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Chapter 9 - Wisdom, Personality, and Well-Being

from Part II - Foundations of Wisdom in the Individual and in the World

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2022

By
Monika Ardelt  and
Stephen Pridgen
Edited by
Robert J. Sternberg  and
Judith Glück
Robert J. Sternberg
Affiliation:
Cornell University, New York
Judith Glück
Affiliation:
Universität Klagenfurt, Austria
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Summary

This chapter describes three conceptions of wisdom as a personality quality: wisdom as integrative personality, wisdom as optimal personality development, and wisdom as a self-transcendent personality. Empirical evidence shows that wisdom defined and measured as a personality quality is consistently related to the Big Five personality traits and psychological and subjective well-being. Individuals with a wise personality tend to be emotionally stable, open to new experiences, agreeable, conscientious, and extraverted and to report greater psychological and subjective well-being. Two case studies were presented to illustrate the differences between a wise personality and a not-so-wise personality.

Keywords

wisdom as integrative personalitywisdom as optimal personality developmentwisdom as a self-transcendent personalityBig Five personality traitspsychological well-beingsubjective well-beingcase study analysis
Type
Chapter
Information
The Psychology of Wisdom
An Introduction
 , pp. 135 - 156
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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