Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-swr86 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-18T00:40:29.909Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 April 2019

Irina Auer-Spath  and
Judith Glück Open the ORCID record for Judith Glück [Opens in a new window]
Irina Auer-Spath
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria
Judith Glück*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Klagenfurt, Klagenfurt, Austria
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Judith Glück, Department of Psychology, University of Klagenfurt, Austria. Email: judith.glueck@aau.at.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

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.

Keywords

qualitative researchsocial support
Type
Original Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 31 , Issue 12: Issue Theme: Assessment of Cognitive Impairment in East Asia , December 2019 , pp. 1809 - 1821
Copyright
© International Psychogeriatric Association 2019 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ardelt, M. (2003). Development and empirical assessment of a three-dimensional wisdom scale. Research on Aging, 25, 275–324. doi: 10.1177/0164027503025003004 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ardelt, M. (2004). Wisdom as expert knowledge system: a critical review of a contemporary operationalization of an ancient concept. Human Development, 47, 257–285. doi: 10.1159/000079154 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ardelt, M. (2005). How wise people cope with crises and obstacles in life. ReVision, 28, 7–19. doi: 10.3200/REVN.28.1.7-19 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baltes, P. B. and Staudinger, U. M. (2000). Wisdom: a metaheuristic (pragmatic) to orchestrate mind and virtue toward excellence. American Psychologist, 55, 122–136. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.122 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bluck, S. and Glück, J. (2004). Making things better and learning a lesson: experiencing wisdom across the lifespan. Journal of Personality, 72, 544–572. doi: 10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00272.x CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bodenmann, G. (2000). Stress und Coping bei Paaren. Göttingen: Hogrefe.Google Scholar
Brandtstädter, J. and Renner, G. (1990). Tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment: explication and age-related analysis of assimilative and accommodative strategies of coping. Psychology and Aging, 5, 58–67. doi: 10.1037/0882-7974.5.1.58 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Calhoun, L. G. and Tedeschi, R. G. (Eds.) (2006). Handbook of Posttraumatic Growth: Research and Practice. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
DeLongis, A. and O’Brien, T. (1990). An interpersonal framework for stress and coping: an application to the families of Alzheimer’s patients. In: Stephens, M. A. P., Crowther, J. H., Hobfoll, S. E. and Tennenbaum, D. L. (Eds.), Stress and Coping in Later- Life Families (pp. 221–240). New York: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation.Google Scholar
Erikson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the Life Cycle. New York, NY: International University Press.Google Scholar
Epstein, R., Warfel, R., Johnson, J., Smith, R. and McKinney, P. (2013). Which relationship skills count most? Journal of Couple & Relationship Therapy, 12, 297–313. doi: 10.1080/15332691.2013.836047 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felser, G. (2007). Entwicklung in Partnerschaften. In: Brandtstädter, J. and Lindenberger, U. (Eds.), Entwicklungspsychologie der Lebensspanne. Ein Lehrbuch (pp. 446–481). Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer.Google Scholar
Glück, J. (2016). Wisdom. In: Pachana, N. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Geropsychology. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Glück, J. (2018). Measuring wisdom: existing approaches, continuing challenges, and new developments. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences, 73(8), 1393–1403. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbx140 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glück, J. and Baltes, P. B. (2006). Using the concept of wisdom to enhance the expression of wisdom knowledge: Not the philosopher’s dream but differential effects of developmental preparedness. Psychology and Aging, 21, 679–690.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Glück, J. and Bluck, S. (2007). Looking back across the lifespan: A life story account of the reminiscence bump. Memory and Cognition, 35, 1928–1939.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glück, J. and Bluck, S. (2013). The MORE Life Experience Model: a theory of the development of wisdom. In: Ferrari, M. and Weststrate, N. M. (Eds.), The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom (pp. 75–97). New York: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-94-007-7987-7_4 Google Scholar
Glück, J., Bluck, S. and Weststrate, N. M. (in press). More on the MORE Life Experience Model: what we have learned (so far). The Journal of Value Inquiry.Google Scholar
Glück, J. et al. (2013). How to measure wisdom: content, reliability, and validity of five measures. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, 405. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00405 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grossmann, I. (2017). Wisdom in context. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 12, 233–257. doi: 10.1177/1745691616672066 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Igarashi, H., Levenson, M. R. and Aldwin, C. M. (2018). The development of wisdom: a social ecological approach. The Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences, 73(8), 1350–1358. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gby002 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jeste, D. V. et al. (2010). Expert consensus on characteristics of wisdom: a Delphi method study. The Gerontologist, 50, 668–680. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnq022 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Joseph, S. and Linley, P. A. (2005). Positive adjustment to threatening events: an organismic valuing theory of growth through adversity. Review of General Psychology, 9, 262–280. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.9.3.262 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
König, S. and Glück, J. (2013). Individual differences in wisdom conceptions: relationships to gratitude and wisdom. The International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 77, 127–147.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
König, S. and Glück, J. (2014). “Gratitude is with me all the time”: How gratitude relates to wisdom. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 69(5), 655–666. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbt123 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kramer, D. A. (2000). Wisdom as a classical source of human strength: conceptualization and empirical inquiry. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 19, 83–101. doi: 10.1521/jscp.2000.19.1.83 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kross, E. and Grossmann, I. (2012). Boosting wisdom: distance from the self enhances wise reasoning, attitudes, and behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141, 43–48. doi: 10.1037/a0024158 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landis, M., Peter-Wight, M., Martin, M. and Bodenmann, G. (2013). Dyadic coping and marital satisfaction of older spouses in long-term marriage. The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry, 26, 39–47. doi: 10.1024/1662-9647/a000077 Google Scholar
Le, T. L. and Levenson, M. R. (2005). Wisdom as self- transcendence: what’s love (& individualism) got to do with it? Journal of Research in Personality, 39, 443–457. doi: 10.1016/j.jrp.2004.05.003 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levenson, M. R., Aldwin, C. M. and Cupertino, A. P. (2001). Transcending the self: towards a liberative model of adult development. In: Neri, A. L. (Ed.), Maturidade & Velhice: Um enfoque multidisciplinar (pp. 99–116). Sao Paulo: Papirus.Google Scholar
Levenson, M. R., Jennings, P. A., Aldwin, C. M. and Shiraishi, R. W. (2005). Self-transcendence, conceptualization and measurement. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 60, 127–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, S. C., Lindenberger, U., Hommel, B., Aschersleben, G., Prinz, W. and Baltes, P. B. (2004). Transformations in the couplings among intellectual abilities and constituent cognitive processes across the life span. Psychological Science, 15, 155–163.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Löwe, B., Spitzer, R.L., Zipfel, S. and Herzog, W. (2002). Manual Komplettversion und Kurzform: PHQ-D Gesundheitsfragebogen für Patienten. [Authorized German version of the “Prime MD Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)”.] Karlsruhe: Pfizer.Google Scholar
Mayring, P. (2010). Qualitative Inhaltsanalyse. Grundlagen und Techniken. Weinheim, Basel: Beltz Verlag.Google Scholar
Mickler, C. and Staudinger, U. M. (2008). Personal wisdom: validation and age-related differences of a performance measure. Psychology and Aging, 23, 787–799. doi: 10.1037/a0013928 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Orwoll, L. and Achenbaum, A. W. (1993). Gender and the development of wisdom. Human Development, 36, 274–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneewind, K. A. and Wunderer, E. (2003). Prozessmodelle der Partnerschaftsentwicklung. In: Grau, I. and Bierhoff, H. W. (Eds.), Sozialpsychologie der Partnerschaft (pp. 221–255). Berlin: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneewind, K. A., Wunderer, E. and Erkelenz, M. (2004). Beziehungskompetenzen und Beziehungsmuster in stabilen (Langzeit-) Ehen: Ausgewählte Ergebnisse des Münchner DFG- Projekts „Was hält Ehen zusammen?”. Zeitschrift für Familienforschung, 15, 225–243.Google Scholar
Seizl, C. (2016). Zum Zusammenhang von Weisheit und der Vorstellung eines “guten Lebens”. [On the relationship between wisdom and conceptions of a “good life.”] Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Klagenfurt.Google Scholar
Specht, J., Egloff, B. andSchmukle, S. C. (2011). Stability and change of personality across the life course: the impact of age and major life events on mean-level and rank-order stability of the Big Five. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101, 862–882.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Staudinger, U. M. (2019). The distinction between personal and general wisdom: How far have we come? In: Sternberg, R. J. and Glück, J. (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom (pp. 182–201). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staudinger, U. M. and Baltes, P. B. (1996). Interactive minds: a facilitative setting for wisdom-related performance? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 746–762. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.71.4.746 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staudinger, U. M. and Glück, J. (2011). Psychological wisdom research: commonalities und differences in a growing field. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 215–241. doi: 10.1146/annurev.psych.121208.131659 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staudinger, U. M., Dörner, J. and Mickler, C. (2005). Wisdom and personality. In: Sternberg, R. J., and Jordan, J. (Eds.), A Handbook of Wisdom: Psychological Perspectives (pp. 191–219). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Staudinger, U. M., Smith, J. and Baltes, P. B. (1994). Manual for the assessment of wisdom-related knowledge and judgment (Technical Report No. 46). Berlin: Max Planck Institute for Human Development.Google Scholar
Stegmann, A. K. and Schmitt, M. (2006). Veränderungen in langjährigen Partnerschaften des mittleren Erwachsenenalters. Zeitschrift für Familienforschung, 18, 46–65.Google Scholar
Sternberg, R. J. (1998). A balance theory of Wisdom. Review of General Psychology, 2(4), 347–365. doi: 10.1037/1089-2680.2.4.347 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sternberg, R. J. and Glück, J. (Eds.) (in press). The Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Surowiecki, J. (2005). The Wisdom of Crowds. New York: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
Thomas, S. and Kunzmann, U. (2014). Age differences in wisdom-related knowledge: does the age relevance of the task matter? The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 69, 897–905. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbt076 CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webster, J. D. (2007). Measuring the character strength of wisdom. International Journal of Aging & Human Development, 65, 163–183.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webster, J. D., Weststrate, N. M., Ferrari, M., Munroe, M. andPierce, T. W. (2018). Wisdom and meaning in emerging adulthood. Emerging Adulthood, 6, 118–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weststrate, N. M. and Glück, J. (2017a). Hard-earned wisdom: exploratory processing of difficult life experience is positively associated with wisdom. Developmental Psychology, 53, 800–814.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weststrate, N. M. and Glück, J. (2017b). Wiser but not sadder, blissful but not ignorant: exploring the co-development of wisdom and well-being over time. In: Robinson, M. D. and Eid, M. (Eds.), The Happy Mind: Cognitive Contributions to Well-Being (pp. 459–480). New York: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wink, P. and Helson, R. (1997). Practical and transcendent wisdom: their nature and some longitudinal findings. Journal of Adult Development, 4, 1–15. doi: 10.1007/BF02511845 CrossRefGoogle Scholar