Wisdom: A culturally inclusive developmental perspective

Abstract

This study examines cross-cultural age-related patterns of two modes of wisdom: the analytical (i.e., Knowledge Database, Abstract Reasoning), and the synthetic (i.e., Reflective Understanding, Emotional Empathy, and Emotional Regulation). A total of 68 American and 68 Japanese community-dwelling adults with an equal number of middle-aged (mean age = 45.3 years) and older adults (mean age = 70.1 years) in each group participated in the study. The results demonstrate that across cultures older adults function at a higher level than their middle-aged counterparts on these modes. Specific effects of culture, within each dimension, were also found. The general findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to a culturally inclusive developmental perspective on wisdom.