The Architecture of Wisdom in Interpersonal Conflict: Structure and Trait, State, and Cultural Expression Across World Regions
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: How do individuals across diverse cultures navigate interpersonal conflicts, and what drives variation in their use of wisdom-related strategies? METHOD: In two studies spanning eight world regions (N = 4445), we examined the factor structure of five wisdom-related strategies (Intellectual Humility, Others' Perspectives, Acknowledgement of Multiple Outcomes, Search for Compromise, Outsider's View), their individual-difference correlates, and trait-state variance. RESULTS: In Study 1 (autobiographical recall), we identified a three-factor structure-Perspectival Metacognition, Conflict Resolution, and Outsider's View-that showed approximate measurement invariance across cultures. In Study 2 (standardized scenarios), we replicated this structure and partitioned trait, state, and cultural variance. Cross-cultural differences accounted for about 4% of variance in expressed wisdom, whereas within-person variation across situations explained the largest share: People expressed less wisdom in reflections on conflicts involving trust betrayal than social rejection, an effect linked to greater emotional reactivity to betrayal. At the individual level, need for cognition and relational-interdependent self-construal showed small-to-moderate positive associations with each wisdom-related feature, whereas a sense of uniqueness was positively related to Conflict Resolution. CONCLUSIONS: Wisdom in reflections on interpersonal conflict appears organized around three metacognitive themes that replicate broadly across cultures, with situational affordances (vs. cultural or trait dispositions) accounting for most variation in its expression.
Source: Journal of Personality
DOI: 10.1111/jopy.70107
Authors: Igor Grossmann, Maksim Rudnev, Anna Dorfman, Kelli Barr, Abdellatif Bencherifa, Wesley Buckwalter, Rockwell F. Clancy, Yasuo Deguchi, Emanuele Fabiano, Badr Guennoun, Júlia Halamová, Takaaki Hashimoto, Joshua Homan, Martin Kanovský, Kaori Karasawa, Hackjin Kim, Jordan Kiper, Minha Lee, Xiaofei Liu, Veli Mitova, Rukmini B. Nair, Ljiljana Pantovic, Brian Porter, Pablo Quintanilla, Josien Reijer, Pedro P. Romero, Yuri Sato, Purnima Singh, Salma Tber, Daniel A. Wilkenfeld, Stephen Stich, H. Clark Barrett, Edouard Machery
Institutions: University of Waterloo, Bar-Ilan University, University of Pittsburgh, International University of Rabat, George Mason University, Virginia Tech, Delft University of Technology, Kyoto University, Centro de Estudos Sociais, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, University of Coimbra, University of Hassan II Casablanca, Comenius University Bratislava, Toyo University, University of Kansas, The University of Tokyo, Korea University, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Seoul National University, Wuhan University, University of Johannesburg, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, University of Belgrade, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Ochanomizu University, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, University of California, Los Angeles
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,780
Awards: G1249114948, Les contre-dissidents : la réaction de l'intelligentsia littéraire est-allemande à la chute du mur de Berlin, Testing the power of forecasting tournaments to foster judgmental accuracy, intellectual humility and open-mindedness in debates over human progress, Race and marriage in the nineteenth-century Pacific the traumatizing legacy of law, Sounding Griffintown: a soundscape analysis of a neighbourhood in flux, Wisdom Across Cultures Beyond Traditional Decision-making Paradigms, The Geography of Philosophy: An Interdisciplinary Cross-Cultural Exploration of Universality and Diversity in Fundamental Philosophical Concepts
OpenAlex ID: W7225465936