007.)

f Optimal ^XV HumanDevelopment )

WISDOM SOC LIFESPANLONQING8Knowledge bout he Lifemanagementnd Goals thatmight otscope ofdesirable goal pursuitffectively everbe pursued ngoals for hepersonal orchestratedy realityre convertedandcommon ood -Selection to ongingso as toandthedesirable -Compensation retainheir ersonalmeans to attain hem -Optimization meaning ndmanage___ ^_^_^_^__^__ non ttainment

62 Volume- Number



9/10

Paul B. Baltes ndJacquiSmith

which et imits noptimal evelopmentndagingScheibe,Freund, Baltes, 007;Scheibe taL,2007).This ntegrationf ifespanpproaches ayerve s away ounderstandesponseso societal ndpersonalife hallenges,especiallyn old age. Indeed, esearch o date continues osupporthe dea thatwisdom,ife-managementtrategies,os-sibleselves, nd ife ongingsreaspects f ndividual-levelfunctioninghat onot how he ypical atternsf ge-relateddecline oundnmanyther sychologicalomainse.g., og-nitionrphysicalunctioning).nthis ense, researchocus nwisdomndrelatedonceptssoneway opromotebalancedpicturef ld geaspotentiallyeing periodf sychologicalvitalitys well s one fnevitablehysicalosses e.g., altesSmith, 003). In addition, special need forwisdom asemergedver he ast100years ueto he ging emographicsofmany ountriesroundheworld. he fact hatncreasingnumbersf ndividualsxperiencen extended eriod foldandvery ldage s a newphenomenon.urrently,eithero-cietiesnor ndividuals ave thenecessary heoreticalndpractical nowledgehatwould ssist hem oanticipatendmasterhe ncertaintiesf hisife eriod.AcknowledgmentsPaulB. Baltes ied nNovember,2006,aftern earlier raftf his rticle as ubmitted.heoriginalarticlewasrevised yJacqui mithfter is death. he takesresponsibilityor he inal ontent.This rticles dedicated othe ubstantialontributionsfPaulB. Baltes o ifespanheoryndresearchnaging.tre-flects is nsightnfoundingnd eading heBerlinWisdomProjectndhis ollaborationith he oprincipalnvestigators(listedn historicalrderrom982 to2006):Freya ittmann-Kohli, acqui mith, rsulaM.Staudinger,ndUteKunzmann.Over heyears,manyuggestionsavebeenprovidedy thercolleaguesn henstitutenBerlinndmembersf heWisdomProject,nparticular argretaltes, usanneBohmig-Krum-haar,RogerDixon,Alexandra reund, udith liick,JuttaHeckhausen,einhold liegl, eidreKramer,lman inden-berger,avidLopez,AnnaMaciel,Andreas aercker,onishaPasupathi,usanne cheibe, vonne chiitze,oris owarka,andAntje tange.

REFERENCESArdelt,M. (2004). Wisdomas expertknowledge ystem:A criticalreviewofa contemporaryperationalizationf an ancientcon-cept.HumanDevelopment,7, 257-285.Assmann,A. (1994). Wholesomeknowledge: onceptofwisdom n anhistorical nd cross-cultural erspective. n D.L. Featherman,R.M. Lerner, M. PerlmutterEds.), Life-span evelopmentndbehaviorVol. 12, pp. 187-224). Hillsdale, NJ:Erlbaum.Baltes, P.B. (2004). Wisdom s orchestrationf mind and virtue.RetrievedNovember7, 2007, fromhttp://library.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/ft/pb/PB_Wisdom_2004.pdf

Baltes, P.B., Dittmann-Kohli, , & Dixon, R.A. (1984). New per-spectiveson the development f intelligence n adulthood: To-ward a dual-process conception and a model of selectiveoptimization ith ompensation. n P.B. Baltes & O.G. BrimJr.(Eds.), Life-span evelopmentnd behavior Vol. 6, pp. 33-76).NewYork:Academic Press.Baltes, P.B.,& Freund,A.M. (2003). The intermarriagefwisdom ndselective optimizationwithcompensation:Two meta-heuristicsguiding he conduct of ife. n C.L.M. Keyes & J.Haidt (Eds.),Flourishing: ositive sychologynd the ifewell-livedpp. 249-273). Washington, C: AmericanPsychologicalAssociation.Baltes, P.B., Gluck, J.,& Kunzmann,U. (2002). Wisdom: ts structureand function n regulating uccessful ifespan development. nC.R. Snyder& S.J.Lopez (Eds.), Handbookofpositive sychology(pp. 327-347). NewYork:OxfordUniversityress.Baltes, P.B.,& Kunzmann,U. (2003). Wisdom:The peak of xcellencein the orchestration f mind and virtue. Psychologist,16,131-133.Baltes, P.B., & Kunzmann,U. (2004). The two faces of wisdom:Wisdom as a general theory fknowledge nd judgment boutexcellence in mind and virtuevs. wisdom as everyday ealiza-tion in people and products. Human Development,47,290-299.Baltes, P.B., & Smith,J. (1990). The psychology f wisdom and itsontogenesis. n R.J.SternbergEd.), Wisdom: tsnature, rigins,and developmentpp. 87-120). New York:CambridgeUniversityPress.Baltes,P.B., & Smith,J. 2003). New frontiersn the future faging:From successfulagingof the youngold to the dilemmas of thefourthge. Gerontology,9, 123-135.Baltes, P.B., Smith,J.,& Staudinger,U.M. (1992). Wisdomand suc-cessful ging. nT.B. SondereggerEd.), Nebraska ymposiumnMotivation 991 (Vol. 39, pp. 123-167). Lincoln:UniversityfNebraska Press.Baltes,P.B.,& Staudinger, .M. (Eds.). (1996). Interactive inds: ife-

span perspectivesn the ocialfoundation fcognition.New York:CambridgeUniversityress.Baltes, P.B., & Staudinger,U.M. (2000). Wisdom:A metaheuristic(pragmatic) o orchestratemind and virtue towardexcellence.Americansychologist,5, 122-136.Baltes, P.B., Staudinger,U.M., Maercker, A., & Smith,J. (1995).People nominated as wise: A comparativestudyof wisdom-relatedknowledge. sychology nd Aging,10, 155-166.Birren,J.E., & Svensson, CM. (2005). Wisdom in history.n RJ.Sternberg& J. Jordan Eds.), Handbook of wisdom:Psycho-logical perspectivespp. 3-31). New York:CambridgeUniversityPress.Brugman,G. (2006). Wisdom nd aging. nJ.E.Birren& K.W. Schaie(Eds.), Handbookofthepsychology f aging (6thed., pp. 445-476). Amsterdam, he Netherlands:Academic Press.Clayton, .P.,& Birren, .E. 1980). Thedevelopmentfwisdom crossthe ifespan:A re-examinationf n ancienttopic. n P.B. Baltes& O.G. BrimJr. Eds.), Life-span evelopmentnd behaviorVol.3, pp. 103-135). New York:AcademicPress.Collins,J.D. (1962). The lureofwisdom.Milwaukee,WI: MarquetteUniversityress.Ericsson, K.A., & Smith,J. Eds.). (1991). Toward generaltheory fexpertise: rospectsand limits. Cambridge,United Kingdom:CambridgeUniversityress.Gluck, J.,Bluck,S., Baron,J.,& McAdams,D.P. (2005). The wisdomof experience: Autobiographicalnarratives cross adulthood.International ournal fBehavioralDevelopment,9, 197-208.

Volume- Number***



10/10

Wisdom

Heckhausen, J.,Dixon, R.A., & Baltes,RB. (1989). Gains and lossesin development hroughoutdulthood s perceivedby differentadultage groups.Developmental sychology,5, 109-121.Helson, R., & Srivastava, . (2002). Creativeand wise people: Simi-larities,differences,nd howtheydevelop. Personality nd So-cialPsychologyulletin,8, 1430-1440.Holiday,S.G., & Chandler,M.J. 1986). Wisdom: xplorationsn hu-man competence.Contributions o human development. asel,Switzerland:Kareer.Kekes,J. 1983). Wisdom.American hilosophicalQuarterly,0, 277-286.Kekes, J. (1988). The examined ife. Cranbury, J:Associated Uni-versity resses.Kramer, . A. (2000). Wisdom s a classical source ofhuman trength:Conceptualization nd empirical nquiry.JournalofSocial andClinical sychology,9,83-101.Kunzmann,U., & Baltes, RB. (2003). Wisdom-related nowledge:Affective, otivational,nd interpersonalorrelates. ersonalityand SocialPsychologyulletin,9, 1104-1119.Kunzmann,U., & Baltes, RB. (2005). The psychology f wisdom:Theoretical and empirical challenges. In R.J. Sternberg& J.Jordan Eds.), Handbook of wisdom:Psychological perspectives(pp. 110-135). New York:CambridgeUniversityress.Labouvie-Vief,G. (1990). Wisdom as integrated hought:Historicalanddevelopmental erspectives.nR.J. ternbergEd.), Wisdom:Its nature,origins,and developmentpp. 52-83). Cambridge,UnitedKingdom:CambridgeUniversityress.Maercker,A. (1992). Weisheit mAlter Wisdom n old age]. Munch-enerMedizinischeWochenschrift,34, 518-522.Maxwell,N. (2004). Indefense f eekingwisdom.Metaphilosophy,5,733-743.

Nozick,R. (1989). What s wisdom ndwhy ophilosophersove t o?In R. Nozick Ed.), The examined ife:Philosophicalmeditations(pp. 267-278). New York:Simon & Schuster.Nussbaum,M.C. (2001). The ragility f goodness:Luck and ethics nGreek ragedy nd philosophyRev. ed.). New York:CambridgeUniversityress.Pasupathi, M., Staudinger,U.M., & Baltes, RB. (2001). Seeds ofwisdom:Adolescents' knowledge nd judgmentabout difficultlifeproblems.Developmental sychology,7, 351-361.Scheibe, S., Freund,A.M., & Baltes, RB. (2007). Toward develop-mentalpsychology f Sehensucht life longings):The optimal(utopian) ife.Developmental sychology,3, 778-795.Scheibe, S., Kunzmann,U., & Baltes, RB. (2007). Wisdomand life-longing:The search forpsychologicalUtopiasand themanage-ment f theirunrealizability.n J.A.Blackburn& C.N. Dulmus(Eds.), Handbookofgerontology: vidence-based pproachestotheory,ractice, nd policy pp. 117-142). NewYork:Wiley.Smith,J. (1999). Life planning:Anticipating uture ife goals andmanaging personal development. n J. Brandtstadter R.M.

Lerner Eds.), Action nd self-development:heorynd researchthrough he ife pan (pp. 223-255). ThousandOaks, CA: SagePublications.Smith, .,& Baltes,RB. (1990). A study fwisdom-relatednowledge:Age/cohort ifferencesn responsesto life planningproblems.Developmental sychology,6, 494^505.Smith,J.,Dixon,R.A., & Baltes, RB. (1989). Expertise n life-plan-ning:A new researchapproachto investigatingspects of wis-dom. n M.L. Commons, .D.Sinnott, .A. Richards,& C. Armon(Eds.), Beyond ormal operationsI (Vol. 1, pp. 307-331). NewYork:Praeger.Smith,J.,Staudinger, .M., & Baltes,RB. (1994). Occupationalset-tingsfacilitative f wisdom-related nowledge: he samplecaseof clinical psychologists.Journalof Consulting nd ClinicalPsychology,2, 989-1000.Stange,A. (2005). The social dimension f wisdom: Conditions orperceiving dvice-giving ersons s wise. Unpublisheddoctoraldissertaton,Free Universityof Berlin, Germany.RetrievedNovember , 2007, from ttp://www.diss.fu-berlin.de/2006/462/indexe.htmlStaudinger,U.M. (1996). Wisdom and the social-interactive ounda-tion ofthe mind. n RB. Baltes & U.M. StaudingerEds.), In-teractiveminds:Life-span erspectivesn the ocialfoundation fcognitionpp. 276-315). Cambridge, ngland: CambridgeUni-versity ress.Staudinger, .M. (1999). Older and wiser? ntegratingesults n therelationship etweenage and wisdom-related erformance.n-ternational ournal fBehavioralDevelopment,3, 641-664.Staudinger, .M., Lopez, D., & Baltes,RB. (1997). The psychometriclocationof wisdom-related erformance:ntelligence, ersonali-ty, nd more?Personality nd Social PsychologyBulletin,23,1200-1214.Staudinger,U.M., Smith,J.,& Baltes, RB. (1992). Wisdom-relatedknowledge in a life review task: Age differences nd therole of professional pecialization. Psychology nd Aging, 7,

271-281.Sternberg,R.J. (1985). Implicittheories of intelligence:Creativityand wisdom.JournalofPersonality nd Social Psychology,9,607-627.Stemberg,R.J. Ed.) (1990). Wisdom: ts nature, rigins, nd devel-opment.New York:CambridgeUniversityress.Sternberg, .J. 2004). Why mart eople can be so foolish. uropeanPsychologist,, 145-150.Sternberg, .J.,& Jordan,J. (Eds.) (2005). A handbookofwisdom:Psychologicalperspectives. ambridge,UnitedKingdom:Cam-bridgeUniversityress.Taylor, .E. (1955). AristotleRev. ed.). New York:DoverPublications.Thiele, L.P. (2006). The heartof udgment:Practical wisdom,neu-roscience, nd narrative.Cambridge,United Kingdom:Cam-bridgeUniversityress.

64 Volume- Number

This content downloaded from 200 24 23 76 on Fri 16 May 2014 23:36:03 PM
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

Documents

Baltes Wisdom