The Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom

This is a review of the psychological literature on wisdom that includes all of the major theories.

Robert J. Sternberg (Edited by), Judith Glück (Edited by)

9781108700344, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 21 March 2019

828 pages, 14 b/w illus. 12 tables
25.1 x 17.7 x 4.3 cm, 1.5 kg

''What is wisdom?' sounds like one of those impossible questions, but think again! This rich collection reveals synergies across multiple perspectives towards a vision of wisdom today's world very much needs.' David Perkins, Harvard University, Massachusetts

This is a comprehensive review of the psychological literature on wisdom by leading experts in the field. It covers the philosophical and sociocultural foundations of wisdom, and showcases the measurement and teaching of wisdom. The connection of wisdom to intelligence and personality is explained alongside its relationship with morality and ethics. It also explores the neurobiology of wisdom, its significance in medical decision-making, and wise leadership. How to develop wisdom is discussed and practical information is given about how to instil it in others. The book is accessible to a wide readership and includes virtually all of the major theories of wisdom, as well as the full range of research on wisdom as it is understood today. It takes both a basic-science and applied focus, making it useful to those seeking to understand wisdom scientifically, and to those who wish to apply their understanding of wisdom to their own work.

Part I. Foundations of Wisdom: 1. Race to Samarra: the critical importance of wisdom in the world today Robert J. Sternberg
2. Philosophical foundations of wisdom Jason Swartwood and Valerie Tiberius
3. Socio-cultural foundations of wisdom Ricca Edmondson and Markus Woerner
4. Neurobiology of wisdom Ellen Lee and Dilip V. Jeste
Part II. Conceptions of Wisdom: 5. Wisdom of the crowd: exploring people's conceptions of wisdom Nic M. Weststrate, Susan Bluck and Judith Glück
6. Wisdom as self-transcendence Carolyn M. Aldwin, Heidi Igarashi and Michael R. Levenson
7. Wisdom as a personality type Monika Ardelt, Stephen Pridgen and Kathryn L. Nutter-Pridgen
8. Why people often prefer wise guys to guys who are wise: an augmented balance theory of the production and reception of wisdom Robert J. Sternberg
9. General and personal wisdom Ursula Staudinger
10. Wise reasoning: converging evidence for the psychology of sound judgment Harrison Oakes, Justin P. Brienza, Abdo Elnakouri and Igor Grossmann
11. Practical wisdom: what Aristotle might add to psychology Barry Schwartz and Kenneth A. Sharpe
12. Wisdom as state vs trait Igor Grossmann, Franki Y. H. Kung and Henri C. Santos
Part III. Measures of Wisdom: 13. Performance-based measures of wisdom: state of the art and future directions Ute Kunzmann
14. Self-report wisdom measures: strengths, limitations, and future directions Jeffrey Webster
Part IV. The Development of Wisdom: 15. The development of wisdom during adulthood Judith Glück
16. Developing and teaching for wisdom Michel Ferrari and Juensung Kim
17. Teaching for wisdom Robert J. Sternberg and Emily S. Hagen
Part V. Cultural Perspectives on Wisdom: 18. Cultural differences in wisdom and conceptions of wisdom Michel Ferrari and Fatemeh Alhosseini
19. Non-Western lay conceptions of wisdom Shih-ying Yang and Ali Intezari
Part VI. Wisdom and Other Psychological Constructs: 20. Creativity, intelligence, and wisdom: could vs should Sarah F. Lynch and James C. Kaufman
21. Giftedness and wisdom Don Ambrose
22. Low levels of wisdom—foolishness Balazs Aczel
23. Wisdom and reflection Nic M. Weststrate
24. Identity and purpose in life as building blocks for wisdom Kaylin Ratner and Anthony L. Burrow
25. Wisdom, morality, and ethics Robert J. Sternberg and Judith Glück
26. Wisdom and emotions Ute Kunzmann and Judith Glück
27. Wisdom and well-being Monika Ardelt
28. Relationship between wisdom and spirituality: an expanded theoretical model with mysticism and gerotranscendence Masami Takahashi
Part VII. Wisdom in Action: 29. Wise leadership Bernard McKenna and David Rooney
30. Professional wisdom: functions and processes of psychotherapeutic and judicial wisdom Heidi M. Levitt and Lauren M. Grabowski
31. Wisdom in medical decision making Lauris C. Kaldjian
32. Wisdom in history and politics Lloyd Etheredge
33. The urgent need for social wisdom Nicholas Maxwell
Part VIII. Conclusions: 34. Why is wisdom such an obscure field of inquiry and what can and should be done about it? Robert J. Sternberg and Judith Glück.

Subject Areas: Popular psychology [VSP], Cognition & cognitive psychology [JMR], Social, group or collective psychology [JMH], Philosophy of mind [HPM], Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge [HPK]