Measurement of Wisdom among Mainland Chinese

by

Chao Hu

A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements

for the degree of Doctor in Philosophy

Applied Psychology amp Human Development

University of Toronto

copy Copyright by Chao Hu 2016

ii

Measurement of Wisdom among Mainland Chinese

Chao Hu

Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Applied Psychology amp Human Development

University of Toronto

2016

Abstract

Modern psychologists generally regard wisdom as mature understanding and conduct of life

however most wisdom studies have been conducted in Western culture Little is known about

wisdom in other cultures even though cultures may significantly shape the structure of wisdom

for example Chinese culture emphasizes connections in society nature and universe more than

Western culture does thus the structure of wisdom among Mainland Chinese may differ from

that of Westerners

We conducted three studies to find a proper measurerepresentation for wisdom among Mainland

Chinese In study 1 wisdom was measured by Ardeltlsquos self-report wisdom scale but the three-

dimensional wisdom structure was not found In study 2 we identified five wisdom components

from the implicit theory of wisdom among 100 Mainland Chinese Most of these components

corresponded to those identified in the implicit theory of wisdom among westerners yet some of

them were uniquely Chinese The Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model was developed based on

these five conceptual components In study 3 a Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm was

developed based on the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model and the Berlin Wisdom Paradigm

iii

(general and personal) The participantslsquo wisdom performance was videotaped and then rated on

the Mainland Chinese and Berlin Wisdom criteria Their videotaped facial expression was

analyzed by software The results revealed that our Chinese wisdom measurement is reliable and

valid the Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating were highly consistent

with each other finally the feeling of surprise may contribute to wisdom performance

iv

Acknowledgments

Thanks to my parents on the other side of this planet always encouraging me to carry on in my

studies

Thanks to my supervisor Dr Michel Ferrari such a patient and gentle scholar knowledgeable in

many different fields and very supportive of my studies here at the University of Toronto

I also want to thank my thesis committee members Dr Earl Woodruff Dr Shih-ying Yang Dr

Xi Chen-Bumgardner and Dr Thao N Le on their advices and help with my thesis writing

Without their help I would not be able to have such precious ideas and thoughts embodied in this

thesis

Thanks to the staff at our department Applied Psychology amp Human Development such as Lisa

Chinchamie Marisa Freire and Jennifer OReilly some of them are no longer working in our

department but I will always remember their kindness and patience

Thanks to the University of Toronto for giving me such a precious opportunity to study in one of

the worldlsquos most multicultural and open-minded environments

Thanks to my supervisor for my Masterlsquos thesis Prf Genyue Fu and my friends such as

Qiandong Wang for their advices and supports for my Doctorate thesis studies

Thanks to all the participants raters and coders who participated in our studies especially the

middle-aged professor and editor Without their help this thesis could not be done

Finally I want to thank my dear friend Ethan Weare for his help with proofreading

v

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot iv

Table of Contents middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot v

List of Tables middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot xii

List of Figures middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot xiii

List of Appendices middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotxiv

Chapter 1 General introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

1 Definitions of wisdom middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm 1

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm 1

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm 4

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms 4

22 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale 5

23 ―MORE model 6

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models 7

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 7

4 Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 8

41 Confucianism 9

42 Daoism 10

43 Chinese Buddhism 10

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy 11

vi

5 Modern history of China middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 12

51 Before the Cultural Revolution 12

52 Cultural Revolution 14

53 After the Cultural Revolution 15

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 17

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

11 Choosing Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese 19

12 Validity tests of Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure 19

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 20

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 21

31 Participants 21

32 Material 21

321 Visual basic program 21

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS) 21

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) 22

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) 22

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) 23

426 Progressive Raven Matrix 23

33 Procedure 23

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 24

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom

scale 24

42 Factor analysis 24

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores 25

vii

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale 25

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale 26

46 Eysenck personality scale 26

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 27

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model 27

52 Validity test results 27

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability 29

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 29

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners 30

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories 31

13 This study 31

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 32

Parallel hypothesis 32

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 33

31 Participants 33

32 Material 33

33 Procedure 33

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 35

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 35

42 Generation difference in nomination 38

43 Acquaintance wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 41

44 Mainland Chinese implicit theory of wisdom 42

viii

441 ―Ability in Cognition related to the Western theme ―Cognitive Ability 42

442 ―Ability in Practice an extension of the Western theme ―Problem Solving

Skills 43

443 ―Concern for Others related to the Western theme ―Concern for Others

relevant to Confucianism 43

444 ―Eschewing-world Spirituality similar to the Western theme ―Insight but

framed in Chinese traditions 44

445 ―Positive Mindset missing in the Western implicit theory of wisdom

relevant to the historic turbulence 44

Others 45

45 Conceptual wisdom components and group difference 45

46 Relationship between wisdom exemplar nomination and conceptual wisdom

component 46

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 47

51 Personally known and historical exemplars of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

the generation difference 47

52 The implicit theory of wisdom among our Mainland Chinese participants and the

generation difference 48

53 Effects of Communist ideology on Wisdom conceptualization and Exemplars 53

54 Comparing the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese participants to

that among Westerners 54

55 Comparison between the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

that among Taiwanese Chinese 55

56 Comparing the Mainland Chinese wisdom model with Western wisdom models 56

561 Traditional Berlin Wisdom and Personal wisdom model 56

562 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model 57

563 ―MORE model 58

564 Brief Summary of these comparisons 58

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 59

ix

Chapter 4 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm a performance-based wisdom measure middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

11 Lack of emotional components in previous Berlin Paradigms 61

12 Innovative 2nd person wisdom measurement 63

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

31 Participants 65

32 Material 65

321 Berlin Wisdom paradigm vignettes 65

322 Berlin Wisdom manual (adapted) 65

323 Mainland Chinese wisdom manual 66

324 iMotions - Attention Tool FACET module (version 21) 67

325 Others 68

33 Procedure 68

34 Data analyses 69

341 Wisdom ratings 69

342 Facial expression analysis 69

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 72

41 Reliability of the Berlin and Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 72

42 Correlation between Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings

74

43 Correlation between performance-based and self-report wisdom measures 75

44 Validity test of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 75

441 Correlations with previous scores on wisdom correlates 75

442 Correlations with life satisfaction the following year 77

x

443 Conclusion 77

45 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 77

46 Thematic contents in participantslsquo responses 80

461 Life plan problem ―a friendlsquos unrealizable dream 80

462 Life review problem ―a teacherlsquos unrealized dream 81

463 Responses in the life plan problem rated highestlowest on BerlinMainland

Chinese wisdom rating 82

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 84

51 The role of experience in performance measure of wisdom 84

52 Berlin Wisdom rating was highly consistent with Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating

84

53 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 85

531 Measurement of emotional components of wisdom 85

532 Surprise and wisdom 86

533 Expression of negativepositive emotion may influence ratings on ―Ability in

PracticePositive Mindset 87

Chapter 5 General Discussion and Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

1 Concept of wisdom in a culture lay people VS philosophers middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

2 Universal Wisdom and cultural variation middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

3 Advantages of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 90

4 Limitation of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigmmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 91

5 Potential impacts on Western wisdom studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 92

51 Culture difference and universal wisdom model 92

52 Advantages of performance-based wisdom measure 93

53 The 2nd-person wisdom measure 94

6 General Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 95

xi

References middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 96

Appendicesmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 107

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items 107

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items 111

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm 113

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria 113

41 Criterion 1 Ability in Cognition认知能力 113

42 Criterion 2 Ability in Practice 实践能力 114

43 Criterion 3 Concern for Others 关心他人 115

44 Criterion 4 Eschewing-world Spirituality出世精神 116

45 Criterion 5 Positive Mindset 积极心态 118

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year 119

Copyright Acknowledgements middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 120

xii

List of Tables

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Table 2 Number of the participants mentioned each wisdom component in their definitions of

wisdom

Table 3 Rating of the participantslsquo performance in the life plan problem on each criterion

Table 4 Correlations between the ratings on Berlin and Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

Table 5 Correlations of the ratings on Chinese wisdom criteria with wisdom correlates

Table 6 Proportional time of each category of emotion in each scenario

xiii

List of Figures

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

Figure 2 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

Figure 3 A segment of a participantlsquos evidence value of surprise

xiv

List of Appendices

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year

1

Chapter 1 General introduction

1 Definitions of wisdom

Even though wisdom has become a topic of research in empirical psychology since the

last quarter of the 20th century there is still no scientific consensus on the definition of

wisdom (For a review of the definitions of wisdom see Bangen Meeks amp Jeste 2013)

Modern empirical psychologists generally view wisdom as a mature understanding and

conduct of life especially in difficult situations (Staudinger 2008) Two of the most

widely acknowledged definitions are the Berlin Wisdom researcherslsquo definition of

wisdom as expertise knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000) and Ardeltlsquos (2004) defining wisdom as an ideal type of character that

combines cognitive reflective and affective aspects of personality

Regardless of the difficulty in settling on a definition of it wisdom is believed to be an

important resource for a good life Wisdom provides insights and guidance for people to

lead a meaningful and happy life (Ferrari amp Potworowski 2008) In fact it may be

impossible to define wisdom semantically just as many scientific structures that can only

be represented in certain measures (see Giere 2009) a representation of the structure of

wisdom within a proper measurement may be the best a researcher can do Still this kind

of measurement is meaningful for many reasons both theoretical and practical

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm

The well-established Berlin Wisdom model defines wisdom as expertise and judgment

concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life and ―the pinnacle of insight into the

human condition and about the means and ends of a good life (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 122) rather than personality traits or individual abilities Staudinger (1996) has

further defined wisdom as a social interactive product Balteslsquo understanding of wisdom

2

might have been influenced by the Gestalt cognitive theory originating in Germanymdash

especially that of Koumlhler (1924) who believes that insight based on experience and

understanding of the structure of a situation was inherent to wisdom solving the

pragmatics in a creative way

Nevertheless the full model of the Berlin Wisdom paradigm (as shown in Figure 1) is not

simply about wisdom as expertise in life pragmatics but also about the ontogeny and

function of this life expertise (Baltes amp Smith 2008) Three factors are thought to be

associated with development maintenance and application of wisdom general person

factors (eg cognitive mechanics cognitive style mental health creativity and ego

strength) specific expertise-related factors (eg exposure to life scenarios and significant

life events motivation mentorship) and context (eg age cohort historical period

culture) Furthermore excellence in mind and virtue such as exceptionally good

judgment good advice insightful commentary about difficult and uncertain matters of

life and nonverbal behaviors associated with good conduct emotion regulation and

empathy in interpersonal and group contexts are regarded as necessary

manifestationoutcome of wisdom

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

3

Baltes and his colleagues measured wisdom through a think-aloud procedure testing the

participantslsquo responses in some hypothetical life-scenario situations such as the life-

planning life-monitoring and life-review problem for example ―In reflecting over their

lives people sometimes realize that they have not achieved what they had once planned

to achieve What should onethey do and consider (Staudinger amp Baltes 1996 p 762)

Participants reflected on these questions for a while before they responded by thinking

aloud Their thinking-aloud answers were tape recorded During both the reflection time

and the answering time the interviewer left the room so that participants felt less

constrained in talking about private issues The responses were transcribed and then rated

by 10 raters on five criteria (one criterion for each rater two raters per criterion) which

were developed based on Balteslsquo life-span theory and other cognitive psychologistslsquo

conceptions about the nature of cognitive development and problem solving in highly

complicated and ecological tasks (Staudinger Baltes amp Smith 1994)

The criteria of excellence (expertise) in fundamental pragmatics of life are a two-tiered

family the first level is rich factual (declarative) and procedural knowledge about the

fundamental life pragmatics includes life planning life management and life review the

second level is meta-criteria including understandings of lifespan contextualism

relativism of values and life priorities recognition and management of uncertainty

Factual knowledge includes knowledge of ―human nature life-long development

variations in developmental processes and outcomes interpersonal relations social

norms critical events in life and their possible constellations as well as knowledge about

the coordination of the well-being of oneself and that of others (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 125) Procedural knowledge involves ―strategies and heuristics for dealing with

the meaning and conduct of lifemdashfor example heuristics for giving advice and for the

structuring and weighing of life goals ways to handle life conflicts and life decisions and

knowledge about alternative back-up strategies if development were not to proceed as

expected (p 125) Lifespan contextualism refers to knowledge ―that considers the many

themes and contexts of life (eg education family work friends leisure the public good

of society etc) their interrelations and cultural variations and in addition incorporates a

4

lifetime temporal perspective (p 125-126) Relativism of values and life priorities refers

to ―acknowledgment of and tolerance for value differences and the relativity of the values

held by individuals and society (p 126) Finally the recognition of and management of

uncertainty describes an awareness of ―(a) the validity of human information processing

itself is essentially limited (constrained) (b) individuals have access only to select parts

of reality (c) the future cannot be fully known in advance (p 126)

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm

Charlotte Mickler and Ursula M Staudinger (2008) argued that general wisdom

concerning life in general as measured in the traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm was

different from Personal Wisdom which is an individuallsquos insight into his or her own life

In the Personal Wisdom paradigm the participants think aloud about themselves as a

friend such as their typical behaviors as a friend and their actions in difficult situations

The procedure was similar to that in the traditional Berlin wisdom paradigm however

the transcripted responses were rated on the Personal Wisdom criteria developed based on

the Berlin Wisdom criteria and conceptions of personality maturity in psychology

The Personal Wisdom criteria include two basic criteria (p 788) ―Self-knowledge (deep

insight into oneself and onelsquos own life) ―Growth and self-regulation (heuristics that

helps one to cope with various difficult and challenging situations and to learn from

them) and three meta-criteria ―Interrelating the self (an awareness of the contextual

embeddedness of onelsquos behavior feelings or both and onelsquos biographical embeddedness

dependency on others and the interrelatedness of different self-domains) ―Self-

relativism (―critically appraise their own behavior without losing a basic level of self-

esteem) and ―Tolerance of ambiguity (―ability to recognize and manage the

uncertainties in onelsquos own life and onelsquos own development)

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms

The traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm is a 3rd person perspective wisdom measure

which is not relevant to the participantslsquo personal life and thus not emotionally-engaging

In fact wisdom cannot exist independently of individuals (Ardelt 2004) On the other

5

hand the Personal wisdom paradigm is a 1st-person perspective wisdom measure

Therefore it may be vulnerable to the participantslsquo social desirability and inaccuracy in

self-judgment or self-serving bias Furthermore there is no measurement of emotional

components of wisdom in any of these two paradigms

22 Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale

Based on Clayton and Birrenlsquos definition of wisdom Monika Ardelt (2003 2004)

proposed that wisdom was the integration of cognitive reflective and affective

personality traits Ardelt critiqued the Berlin Wisdom paradigmlsquos definition of wisdom as

some kind of expert knowledge she believes that wisdom cannot exist independently of

individuals (Ardelt 2004) In contrary Baltes and his colleagues proposed that wisdom is

about the fundamental truth of life which is very difficult for a person to grasp (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000)

Ardelt developed a self-reportself-assessment scale to measure wisdom The participants

indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or ―strongly agree

to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree There are 39 items in three-

dimensional wisdom scale 14 for the cognitive dimension 12 for the reflective

dimension and 13 for the affective dimension (Ardelt 2003 2004) (see Appendix 1) The

cognitive dimension embodies the desire to know the truth a deep understanding of life

(eg ―Ignorance is bliss (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item and relativistic thinking

(eg ―People are either good or bad (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item) The reflective

dimension includes self-examination self-awareness and self-insight (eg ―Things often

go wrong for me by no fault of my own (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) as well as

the ability to perceive a phenomenon from different perspectives (eg ―Before criticizing

somebody I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place (Ardelt 2003 p

317)) and ―transcendence from self-projections and self-serving bias (eg ―I either get

very angry or depressed if things go wrong (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) Lastly

the affective dimension refers to sympathy and compassion for others (eg ―Sometimes I

feel a real compassion for everyone (Ardelt 2003 p 318))

Below is a detailed list of the sub-dimensions of the three wisdom dimensions (Ardelt

6

unpublished documentation authorized by Ardelt) ―

Cognitive dimension

1 Ability and willingness to understand a situation or phenomenon thoroughly

2 Acknowledgement of ambiguity complexity and uncertainty in life

3 Ability to make important decisions despite lifelsquos unpredictability and uncertainties

Reflective dimension

1 Ability and willingness to look at phenomena and events from different perspectives

2 Absence of subjectivity and projections

Affective dimension

1 Presence of positive and caring emotions toward others

2 Absence of indifferent or negative emotions toward others

3 Motivation to nurture the well-being of others

Ardeltlsquos method is also a 1st person perspective measure while self-report measure of

wisdom may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception

(Staudinger Gluck 2011) In fact a positive association between impression

management and scores on some items in Ardeltlsquos scale was demonstrated in a survey

(Taylor Bates amp Webster 2011)

23 ldquoMORErdquo model

Focused on the development of wisdom Gluumlck and Bluck (2012) proposed the MORE

model of wisdom embodying four resources of wisdom

1 A Sense of Mastery belief in onelsquos ability of handling life challenges

2 Openness awareness of multiple perspectives on a phenomenon interests in ―learning

7

from new perspectives and from other people (p 9)

3 Reflective Attitude ―willingness to look at life issues in a complex way (p 10)

4 Emotion RegulationEmpathy ―ability to deal with otherslsquo feelings effectively and

―reach out to others through empathetic concern (p 12)

The model is still under development Gluumlck and Bluck suggested a longitudinal survey

to explore the developmental dynamics between MORE resources and life experiences

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models

In general Western researchers proposing these models may be implicitly influenced by

Western culture characterized by Greek philosophy and Christian religion Furthermore

these models have been mainly applied to Western participants growing up in a Western

cultural background which has significantly influenced the scientific understanding of

wisdom (for reviews see Bangen et al 2013 Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013 Sternberg amp

Jordan 2005) Little is known about the conception of wisdom in other social-cultural

contexts Therefore we are not sure if these models are relevant for other cultural groups

It could be relevant because wisdom is a universal quality of human life or irrelevant

the structure of wisdom is cultural-specific because culture influences wisdom

conception which further influences wisdom development

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds

Most of the existing studies in non-western cultures have targeted a particular wisdom

tradition such as Levittlsquos (1999) qualitative study of Tibetan Buddhist monks which

found that wisdom was defined as examination of reality understanding of ―true self

and being altruistic to others or focused on a particular explicit theory of wisdom such

as Grossmann and his colleagueslsquo (2012) cross-culture study on Japanese and Americanslsquo

wise decision making which found that American (not Japanese) performed better with

increasing age

8

In general wisdom researchers in Eastern cultures believe that culture significantly

shapes conception of wisdom (Brezina amp Oudenhoven 2012) Ivan Brezina and Jan

Pieter Van Oudenhoven examined the conception of wisdom among five different

nations Ecuador (predominantly Christian) India (predominantly Hindu) and the

predominantly Muslim countries Indonesia Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

They showed the participants different items each of which describes an individual

characteristic and the participants indicated their agreement with its relatedness to

wisdom The factor analysis results revealed three primary factors underlying the concept

of wisdom ―serenity referring to detachment from emotion and material

―determination reflecting reflection upon oneself and persistence in difficulties and

―altruism defined as selflessness Moreover they found that effect of national culture

was more significant than an effect of religion upon the conception of wisdom However

their research method has a shortcoming in that the researchers own conception of

wisdom rather than that of the local population was examined Therefore the

similarities between the wisdom conception among the participants and that identified in

Western studies could be caused by the unconscious impact of the abundant Western

wisdom research literature upon the researchers Moreover the participants were all

immigrants who had already experienced a different social culture that may influence

their conception of wisdom

Nevertheless the idea that the Eastern conception of wisdom differs from the Western

conception was confirmed by other studies exploring implicit theories of wisdom in

Eastern cultures For example a survey in several Asian countries (India Indonesia

Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates) revealed that their conceptions of wisdom were

more related to many aspects of personal characters compared with that in Western

cultures (Ivan amp Alojz 2010) a survey on American Australian Indian and Japanese

revealed that Western conception of wisdom emphasized cognitive dimension while

Eastern conception both cognitive and affective dimensions (Takahashi amp Bordia 2000)

4 Chinese culture

It is not easy to define culture For my thesis culture is defined as beliefs about human

9

life commonly shared by a group of people which are influenced by their philosophy

religion literature history politics economy etc For example Chinese culture is well-

known for its characteristic Confucianism (Winfield Mizuno amp Beaudoin 2000)

However Chinese culture is influenced not only by Confucianism but also by Daoism

Buddhism and other schools of philosophy For example the Legalist School argues that

governments should build on strict and established laws instead of morality proclaimed

by Confucians Mohism advocates indiscriminating love iron will and strict discipline

denounces all kinds of offensive wars admires noble talents worships ghosts and

heaven Mohism agrees with Confucianism upon advocating virtues such as humaneness

and righteousness however Mohism emphasizes simplicity and austerity denouncing the

complicated rituals and rites advocated in Confucianism (Feng 1983)

Nevertheless Confucianism Daoism and Buddhism are usually regarded as the most

important Chinese traditions (Peng 2007) The most important figures for Confucianism

are Confucius (551 - 479BC) and Mencius (372 - 289BC) for Daoism Lao-tzu a

mysterious historic figure (Sima 1939) and Chuang-Tzu (369 - 286 BC) Buddhism was

founded by Buddha Gautama (around 300 BC) in India entered China in the latter part of

the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and gradually merged with the Chinese local culture

(Hardy 2014) There are numerous teachings and endless debates about these three

traditions among the experts in Chinese philosophy however these three traditions

merged into one around the time of Song dynasty (96 - 1279) (Feng 1983) Hence most

Chinese are influenced by all these traditions

Here I have only chosen some basic tenets of these three traditions with which most

Chinese will have an understanding

41 Confucianism

According to Confucianism everybody should be unified in virtue (eg Humaneness amp

Righteousness仁义) for Harmonious interpersonal relationship especially within family

and States For example Confucius said ―Do not impose on others what you yourself do

not desire (chapter 122) ―A benevolent man helps others to take their stand in so far as

he himself wishes to take his stand and gets others there in so far as he himself wishes to

10

get there (chapter 630) (Lau 1979)

Confucians emphasize interpersonal connection For example Mengzi persuaded kings to

unify the turbulent China at that time through compassion and actions to fulfill

compassion (Confucius amp Mencius 2007) Xunzi believes that social cooperation and

rites distinguish man from the animals (Feng 1983) Correspondingly many Chinese

scholars believe that Chinese emphasize on interpersonal-relationship more than

Westerners do (eg Zhu amp Han 2008 Gu amp Guo 2015)

42 Daoism

According to Daoism everything is unified in ―Dao the eternal way of natureuniverse

Daoism teaches man to model on nature For example Lao Tzu said ―Man models

himself on Earth Earth on Heaven Heaven on the Way and the Way on that which is

naturally so (Lau 1963 chapter 25)

In nature cause and effect influence each other cause and effect are connected in one

process the eternal way The founder of Daoism Lao Tzu said ―Being and Non-being

produce each other (Lau 1963 chapter 2) Here ―Being and ―Non-being are cause

and effect of each other in fact Daoism does not distinguish cause from effect

Man is an integral part of universe rather than a Subject independently of observed

Objects The distinction between subject and object in Western philosophy remained

unchallenged until Heidegger argued that there is no such thing as an observing subject

that is unaffected by the external world of observed things (Gu amp Guo 2015)

Correspondingly Daoism proclaims that a person should forget self especially desires of

self so that the person would have pure perception of the world and freedom in this

universe

43 Chinese Buddhism

When Buddhism spread to China there were the Theravada and Mahayana traditions

However due to the influence of the existing Chinese traditions especially Confucianism

and Daoism the Theravada tradition faded away within a short period of time whereas

11

Mahayana tradition gradually merged into Chinese culture and came to dominate Chinese

Buddhism (Group 2003)

According to Chinese Buddhism all the Beings Non-Beings and relationships between

BeingsNon-Beings are unified with the Universal Mind Buddha Buddha says ―Banruo

Boruomi (Buddha 2007) Banruo is wisdom like a hard and pure diamond piercing

through illusions and reach the world of truth namely Boruomi

Everything is transient interdependent and void (no-self) only a manifestation of mind

one needs to realize the original identification with the Universal Mind and replace non-

enlightenment with enlightenment to escape the endless transmigration of cause and

effect This extrication is called nirvana (Feng 1983)

The ―Enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism is different from the ―Cognition framed in

Western culture Because men are already unified with Buddha enlightenment is a

process of self-realization of this fact and the unspeakable wisdom is deep in the mind

whereas in Christianity men are separated from God salvation is from Christ and the

gospel needs to be proclaimed Moreover in Buddhism essence and appearance are one

man should not cling to anything However most Western philosophers (eg Plato)

believe that essence is different from appearance (Gu amp Guo 2015)

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy

In general Chinese philosophies emphasize connections and try to unify everything into

one In space everything is unified in one unit (individuals in society or BeingsNon-

beingsrelationships in universe) in time every event is in one process In contrary

western philosophies concern themselves more with atoms in space or cause and effect

in time (Gu amp Guo 2015) Correspondingly Eastern understandings of wisdom

emphasize both analytical and synthetic domains whereas only analytical domains in

Western understandings (Takahashi 2000)

However most Mainland Chinese nowadays may be unfamiliar or disagree with these

profound Chinese philosophies due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China

12

in modern history

5 Modern history of China

Since the painful collision with Western culture in the First Opium War (1839-42)

Mainland of China has undergone a series of historic events that may seriously affect the

transmission of Chinese traditions In general numerous defeats by foreigners especially

Westerners helped Chinese people to reflect upon their own traditions and begin to

realize that Chinese culture is not superior to other cultures especially Western culture

Thus they began to critique their own culture and learn from people in other cultures

especially the Westerners (science philosophy politics etc) It should be noted that

Communism was also from the West and the Communists have governed Mainland of

China (not Taiwan) since 1949

A brief account of modern history of China is given below It should be noted that the

historical account is inevitably biased due to the authorlsquos education life experience

political beliefs etc Nevertheless I endeavor to present a history that is probably known

by most Mainland Chinese

51 Before the Cultural Revolution

A history textbook in Mainland of China will claim that China was repeatedly invaded by

foreigners at the beginning of the modern period (see Ministry of Education in China

2003) The British navy easily defeated China in the First Opium War of 1839 and in

1860 Beijings Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned to the ground by British

and French troops in 1895 Taiwan was ceded to Japan after Chinalsquos defeat in the Battle

of the Yellow Sea in 1900 European powers along with the United States Russia and

Japan seized Beijing coercing the Qing government into paying them 675 million

pounds in indemnity and signing protocols unfair for China (Weatherley amp Rosen 2013)

Angered by its weakness and corruption the Mainland Chinese populace mdashled by Dr

Sun Yat-sen founder of the Chinese Nationalist Partymdash overthrew the Qing government

in 1911 (Fairbank Twitchett amp Feuerwerker 1986) However Sun Yat-sen was unable to

create a government capable of controlling the political situation in Mainland of China

13

Warlords supported by different foreign powers fought against each other leading

Mainland of China into seemingly endless turbulence Eventually Sun Yat-sen built the

Nationalist Partylsquos own army and allied with the Chinese Communist party and the

USSR was preparing to defeat the warlords and reunify China when Sun Yat-sen died

suddenly in 1925 (about the time the oldest of the older generation participants in study 2

was born)

Fulfilling Sun Yat-senlsquos dream the Northern Expedition began from Guangzhou in 1926

the Nationalist Party established its Capital in Nanjing in April 1927 confronting the

Beiyang Government established by the warlords in Beijing In 1928 the Nationalist

party captured Beijing and the warlord in the Northeast of China subsequently declared

his loyalty to the Nanjing government and the Northern Expedition ended however the

Chinese Nationalist Party and Chinese Communist Party had turned against each other

since 1927 and the war between these two parties went on In 1931 the Communist party

established its capital in Ruijin (a Hakka city in the south of China) defying the Nanjing

government in the same year the Japanese invaded Mainland of China The Japanese

had conquered the whole of Northeast China by 1932

In 1936 the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party decided to end

the civil war and join forces to fight against the Japanese The war against the Japanese

was extremely difficult almost one third of Mainland of Chinalsquos territory had been

invaded by Japan (including Beijing which was captured by the Japanese in 1937 and

was not reclaimed until 1945 by the Nationalist party) After Japan surrendered and

returned Taiwan to China in 1945 civil war in China between the Chinese Nationalist

Party and the Chinese Communist Party resumed almost immediately The Communist

Party captured Beijing from the Nationalist party in January 1949 and on October 1st of

the same year the leader of the Communist Party Mao Zedong announced the foundation

of Peoplelsquos Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing In December 1949 Chiang Kai-shek

with his government fled to Taiwan (Fairbank et al 1986) (This was about the time the

youngest of the older generation participants in study 2 was born) Taiwan has been

separated from the Mainland of China since that time

14

After another difficult war in Korea against the United States and its allies (1950-1953)

(for the details see Blair 1987) the Mainland Chinese Communist Party launched

communist reform throughout Mainland of China Communist ideology was proclaimed

private businesses were appropriated as national assets lands were taken from the

landlords and divided among peasants and collective farms were built (MacFarquhar

1991) Chairman Mao wished to build a socialist country for the proletariat however

after he retired from the position of Chairman in 1959 he was disappointed to find

traditional ideas reappear in contemporary literature and the Communist Party suffered

from corruption and bureaucracy Nevertheless these realities did not diminish Maolsquos

―communist dream instead he launched the Cultural Revolution (MacFarquhar 1991)

52 Cultural Revolution

From its beginning in 1966 to its end ten years later the Cultural Revolution is

considered Mainland of Chinalsquos most turbulent time after the founding of the Peoplelsquos

Republic (MacFarquhar 1991) The reason for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

is still debatable but many historians believe that Mao wanted to prevent bureaucracy

revisionism and capitalism that he thought was developing in Khrushchevlsquos USSR

(MacFarquhar 1991) Mao was especially skeptical of the ―deterioration of the central

communist leaders such as Chairman Liu Shaoqi (whom Mao suspected of revisionism

he was persecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution)

Besides many communist leaders numerous innocent scholars who were (or seemed)

unenthusiastic about Maolsquos communist ideology were persecuted during the Cultural

Revolution by Maolsquos loyal followers the ―Red Guards mostly made up of passionate

youths (MacFarquhar 1991) The Red Guards considered Maolsquos Quotations (―Red

Precious Book 「红宝书」) almost as a sacred text and were strongly against anything

related to traditional ideologies such as Confucianism Daoism or Buddhism They were

responsible for the destruction of many national treasures and historic art

Chinese culture and education suffered most during the Cultural Revolution and its

impact has been believed to be long-lasting (MacFarquhar 1991) The youthful spirit of

the Cultural Revolution differed from Chinese tradition in many ways First it was a

15

dictatorship of the proletariat not the aristocracy Second soldiers were respected while

scholars were belittled Traditional literati were usually peaceful gentle and even soft

(Stokstad 2005) while Mao (although a poet) valued military strategy resorting to

violent revolution to tackle social problems He proclaimed that political power come

from military strength (Mao 1972) In fact popular support from the Peoplelsquos Liberation

Army (PLA) was an important basis for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

Finally Marxist materialism was proclaimed while the traditions such as Confucianism

Daoism and Buddhism were roundly denounced

Unfortunately the Cultural Revolution degenerated into chaos (MacFarquhar 1991) In

1971 Maolsquos long-time comrade and chosen successor Marshal Linmdashwho had

enthusiastically supported the Cultural Revolution (at least on the surface)mdashbetrayed

Mao (MacFarquhar 1991) In 1975 one year before Maolsquos death and the de facto end of

the Cultural Revolution Mao wrote his last poem in which he said ―At that time

anxious about our motherland we comrades were not afraid of being beheaded Now the

whole country is red (communist) but who can guard it The work has not finished yet

my body is tired my hair is white How can you be hardhearted enough to let our life-

long dream be gone with the river (Mao 1996)

53 After the Cultural Revolution

Although repeatedly attacked Deng Xiaoping survived the Cultural Revolution to launch

economic reform his ―Reform and Opening started in 1978 has generated rapid

economic growth in Mainland of China since the 1980s (MacFarquhar 1991) The

Cultural Revolution was officially decried The public image of Mao became much more

realistic especially after Denglsquos compromising comments on Maolsquos life his

achievements before the foundation of Peoplelsquos Republic of China and his mistakes in his

late life especially during the Cultural Revolution Moreover Confucianism Daoism

and Buddhism are increasingly appreciated as demonstrated by the growing popularity of

the books about Chinese traditions such as Confucianism (eg Yu 2006) Meanwhile

religions such as Christianity Buddhism and Taoism are recovering after the loosening of

earlier restrictions put in place by the Communist Party (Yang 2006)

16

There are many fundamental changes in current society of Mainland China

First new social classes such as owners of private companies emerged after the

economic reform changing the previous simply layered social structure made up of

famers workers and scholars Meanwhile cooperation rather than conflict between

different classes is emphasized (Lu 2004) Consistently social interaction and social

relationship (关系) are increasingly appreciated The social ability of modern Mainland

Chinese youths is believed to be higher than that of their parents (Huang Deng Chen amp

Lu 2009) However this 关系 also has negative implications For example people who

have connections with governing officials such as the politicianslsquo relatives usually get

advantages in the competition of the immature markets and occupy most social resources

Corruption among the political officials moreover is commonplace Correspondingly

the current income levels in current China are overwhelmingly imbalanced the managers

form the top class of Mainland Chinese society which according to surveys in Shenzhen

and Hefei (Lu 2004) earn 15 times of the income of the workmen who are at the bottom

of the social hierarchy and are often belittled This situation is totally different from that

in Maolsquos age when workmen formed the upper class and were greatly respected Second

knowledge and techniques especially scientific knowledge and techniques are becoming

more and more important Therefore scholars and scientists are more and more

respected Third with the opening up of Mainland China to the outside world Mainland

Chinese society is becoming more and more international and multi-cultural art

literature and philosophy have been flooding into Mainland of China from Hong Kong

Taiwan Korea Japan the United States etc This trend is intensified by the prevalence of

the internet all over China Fourth the one-child policy was implemented Most youths

are the only child or of just one of two children in a family and thus enjoy a luxury of

resources that had not been available to their parents

With such dramatic changes in society there are tremendous gaps between the mentalities

of current Mainland Chinese youths and their parents they are much more

individualistic open-minded critical adventurist and fact-based (not as interested in

theory and ideology as their parents once were during Maolsquos age) legally conscious

interested in public affairs but not so much in social morality caring about the protection

17

of the environment fond of fun rather than being serious (Huang et al 2009) Western

ideas such as freedom and democracy are much more appreciated meanwhile some

negative values such as worshiping financial power and material consumption are also

more common among current Mainland Chinese youth than among their parents

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture

Wisdom studies in non-Western cultures mostly involve Japan and India Very little has

been done in China The Berlin Wisdom criteria were applied in a study to rate a

Mainland Chinese citylsquos elderly peoplelsquos psychological adaptation level which was

found to be significantly positively correlated with their life satisfaction (Weidong 2006)

An opinion paper discussed differences between Chinese and Western practical wisdom

in management and concluded that both value compassion (Opdebeeck amp Habisch

2011) a survey on the wit and wisdom of Mainland Chinese tour guides merely

illustrated tour guideslsquo practical wisdom which was barely a necessary ingredient of a

good life (Dioko Harrill amp Cardon 2013) Bang and Zhou (2014) studied how Ardeltlsquos

(2003) Three-dimensional wisdom Scale related to development of ego identity among

Mainland Chinese undergraduate university students and identified a positive correlation

None of these studies has been specifically focused on wisdom among Mainland Chinese

Yang (2001 2007 2008a 2008b 2008c 2014a) has studied the conception of wisdom in

Chinese culture in depth Yang chose 智慧 as the corresponding Chinese word for

―wisdom and reviewed the development of the meaning of 智慧 in Chinese history 智

慧 is mostly about personal characters especially about cognitive ability and judgments

With the spread of Buddhism in China 智慧 incorporated the components of wisdom in

Hindu culture ability to transcend laws in universe and pierce through transient

phenomenon in this world in order to realize ultimate truth In modern Chinese language

智 and 慧 are very similar in meaning (see httpwwwzdicnet) 智 emphasizes

more intelligence wisdom and resourcefulness 慧 is closer to wisdom (Banruo) in

Buddhism

In an empirical study Taiwanese Chinese who had been nominated as wise exemplars

18

were asked to describe wise decisions and actions in their own lives (Yang 2008c)

Several common themes emerged 1 ―striving for common good by helping others and

making major contributions to society (n = 79 36) 2 achieving a satisfactory state of

life (n = 55 25) 3 developing and determining life paths (n = 37 17) 4 resolving

difficult problems at work (n = 30 14) and 5 doing the right thing in the face of

adversity (n = 19 9) (p 286) In another study Yang (2014b) measured wisdom

among Taiwanese Chinese by methods of other-rating transcripted interviews and self-

report survey in her model wisdom is a real-life process including three components

connected together cognitive integration amp action embodiment amp positive effects for self

and others Yanglsquos model is featured by Chinese philosophy traditions such as emphasis

on integration in space and connection of events in one process Moreover the

component ―action embodiment is missing in most Western models corresponding to

the difference between Chinese and Western philosophy traditions

Besides Yang Chen and his colleagues (Chen Cheng Wu amp Hsueh 2014) applied the

grounded theory method to study Taiwanese Chinese educatorslsquo interpersonal and

intrapersonal perspectives on wisdom and identified four core components of wisdom

―intrapsychic integration ―actions in service of problem solving and ideal

implementation and ―positive results and feedback and adjustments (p 425)

However these findings may not be generalized to Mainland Chinese due to the

difference of culture between Mainland of China and Taiwan Taiwan was ceded from

China to Japan for 50 years after 1895 and was influenced by Japanese culture (Yang

2008a) Moreover Taiwan was governed by Chinese Nationalist party which revived

Chinese traditions through many political and cultural events after 1949 whereas

Mainland of China was governed by the Chinese Communist party and experienced

communist reforms and the 10-year Cultural Revolution attacking Chinese traditions

(MacFarquhar 1991)

19

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth

1 Introduction

11 Choosing Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese

Due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China through the modern history (see

Chapter 1 Section 6) the culture in Mainland of China could be very different from that

in Taiwan Therefore a prototype of wisdom among Mainland Chinese may be different

from that among Taiwanese Chinese Bang and Zhou (2014) believed that a prototype of

wisdom in Chinese culture was congruent with that in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model thus they

conducted a survey among some Mainland Chinese with the three-dimensional wisdom

scale However factor analysis identified a four dimensional structure (Non-dualistic

thinking ―Perspective-taking ―Non-resentment ―Empathy)

In order to test whether Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model or Bang and Zhoulsquos

four-dimensional wisdom model could represent wisdom among Mainland Chinese a

self-report wisdom measure was conducted among 100 Mainland Chinese youth

12 Validity tests of Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure

In order to test whether a wisdom measure is valid researchers could propose several

correlates of wisdom based on theories If the wisdom correlates measured by some

established measurements are significantly correlated with the wisdom measured then

the wisdom measurelsquos validity is testified For our study we chose four wisdom

correlates cognitive intelligence emotional intelligence empathy and prosocial

personality traits (high extroversion low psychoticism and low neuroticism) for reasons

below

Studies of implicit theories of wisdom in North America (ie the lay peoplelsquos theory of

wisdom) revealed that cognitive ability and reasoning were regarded as the most

important factors underlying wisdom (Sternberg 1990) Cognitive ability was found to

be one of the core themes of Western implicit theories of wisdom (Bluck amp Gluumlck 2005)

20

Besides cognitive ability wise people are thought to be good at understanding otherslsquo

emotions (Stange amp Kunzmann 2009) Adams (1998) simply regarded ―wisdom as the

classical version of ―emotional intelligence In a previous study a positive correlation

between wisdom measured by three-dimensional wisdom scale and emotional

intelligence measured by Wong and Lawlsquos emotional intelligence scale was

demonstrated and the effect of wisdom on happiness was reduced to emotional

intelligence (Zacher McKenna amp Rooney 2013) However wisdom should not be

reduced to emotional intelligence because emotional intelligence does not guarantee pro-

social personality as we see in some highly emotionally-intelligent criminals (Hampson

2012) and sly Nazi politicians (Shirer 2011) Understanding of otherslsquo suffering does not

necessary lead to compassion for others Therefore other-related wisdom defined as

empathic Concern for Others (Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013) is often added as an

important attribute for distinguishing wisdom from individual intelligence

Wisdom is interpreted by many researchers as a combination of intelligence and

character the ability to strive for the welfare of individuals and communities and the

willingness to do it (Pasupathi 2001 Stange amp Kunzmann 2009 Staudinger Doumlrner amp

Mickler 2005) Therefore we hypothesized that wise people not only possessed high

cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence but also empathy toward others and

prosocial personality traits such as low psychoticism low neuroticism and high

extroversion

2 Hypotheses

Reliabilities of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale as well as the subscales of

cognitive reflective and affective dimensions of wisdom should be ideal because

wisdom among Mainland Chinese embodies cognitive reflective and affective

components as hypothesized in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model

If Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional scale were valid for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese the wisdom score should be positively correlated with cognitive intelligence

emotional intelligence empathic concern and prosocial personality traits measured by

scales whose reliability and validity among Mainland Chinese were established in

21

previous studies eg Raven Matrix Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence scale the

Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Mainland Chinese

version of the shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the Ethic Committees at Zhejiang Normal

University and the University of Toronto

31 Participants

Ninety-seven Mainland Chinese undergraduate students (46 males aged from 18 to 23

years M = 1971 SD =119 years) at Zhejiang Normal University Jinhua Chinamdash a city

with a population of 5361600 at the 2010 census (―Jinhua 2014) Twelve were

Buddhists 3 were Christians 1 was Muslim 1 was favorable towards all kinds of

religious belief and the other 79 were atheists

32 Material

321 Visual basic program

All the items and pictures used in the scales and tests were presented on a computer one

by one in a home-made Visual Basic Program This program not only made the

characters easily readable but also prevented potential influence between adjacent scale

items

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS)

All the instructions and items were translated into Chinese and then reverse-translated to

English by native Mainland Chinese speakers and compared for accuracy to the original

English items by native English speakers The discrepancy was then corrected and this

double-reverse translation procedure repeated until the Chinese version scale was

consistent with the English version scale

22

For more details of this scale see Chapter 1 Section 23

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS)

The Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) includes four subscales self-

emotion appraisal other-emotion appraisal utilization of emotion and regulation of

emotion scales (Law Wong amp Song 2004) Each subscale has four items Self-emotion

appraisal and other-emotion appraisal refer to the abilities to understand emotion of self

and others respectively Utilization of emotion refers to utilizing emotion of self to guide

actions Regulation of emotion refers to controlling emotion of self The participants rate

the accordance of the description in the items to themselves on a 5-point scale

A previous study in China has demonstrated that the WLEIS was a better predictor of job

performance than the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test developed in

the US (Law Wong Huang amp Li 2008) Besides the WLEIS was testified as reliable

among 680 Mainland Chinese university students (Li Saklofske Bowden Yan amp Fung

2012)

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)

This scale measures four aspects of empathy perspective taking fantasy empathic

concern and personal distress (Siu amp Shek 2005) There are 28 items altogether seven

items for each subscale The Perspective-Taking scale assesses the liability to

spontaneously adopting perspectives of others the Fantasy scale measures the liability to

transpose self imaginatively into the feelings and actions of fictitious characters The

Empathic Concern scale measures other-oriented feelings of sympathy and care for the

suffering individuals The Personal Distress scale measures self-oriented feelings of

personal anxiety and unease in tense interpersonal situations (Davis 1983) The

participants indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or

―strongly agree to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree

The scale was testified as reliable and valid among 580 Mainland Chinese participants

(Siu amp Shek 2005)

23

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

The Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) has 48 items 12

items for each of the following sub-scales Psychoticism Extroversion

Neuroticismemotional instability and LieSocial desirability scales Psychoticism is

tendency to develop a psychotic symptom or anti-social behaviors Extraversion is

tendency to be active in social activities Neuroticism or emotion stability measures

individualslsquo emotional instability and the tendency to develop negative feelings The Lie

scale contains questions on which individuals tend to lie for social desirability (Eysenck

amp Eysenck 1975) The items are questions about the participants and the participants

respond ―yes or ―no to these questions

This scale was testified as reliable and valid among 8637 Mainland Chinese participants

(Mingyi Guocheng Rongchun amp Shen 2000)

426 Progressive Raven Matrix

There are 35 Progressive Raven Matrix items altogether used in this study In each item

the participants need to identify the missing element that completes a pattern on a 33

matrix Raven Matrix was found to be reliable and valid in measuring cognitive

intelligence among several cultures including Chinese culture (Raven 2000)

33 Procedure

The following procedure was completed individually in the Psychology laboratory at

Zhejiang Normal University The participants were left alone in a quiet room to finish the

scales and tests

All the participants completed the three-dimensional Wisdom Scale and the WLEIS In

addition 31 participants (12 males 18 to 22 years M = 1958 years SD =113 years)

finished Progressive Raven Matrix another 66 participants (34 males 18 to 23 years M

= 1977 years SD =122 years) completed the Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal

Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Mainland Chinese version of the shortened Eysenck

personality scale (EPQ-RS) Considering fatigue effect the participants who finished

24

Raven Matrix were not instructed to finish IRI and EPQ-RS

4 Results

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

A reliability test was conducted for the three-dimensional wisdom scale and its subscales

based on the data from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs

alpha of the whole scale was 070 alpha of the cognitive dimension scale was 065 alpha

of the reflective dimension scale was 049 alpha of the affective dimension scale was

030 Therefore the inter-items reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a

whole was acceptable However inter-items reliability of neither the reflective nor

affective dimensional subscale was acceptable all r lt 060

The final score of the three-dimensional wisdom scale ranged from 245 to 392 (M =

320 SD = 026) cognitive wisdom ranged from 207 to 414 (M = 334 SD = 040)

An inter-item reliability analysis was also conducted to test the four-factor structure

proposed by Bang and Zhou Cronbachs alpha of ―Non-dualistic thinking items was

053 alpha of ―Perspective-taking items was 068 alpha of ―Non-resentment items was

037 alpha of ―Empathy items was 028 Therefore only the ―Perspective-taking

subscale has acceptable inter-items reliability the four-factor structure proposed by Bang

and Zhou was not confirmed

42 Factor analysis

Combining the 3DWS data in this study with another 3DWS data of 50 Mainland

Chinese youths (22 males aged from 20 to 30 M = 2404 SD =242) collected in

another study we got data of 148 Mainland Chinese youthslsquo three-dimensional wisdom

items scores Factor analysis using a principal axis factoring analysis (the same method

used by Bang and Zhou) and an oblique rotation method (Direct Oblimin) was conducted

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was acceptable (060) however the

factor analysis extracted 14 factors explaining only 500 variance Moreover the

25

rotation failed to converge in 25 iterations Therefore we quitted the exploratory factor

analysis

Later we fixed the number of factors at three however the extracted three factors only

explained a 198 variance And then we fixed the number of factors at four but the

extracted four factors only explained a 236 variance Therefore there may be more

than four factors that underlie the participantslsquo performance in Ardeltlsquo self reporting

three-dimensional wisdom scale

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores

The 31 participants who took the Raven Matrix test had solved 7 to 34 matrixes (M =

2126 SD = 671) Bivariate correlation analysis between the Raven Matrix test score and

the three-dimensional wisdom score revealed no significant correlation r = 016 p =

038

We hypothesized that cognitive dimension of wisdom should be positively correlated

with the Raven matrix score even if the total wisdom score was not so however the

correlation of the Raven score with the score on cognitive wisdom was also not

significant r = 022 p = 024

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale

A reliability test was conducted for the WLEIS scale and its subscales based on the data

from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs alpha of the total scale

was 080 alpha of ―self-emotion appraisal was 061 alpha of ―other-emotion appraisal

was 080 alpha of ―use of emotion was 075 alpha of ―regulation of emotion was 082

Therefore inter-items reliability of the whole scale and all the sub-scales were

acceptable

The score of the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale ranged from 238 to 475 (M

= 341 SD =041) the score of ―self-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 475 (M =

355 SD =056) the score of ―other-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 500 (M =

26

352 SD =060) the score of ―use of emotion ranged from 200 to 480 (M = 336 SD

=064) the score of ―regulation of emotion ranged from 100 to 500 (M = 320 SD

=066)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that the wisdom score was significantly positively

correlated with WLEIS score r = 047 p lt 0001 and with all the subscale scores all r gt

024 all p lt 005

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the ―perspective-taking scale was 064 the alpha of the ―fantasy

scale was 069 the alpha of the ―empathic concern scale was 059 and the alpha of the

―personal distress scale was 070 Therefore the ―empathic concern scalelsquos inter-item

reliability was marginally acceptable for calculating the ―empathic concern score and the

other scaleslsquo inter-item reliabilities were acceptable

The score of ―perspective-taking ranged from 229 to 457 (M = 338 SD =051)

―fantasy ranged from 157 to 471 (M = 337 SD =063) ―empathic concern ranged

from 229 to 471 (M = 346 SD =049) ―personal distress ranged from 157 to 457 (M

= 330 SD =053)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that score of ―fantasy and ―perspective taking

were significantly positively correlated with wisdom score r = 026 p = 0039 r = 046

p lt 0001 respectively Other correlations were not significant all p gt 005

46 Eysenck personality scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the Psychoticism scale was 021 the alpha of the Extroversion scale

was 071 the alpha of the Neuroticism scale was 075 the alpha of the LieSocial

desirability scale was 059 Therefore the inter-item reliabilities of the Extroversion and

Neuroticism scales were ideal for calculating the total scores and that of the LieSocial

desirability scale was marginally acceptable

27

The Extroversion score ranged from 0 to 12 (M =663 SD =337) the Neuroticism score

ranged from 1 to 12 (M = 695 SD = 291) the LieSocial desirability score ranged from

0 to 11 (M = 454 SD =224) The LieSocial desirability score was not significantly

positively correlated with the Extroversion or Neuroticism score all r lt 01 all p gt 005

Therefore the Extroversion and Neuroticism scores were not biased by social

desirability

Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that the Extraversion score was significantly

positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 036 p = 0003 whereas the

Neuroticism score was significantly negatively correlated with the wisdom score r = -

032 p = 0008 However it should be noted that the Liesocial desirability score was

significantly positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 026 p = 0037 but not

with any other self-report score (eg emotional intelligence empathy) all r lt 01 all p gt

005

5 Discussion

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model

Although the reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a whole was acceptable

(Cronbachs alpha = 070) the inter-items reliabilities of reflective wisdom and affective

wisdom were quite poor This result revealed that the three-factor structure of wisdom

proposed by Ardelt may not exist among Mainland Chinese Indeed Bang and Zhou

(2014) also failed to find a three-factor structure of wisdom Moreover the four-factor

structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was also not testified in our study Therefore a

different wisdom model may be necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese A qualitative method such as an implicit theory study of wisdom among

Mainland Chinese may be helpful for exploring the structure of wisdom among Mainland

Chinese which was fulfilled in Study 2 of this thesis

52 Validity test results

Our hypothesis about wisdom related to cognitive intelligence was not confirmed by the

correlation result Perhaps wisdom is more about cognition of grand objects (eg

28

meaning of life and human nature) and thus the ability to recognize the pattern of matrix

is not related to the cognitive dimension of wisdom In fact a previous study has shown

that an increase of crystalized intelligence a component of wisdom was not related to

fluid intelligence (Christensen Batterham amp Mackinnon 2013) Wisdom may be more

related to intelligence in the domains about life in general which is essentially different

from intelligence in other domains such as that measured by the Raven matrix

Our hypotheses about positive correlation of wisdom with emotional intelligence

empathy (―perspective taking ―fantasy) and prosocial personality traits

(―extroversion ―emotion stability) were confirmed by the correlation results (Note that

the social desirability score was not correlated with any of these wisdom correlates and

thus these significant correlations can not be accounted for by the effect of social

desirability) Overall our results suggested that wisdom was embodied in reasonably

handling emotion of self and others (appraising otherslsquo emotion utilizing and regulating

emotion emotional stability) and taking care of others taking otherslsquo perspectives

transposing oneself imaginatively into the feelings and actions of others (related to

―fantasy) and being active in social interaction (―extraversion) However no cause-

effect relation can be derived from these correlation results These factors could be either

the outcomes or the sources of wisdom Eg extraversion could be the outcome of

wisdom wiser people are more likely to interact with others because they appreciate

more about the value of social networking On the other hand extraversion could

contribute to wisdom social interaction provides individuals more opportunities for

learning from others Likewise emotional stability may be important for reflective

wisdom while emotional stability could be an outcome of wisdom Individuals of high

neuroticism may be weak at reflecting upon their self-images due to their easily irritable

temperament preventing them from accepting ideas harmful for their self-image while

wise people are not self-centralized and thus emotionally stable Finally all these

potential components of wisdom need to be integrated For example an extravert without

empathy for others may interact with others superficially without being aware of otherslsquo

inner feelings and thoughts and thus wonlsquot accumulate experience of some fundamental

life pragmatics in social life such as painful separation from a beloved person

29

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability

According to Confucianism a Superior Man should examine himself objectively

(Confucius 2009) however the liesocial desirability score was significantly positively

correlated with the score of three-dimensional wisdom This result corresponded to the

proposition of Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) that self-reported measurement of wisdom

may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception wise

individuals are arguably more accurate in self-reflection and thus score lower than those

unwise individuals who have positive bias in their self-reflection In fact a positive

correlation between impression management and scores on some items in the three-

dimensional wisdom scale was demonstrated in a previous study (Taylor Bates amp

Webster 2011) Therefore a method more objective than self-report such as performance

measure is necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland Chinese This problem

is tackled in Study 3 of this thesis

6 Conclusion

Emotional intelligence empathy emotion stability and extraversion were significantly

positively correlated with wisdom measured by Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

For Mainland Chinese wisdom may be embodied in the ability and willingness to

understand and regulate emotion of selves and others in social life However the

structure of wisdom was unclear neither the three-factor structure proposed by Ardelt nor

the four-factor structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was testified Moreover the self-

report wisdom score was significantly positively correlated with social desirability score

Therefore we probably need a different model and a performance measure for wisdom

measurement among Mainland Chinese

30

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

1 Introduction

In order to explore the structure of wisdom ie the potential wisdom components among

Mainland Chinese and build a Mainland Chinese Wisdom model the implicit theory of

wisdom among Mainland Chinese was examined

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners

The implicit theory of wisdom is about the lay peoplelsquos latent understanding of wisdom

or implicit conceptualization of ―wisdom Implicit theory studies typically use one of

two main approaches ―descriptor rating and ―nomination of exemplars (Bluck amp

Gluumlck 2005)

Descriptor rating studies of wisdom The earliest and still most common method of

research on implicit theories of wisdom uses attribute rating (eg Clayton amp Birren

1980 Holliday amp Chandler 1986 Jason et al 2001a Sternberg 1985) Participants first

list attributes they associate with wisdom that are then merged into a master list with

repetitions idiosyncrasies and synonyms removed the master list is then presented to a

second (often larger) sample of participants who rate each attribute for how central it is

to wisdom Multidimensional scaling is then used to extract underlying components from

ratings with dimensions labeled according to their characteristic attributes

Exemplar approaches to implicit theories of wisdom Another way of studying implicit

theories of wisdom is to ask people to nominate individual exemplars of wisdom (eg

Orwoll amp Perlmutter 1990 Takayama 2002) Nomination studies of wisdom ask people

to nominate someone they consider wise from history or from their personal

acquaintance Historical exemplars of wisdom are not universal For example Jewish

Canadians frequently nominated Gandhi as a historical exemplar of wisdom among a

wide range of political and intellectual figuresmdashmany of importance to Judaism like

Moses However Gandhi was nominated only once in Pakistan with 60 of participants

31

choosing the Prophet Mohammed (Ferrari Kahn Benayon amp Nero 2011)

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories

Gluumlck and Bluck (2005 see also Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011) identified five core themes

of Western implicit theories of wisdom in their careful review of all Descriptor rating

studies of wisdom completed to that time

1 Cognitive ability (profound knowledge amp reasoning about novel problems)

2 Insight (willingness and ability to ponder deeply on complex issues)

3 Reflective attitude (do think profoundly about self others and the world from many

different perspectives to be self-critical and not biased by emotion of self)

4 Concern for Others beyond close family and friends (self-transcendent concern and

compassion)

5 Problem-solving skills (applying knowledge to concrete problems)

Later Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) summarized these as core components of wisdom in

subjective theories and then added another three components of wisdom from some

expertslsquo subjective theories especially those for some self-report wisdom scales

Spirituality and connectedness to nature to be spiritual in life and enjoy a connection

with the divine and care for the natural environment (Jason et al 2001b) Emancipatory

nature of wisdom interests in self-critical reflection and autonomy and knowledge that

increases the freedom of the self and provides opportunities for self-development

(Sternberg 1990) Humor the ability to see comical components even in serious

situations (Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011)

13 This study

Given the shortcomings of self-report wisdom measure as demonstrated in study 1 we

conducted another study based on the secondary data from a previous study to explore the

potential factors underlying wisdom in Mainland Chinese culture The conceptions of

32

wisdom among two generations of Mainland Chinese were examined The older

generation had experienced the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when they were

emerging or middle-aged adults (18 to 42 years old in 1966) whereas the younger

generation was born after the Cultural Revolution As far as we know this is the first

study on the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese

As mentioned earlier Mainland China underwent the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-

1976) during which the traditional wisdom ideologies of Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism were fiercely denounced nationwide while Maolsquos Communist ideology was

proclaimed instead (Yang 2006) The Cultural Revolution provides a unique opportunity

to study an event that disrupted transmission of Chinese traditions People who lived

through this time may incorporate elements of communist ideology into their conceptions

of wisdom

2 Hypotheses

We hypothesized that people who had experienced the Cultural Revolution should have

an implicit theory of wisdom different from that among those born after the Cultural

Revolution conceptual wisdom components related to Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism should be less prevalent whereas conceptual wisdom components related to

Communism should be more prevalent among the older generation than among the

younger generation

Parallel hypothesis

Similar to all cross-section studies cohort effect is mixed with age effect and thus not

identifiable People who had experienced the Cultural Revolution may later learn the

revived traditions and become even more affected by these traditions due to their greater

experience of the revived traditions through age Therefore conceptual wisdom

components related to Chinese traditions may be more prevalent among the elders than

among the youths

33

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the ethics committee at the University of

Toronto

31 Participants

One hundred Mainland Chinese adults were interviewed in Beijing in 2008 half were

native-born Mainland Chinese elders living in the Beijing area (28 males aged from 60

to 84 M = 7166 SD =599) They were born between 1924 and 1948 and had

experienced the Cultural Revolution and were living independently or with family around

the time of interview Among them 15 participants had not finished high school 12

participants had high school or equivalent diploma 7 participants had some college

education and 16 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent degree one was Buddhist 1

was Muslim 16 named their religious affiliation as Communism and the other 32 did not

indicate any religious affiliation

The other 50 were students at Beijing Normal University (22 males aged from 20 to 30

M = 2404 SD =242) born between 1978 and 1988 after the Cultural Revolution which

ended in 1976 Among this generation 18 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent

degree 31 participants had a Masterlsquos degree and one participant a doctorate one was

Buddhist 1 was Muslim 2 were Christians and 2 named their religious affiliation as

Communism the other 44 did not indicate any religious affiliation

32 Material

Recorder printed ―Interview guide etc

33 Procedure

Participants were interviewed individually in a quiet room They nominated several

wisdom exemplars from among historic figures and their acquaintances and then

34

explained why they regarded the exemplars as wise how the wisdom exemplars had

become wise and what the definition of wisdom is The Mainland Chinese term used for

wisdom is the same as that in Yangs study with Taiwanese Chinese Zhi Hui (智慧)

(Yang 2008)

More specifically it included the following questions

(1) Please take a moment to think of the wisest person you know of in history among

your acquaintances Who is this person and what makes them so wise What is one story

you know about this person or one thing they said or did that shows them to be wise

We included the following probes ―What was wise about that What might some other

person have said or done We also asked ―Has this person affected or inspired you in

your own life Is it possible for you to become more like them Are there any wise

moments in your life

(2) Finally we asked about the participantslsquo own definition of wisdom ―Now that we

have had a chance to talk about it what is wisdom What does wisdom mean to you

The interviews were recorded and transcribed

The nomination of wisdom exemplars may reveal who had influenced the participantslsquo

conceptualization of wisdom The reasons for the participantslsquo nomination were arguably

determined by their conceptualization of wisdom We made this arrangement because the

conceptualization of wisdom is not easy for lay people to articulate and asking questions

relevant to wisdom before addressing their definition of wisdom could activate the

neural-network carrying information related to wisdom conceptualization However the

participants sometimes talked about something unrelated to their definitions of wisdom

which is inevitable because it is very difficult for common people to focus on the topic

―wisdom throughout the whole conversation Nevertheless when the participants

responded to our last question ie the definition of wisdom they were mostly focused

on their conceptualizations of wisdom Therefore we chose to code their responses to the

last question

In total 92 Mainland Chinese participants (47 male aged from 20 to 84 M = 4722 SD

35

=2408) reported their definition of wisdom including 47 youths (27 males 20 to 30

years M = 2409 years SD =246years) and 45 elders (20 males 60 to 84 years M =

7138 years SD =607years) Thematic analysis using a grounded theory method

allowed us to code these participantslsquo answers and discover common themes of the

Mainland Chinese participantslsquo definition of wisdom After these common themes were

found 2 Taiwanese Chinese research assistants coded the transcripts again and identified

all the common themes we found without discovering any new theme Finally a

codebook was developed based on these common themes and then two trained Mainland

Chinese coders coded the transcripts again according to this codebook Coder agreement

and Kappa values on each category of this codebook were analyzed just as in a previous

study (Gluumlck et al 2005) Disagreements were later resolved by discussion between

these coders and then the frequency of each category coded was calculated

4 Results

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants

Participants made a total of 180 nominations of historical wise exemplars nominating 64

historic figures The mostly frequently nominated historic wisdom exemplars were

political or military leaders (ie emperors presidents premiers civil officials and

generals) nominated by 74 participants The second most frequently nominated group of

historic wisdom exemplars were scholars (ie philosophers literary authors poets and

historians) nominated by 21 participants Following these two groups of historic wisdom

exemplars were scientists nominated by four participants and then religious leaders

nominated by three participants Buddha nominated by a Christian Jesus nominated by a

Buddhist Muhammad nominated by an atheist

The leaders were regarded by the participants as wise mostly for their personal abilities

and contribution to their society The leaderslsquo personal abilities included leadership in

military or political events talents in ruling organizations and states social interaction

organizational and leadership skills such as understanding otherslsquo mentality and

managing the talented persons The leaderslsquo contribution to their society included

36

recovering the order of the society and showing compassion for the poor The scholars

were regarded as wise mostly for their mentality cognitive ability cognitive traits

cognitive outcome (eg works of literature) and virtue teaching wisdom to the public

self-transformation and transcendent personalities The wisdom of leaders emphasized

more on changing the external world ie society whereas the wisdom of scholars on

transforming the internal world ie mind

Table 1 shows a chronological ranked ordering of the 24 historic figures who received at

least 2 nominations as wise exemplars (All other figures received only a single

nomination and thus was not reported here) It should be noted that 19 of these 24

nominees were Chinese 15 of the 24 were political or military leadersmdashsome dating

back over 2000 years to the unification of China as a centralized country by Qin Shi

Huang (260ndash210 BC) the first emperor of China mdash through to the 17th

c but then we

found a gap of almost 200 years until 6 leaders within living memory of the older

generation In addition to these political or military leaders 8 were scholars and only 1

was a religious figure (Muhammad)

37

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Wisdom Exemplarparticipants Youth Elder Total

Lao-tzu Legendary founder of Daoism Zhou dynasty (6th c BC) 2 0 2

Confucius (551ndash479 BC) Ancient educator and political advisor

founder of Confucianism

9 1 10

Plato (429ndash347 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Aristotle (384ndash322 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Emperor Qin [Shi Huang] (260ndash210 BC) First emperor Qin dynasty 3 4 7

Emperor Gaozu (256 or 247-195 BC) First emperor Han dynasty 1 1 2

Emperor Wu (156 ndash 87 BC) Seventh emperor Han dynasty 2 0 2

Sima Qian (145 or 135-86 BC) Ancient historian in Han dynasty 2 0 2

Cao Cao (155-220) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

1 2 3

Zhu Geliang (181-234) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

6 6 12

Muhammad (570 - 632) Prophet and founder of Islam 2 0 2

Emperor Taizong (598-649) Emperor Tang dynasty 3 3 6

Emperor Wu Zetian (624-705) A female emperor in Tang dynasty 1 1 2

Su Shi (1037-1101) Song Dynasty writer poet painter calligrapher

pharmacologist and statesman

4 0 4

Empress Xiao Chuang (1613-1688) Concubine of the Qing Dynasty

ruler Hong Taiji grandmother of Emperor Kangxi

2 0 2

Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) Fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty 3 3 6

Karl Marx (1818-1883) Philosopher 2 0 2

Marie Curie (1867-1934) Scientist 2 0 2

ii

Measurement of Wisdom among Mainland Chinese

Chao Hu

Doctor of Philosophy

Department of Applied Psychology amp Human Development

University of Toronto

2016

Abstract

Modern psychologists generally regard wisdom as mature understanding and conduct of life

however most wisdom studies have been conducted in Western culture Little is known about

wisdom in other cultures even though cultures may significantly shape the structure of wisdom

for example Chinese culture emphasizes connections in society nature and universe more than

Western culture does thus the structure of wisdom among Mainland Chinese may differ from

that of Westerners

We conducted three studies to find a proper measurerepresentation for wisdom among Mainland

Chinese In study 1 wisdom was measured by Ardeltlsquos self-report wisdom scale but the three-

dimensional wisdom structure was not found In study 2 we identified five wisdom components

from the implicit theory of wisdom among 100 Mainland Chinese Most of these components

corresponded to those identified in the implicit theory of wisdom among westerners yet some of

them were uniquely Chinese The Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model was developed based on

these five conceptual components In study 3 a Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm was

developed based on the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model and the Berlin Wisdom Paradigm

iii

(general and personal) The participantslsquo wisdom performance was videotaped and then rated on

the Mainland Chinese and Berlin Wisdom criteria Their videotaped facial expression was

analyzed by software The results revealed that our Chinese wisdom measurement is reliable and

valid the Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating were highly consistent

with each other finally the feeling of surprise may contribute to wisdom performance

iv

Acknowledgments

Thanks to my parents on the other side of this planet always encouraging me to carry on in my

studies

Thanks to my supervisor Dr Michel Ferrari such a patient and gentle scholar knowledgeable in

many different fields and very supportive of my studies here at the University of Toronto

I also want to thank my thesis committee members Dr Earl Woodruff Dr Shih-ying Yang Dr

Xi Chen-Bumgardner and Dr Thao N Le on their advices and help with my thesis writing

Without their help I would not be able to have such precious ideas and thoughts embodied in this

thesis

Thanks to the staff at our department Applied Psychology amp Human Development such as Lisa

Chinchamie Marisa Freire and Jennifer OReilly some of them are no longer working in our

department but I will always remember their kindness and patience

Thanks to the University of Toronto for giving me such a precious opportunity to study in one of

the worldlsquos most multicultural and open-minded environments

Thanks to my supervisor for my Masterlsquos thesis Prf Genyue Fu and my friends such as

Qiandong Wang for their advices and supports for my Doctorate thesis studies

Thanks to all the participants raters and coders who participated in our studies especially the

middle-aged professor and editor Without their help this thesis could not be done

Finally I want to thank my dear friend Ethan Weare for his help with proofreading

v

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot iv

Table of Contents middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot v

List of Tables middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot xii

List of Figures middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot xiii

List of Appendices middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotxiv

Chapter 1 General introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

1 Definitions of wisdom middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm 1

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm 1

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm 4

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms 4

22 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale 5

23 ―MORE model 6

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models 7

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 7

4 Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 8

41 Confucianism 9

42 Daoism 10

43 Chinese Buddhism 10

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy 11

vi

5 Modern history of China middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 12

51 Before the Cultural Revolution 12

52 Cultural Revolution 14

53 After the Cultural Revolution 15

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 17

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

11 Choosing Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese 19

12 Validity tests of Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure 19

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 20

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 21

31 Participants 21

32 Material 21

321 Visual basic program 21

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS) 21

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) 22

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) 22

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) 23

426 Progressive Raven Matrix 23

33 Procedure 23

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 24

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom

scale 24

42 Factor analysis 24

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores 25

vii

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale 25

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale 26

46 Eysenck personality scale 26

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 27

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model 27

52 Validity test results 27

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability 29

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 29

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners 30

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories 31

13 This study 31

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 32

Parallel hypothesis 32

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 33

31 Participants 33

32 Material 33

33 Procedure 33

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 35

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 35

42 Generation difference in nomination 38

43 Acquaintance wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 41

44 Mainland Chinese implicit theory of wisdom 42

viii

441 ―Ability in Cognition related to the Western theme ―Cognitive Ability 42

442 ―Ability in Practice an extension of the Western theme ―Problem Solving

Skills 43

443 ―Concern for Others related to the Western theme ―Concern for Others

relevant to Confucianism 43

444 ―Eschewing-world Spirituality similar to the Western theme ―Insight but

framed in Chinese traditions 44

445 ―Positive Mindset missing in the Western implicit theory of wisdom

relevant to the historic turbulence 44

Others 45

45 Conceptual wisdom components and group difference 45

46 Relationship between wisdom exemplar nomination and conceptual wisdom

component 46

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 47

51 Personally known and historical exemplars of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

the generation difference 47

52 The implicit theory of wisdom among our Mainland Chinese participants and the

generation difference 48

53 Effects of Communist ideology on Wisdom conceptualization and Exemplars 53

54 Comparing the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese participants to

that among Westerners 54

55 Comparison between the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

that among Taiwanese Chinese 55

56 Comparing the Mainland Chinese wisdom model with Western wisdom models 56

561 Traditional Berlin Wisdom and Personal wisdom model 56

562 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model 57

563 ―MORE model 58

564 Brief Summary of these comparisons 58

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 59

ix

Chapter 4 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm a performance-based wisdom measure middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

11 Lack of emotional components in previous Berlin Paradigms 61

12 Innovative 2nd person wisdom measurement 63

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

31 Participants 65

32 Material 65

321 Berlin Wisdom paradigm vignettes 65

322 Berlin Wisdom manual (adapted) 65

323 Mainland Chinese wisdom manual 66

324 iMotions - Attention Tool FACET module (version 21) 67

325 Others 68

33 Procedure 68

34 Data analyses 69

341 Wisdom ratings 69

342 Facial expression analysis 69

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 72

41 Reliability of the Berlin and Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 72

42 Correlation between Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings

74

43 Correlation between performance-based and self-report wisdom measures 75

44 Validity test of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 75

441 Correlations with previous scores on wisdom correlates 75

442 Correlations with life satisfaction the following year 77

x

443 Conclusion 77

45 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 77

46 Thematic contents in participantslsquo responses 80

461 Life plan problem ―a friendlsquos unrealizable dream 80

462 Life review problem ―a teacherlsquos unrealized dream 81

463 Responses in the life plan problem rated highestlowest on BerlinMainland

Chinese wisdom rating 82

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 84

51 The role of experience in performance measure of wisdom 84

52 Berlin Wisdom rating was highly consistent with Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating

84

53 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 85

531 Measurement of emotional components of wisdom 85

532 Surprise and wisdom 86

533 Expression of negativepositive emotion may influence ratings on ―Ability in

PracticePositive Mindset 87

Chapter 5 General Discussion and Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

1 Concept of wisdom in a culture lay people VS philosophers middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

2 Universal Wisdom and cultural variation middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

3 Advantages of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 90

4 Limitation of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigmmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 91

5 Potential impacts on Western wisdom studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 92

51 Culture difference and universal wisdom model 92

52 Advantages of performance-based wisdom measure 93

53 The 2nd-person wisdom measure 94

6 General Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 95

xi

References middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 96

Appendicesmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 107

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items 107

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items 111

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm 113

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria 113

41 Criterion 1 Ability in Cognition认知能力 113

42 Criterion 2 Ability in Practice 实践能力 114

43 Criterion 3 Concern for Others 关心他人 115

44 Criterion 4 Eschewing-world Spirituality出世精神 116

45 Criterion 5 Positive Mindset 积极心态 118

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year 119

Copyright Acknowledgements middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 120

xii

List of Tables

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Table 2 Number of the participants mentioned each wisdom component in their definitions of

wisdom

Table 3 Rating of the participantslsquo performance in the life plan problem on each criterion

Table 4 Correlations between the ratings on Berlin and Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

Table 5 Correlations of the ratings on Chinese wisdom criteria with wisdom correlates

Table 6 Proportional time of each category of emotion in each scenario

xiii

List of Figures

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

Figure 2 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

Figure 3 A segment of a participantlsquos evidence value of surprise

xiv

List of Appendices

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year

1

Chapter 1 General introduction

1 Definitions of wisdom

Even though wisdom has become a topic of research in empirical psychology since the

last quarter of the 20th century there is still no scientific consensus on the definition of

wisdom (For a review of the definitions of wisdom see Bangen Meeks amp Jeste 2013)

Modern empirical psychologists generally view wisdom as a mature understanding and

conduct of life especially in difficult situations (Staudinger 2008) Two of the most

widely acknowledged definitions are the Berlin Wisdom researcherslsquo definition of

wisdom as expertise knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000) and Ardeltlsquos (2004) defining wisdom as an ideal type of character that

combines cognitive reflective and affective aspects of personality

Regardless of the difficulty in settling on a definition of it wisdom is believed to be an

important resource for a good life Wisdom provides insights and guidance for people to

lead a meaningful and happy life (Ferrari amp Potworowski 2008) In fact it may be

impossible to define wisdom semantically just as many scientific structures that can only

be represented in certain measures (see Giere 2009) a representation of the structure of

wisdom within a proper measurement may be the best a researcher can do Still this kind

of measurement is meaningful for many reasons both theoretical and practical

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm

The well-established Berlin Wisdom model defines wisdom as expertise and judgment

concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life and ―the pinnacle of insight into the

human condition and about the means and ends of a good life (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 122) rather than personality traits or individual abilities Staudinger (1996) has

further defined wisdom as a social interactive product Balteslsquo understanding of wisdom

2

might have been influenced by the Gestalt cognitive theory originating in Germanymdash

especially that of Koumlhler (1924) who believes that insight based on experience and

understanding of the structure of a situation was inherent to wisdom solving the

pragmatics in a creative way

Nevertheless the full model of the Berlin Wisdom paradigm (as shown in Figure 1) is not

simply about wisdom as expertise in life pragmatics but also about the ontogeny and

function of this life expertise (Baltes amp Smith 2008) Three factors are thought to be

associated with development maintenance and application of wisdom general person

factors (eg cognitive mechanics cognitive style mental health creativity and ego

strength) specific expertise-related factors (eg exposure to life scenarios and significant

life events motivation mentorship) and context (eg age cohort historical period

culture) Furthermore excellence in mind and virtue such as exceptionally good

judgment good advice insightful commentary about difficult and uncertain matters of

life and nonverbal behaviors associated with good conduct emotion regulation and

empathy in interpersonal and group contexts are regarded as necessary

manifestationoutcome of wisdom

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

3

Baltes and his colleagues measured wisdom through a think-aloud procedure testing the

participantslsquo responses in some hypothetical life-scenario situations such as the life-

planning life-monitoring and life-review problem for example ―In reflecting over their

lives people sometimes realize that they have not achieved what they had once planned

to achieve What should onethey do and consider (Staudinger amp Baltes 1996 p 762)

Participants reflected on these questions for a while before they responded by thinking

aloud Their thinking-aloud answers were tape recorded During both the reflection time

and the answering time the interviewer left the room so that participants felt less

constrained in talking about private issues The responses were transcribed and then rated

by 10 raters on five criteria (one criterion for each rater two raters per criterion) which

were developed based on Balteslsquo life-span theory and other cognitive psychologistslsquo

conceptions about the nature of cognitive development and problem solving in highly

complicated and ecological tasks (Staudinger Baltes amp Smith 1994)

The criteria of excellence (expertise) in fundamental pragmatics of life are a two-tiered

family the first level is rich factual (declarative) and procedural knowledge about the

fundamental life pragmatics includes life planning life management and life review the

second level is meta-criteria including understandings of lifespan contextualism

relativism of values and life priorities recognition and management of uncertainty

Factual knowledge includes knowledge of ―human nature life-long development

variations in developmental processes and outcomes interpersonal relations social

norms critical events in life and their possible constellations as well as knowledge about

the coordination of the well-being of oneself and that of others (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 125) Procedural knowledge involves ―strategies and heuristics for dealing with

the meaning and conduct of lifemdashfor example heuristics for giving advice and for the

structuring and weighing of life goals ways to handle life conflicts and life decisions and

knowledge about alternative back-up strategies if development were not to proceed as

expected (p 125) Lifespan contextualism refers to knowledge ―that considers the many

themes and contexts of life (eg education family work friends leisure the public good

of society etc) their interrelations and cultural variations and in addition incorporates a

4

lifetime temporal perspective (p 125-126) Relativism of values and life priorities refers

to ―acknowledgment of and tolerance for value differences and the relativity of the values

held by individuals and society (p 126) Finally the recognition of and management of

uncertainty describes an awareness of ―(a) the validity of human information processing

itself is essentially limited (constrained) (b) individuals have access only to select parts

of reality (c) the future cannot be fully known in advance (p 126)

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm

Charlotte Mickler and Ursula M Staudinger (2008) argued that general wisdom

concerning life in general as measured in the traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm was

different from Personal Wisdom which is an individuallsquos insight into his or her own life

In the Personal Wisdom paradigm the participants think aloud about themselves as a

friend such as their typical behaviors as a friend and their actions in difficult situations

The procedure was similar to that in the traditional Berlin wisdom paradigm however

the transcripted responses were rated on the Personal Wisdom criteria developed based on

the Berlin Wisdom criteria and conceptions of personality maturity in psychology

The Personal Wisdom criteria include two basic criteria (p 788) ―Self-knowledge (deep

insight into oneself and onelsquos own life) ―Growth and self-regulation (heuristics that

helps one to cope with various difficult and challenging situations and to learn from

them) and three meta-criteria ―Interrelating the self (an awareness of the contextual

embeddedness of onelsquos behavior feelings or both and onelsquos biographical embeddedness

dependency on others and the interrelatedness of different self-domains) ―Self-

relativism (―critically appraise their own behavior without losing a basic level of self-

esteem) and ―Tolerance of ambiguity (―ability to recognize and manage the

uncertainties in onelsquos own life and onelsquos own development)

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms

The traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm is a 3rd person perspective wisdom measure

which is not relevant to the participantslsquo personal life and thus not emotionally-engaging

In fact wisdom cannot exist independently of individuals (Ardelt 2004) On the other

5

hand the Personal wisdom paradigm is a 1st-person perspective wisdom measure

Therefore it may be vulnerable to the participantslsquo social desirability and inaccuracy in

self-judgment or self-serving bias Furthermore there is no measurement of emotional

components of wisdom in any of these two paradigms

22 Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale

Based on Clayton and Birrenlsquos definition of wisdom Monika Ardelt (2003 2004)

proposed that wisdom was the integration of cognitive reflective and affective

personality traits Ardelt critiqued the Berlin Wisdom paradigmlsquos definition of wisdom as

some kind of expert knowledge she believes that wisdom cannot exist independently of

individuals (Ardelt 2004) In contrary Baltes and his colleagues proposed that wisdom is

about the fundamental truth of life which is very difficult for a person to grasp (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000)

Ardelt developed a self-reportself-assessment scale to measure wisdom The participants

indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or ―strongly agree

to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree There are 39 items in three-

dimensional wisdom scale 14 for the cognitive dimension 12 for the reflective

dimension and 13 for the affective dimension (Ardelt 2003 2004) (see Appendix 1) The

cognitive dimension embodies the desire to know the truth a deep understanding of life

(eg ―Ignorance is bliss (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item and relativistic thinking

(eg ―People are either good or bad (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item) The reflective

dimension includes self-examination self-awareness and self-insight (eg ―Things often

go wrong for me by no fault of my own (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) as well as

the ability to perceive a phenomenon from different perspectives (eg ―Before criticizing

somebody I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place (Ardelt 2003 p

317)) and ―transcendence from self-projections and self-serving bias (eg ―I either get

very angry or depressed if things go wrong (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) Lastly

the affective dimension refers to sympathy and compassion for others (eg ―Sometimes I

feel a real compassion for everyone (Ardelt 2003 p 318))

Below is a detailed list of the sub-dimensions of the three wisdom dimensions (Ardelt

6

unpublished documentation authorized by Ardelt) ―

Cognitive dimension

1 Ability and willingness to understand a situation or phenomenon thoroughly

2 Acknowledgement of ambiguity complexity and uncertainty in life

3 Ability to make important decisions despite lifelsquos unpredictability and uncertainties

Reflective dimension

1 Ability and willingness to look at phenomena and events from different perspectives

2 Absence of subjectivity and projections

Affective dimension

1 Presence of positive and caring emotions toward others

2 Absence of indifferent or negative emotions toward others

3 Motivation to nurture the well-being of others

Ardeltlsquos method is also a 1st person perspective measure while self-report measure of

wisdom may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception

(Staudinger Gluck 2011) In fact a positive association between impression

management and scores on some items in Ardeltlsquos scale was demonstrated in a survey

(Taylor Bates amp Webster 2011)

23 ldquoMORErdquo model

Focused on the development of wisdom Gluumlck and Bluck (2012) proposed the MORE

model of wisdom embodying four resources of wisdom

1 A Sense of Mastery belief in onelsquos ability of handling life challenges

2 Openness awareness of multiple perspectives on a phenomenon interests in ―learning

7

from new perspectives and from other people (p 9)

3 Reflective Attitude ―willingness to look at life issues in a complex way (p 10)

4 Emotion RegulationEmpathy ―ability to deal with otherslsquo feelings effectively and

―reach out to others through empathetic concern (p 12)

The model is still under development Gluumlck and Bluck suggested a longitudinal survey

to explore the developmental dynamics between MORE resources and life experiences

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models

In general Western researchers proposing these models may be implicitly influenced by

Western culture characterized by Greek philosophy and Christian religion Furthermore

these models have been mainly applied to Western participants growing up in a Western

cultural background which has significantly influenced the scientific understanding of

wisdom (for reviews see Bangen et al 2013 Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013 Sternberg amp

Jordan 2005) Little is known about the conception of wisdom in other social-cultural

contexts Therefore we are not sure if these models are relevant for other cultural groups

It could be relevant because wisdom is a universal quality of human life or irrelevant

the structure of wisdom is cultural-specific because culture influences wisdom

conception which further influences wisdom development

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds

Most of the existing studies in non-western cultures have targeted a particular wisdom

tradition such as Levittlsquos (1999) qualitative study of Tibetan Buddhist monks which

found that wisdom was defined as examination of reality understanding of ―true self

and being altruistic to others or focused on a particular explicit theory of wisdom such

as Grossmann and his colleagueslsquo (2012) cross-culture study on Japanese and Americanslsquo

wise decision making which found that American (not Japanese) performed better with

increasing age

8

In general wisdom researchers in Eastern cultures believe that culture significantly

shapes conception of wisdom (Brezina amp Oudenhoven 2012) Ivan Brezina and Jan

Pieter Van Oudenhoven examined the conception of wisdom among five different

nations Ecuador (predominantly Christian) India (predominantly Hindu) and the

predominantly Muslim countries Indonesia Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

They showed the participants different items each of which describes an individual

characteristic and the participants indicated their agreement with its relatedness to

wisdom The factor analysis results revealed three primary factors underlying the concept

of wisdom ―serenity referring to detachment from emotion and material

―determination reflecting reflection upon oneself and persistence in difficulties and

―altruism defined as selflessness Moreover they found that effect of national culture

was more significant than an effect of religion upon the conception of wisdom However

their research method has a shortcoming in that the researchers own conception of

wisdom rather than that of the local population was examined Therefore the

similarities between the wisdom conception among the participants and that identified in

Western studies could be caused by the unconscious impact of the abundant Western

wisdom research literature upon the researchers Moreover the participants were all

immigrants who had already experienced a different social culture that may influence

their conception of wisdom

Nevertheless the idea that the Eastern conception of wisdom differs from the Western

conception was confirmed by other studies exploring implicit theories of wisdom in

Eastern cultures For example a survey in several Asian countries (India Indonesia

Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates) revealed that their conceptions of wisdom were

more related to many aspects of personal characters compared with that in Western

cultures (Ivan amp Alojz 2010) a survey on American Australian Indian and Japanese

revealed that Western conception of wisdom emphasized cognitive dimension while

Eastern conception both cognitive and affective dimensions (Takahashi amp Bordia 2000)

4 Chinese culture

It is not easy to define culture For my thesis culture is defined as beliefs about human

9

life commonly shared by a group of people which are influenced by their philosophy

religion literature history politics economy etc For example Chinese culture is well-

known for its characteristic Confucianism (Winfield Mizuno amp Beaudoin 2000)

However Chinese culture is influenced not only by Confucianism but also by Daoism

Buddhism and other schools of philosophy For example the Legalist School argues that

governments should build on strict and established laws instead of morality proclaimed

by Confucians Mohism advocates indiscriminating love iron will and strict discipline

denounces all kinds of offensive wars admires noble talents worships ghosts and

heaven Mohism agrees with Confucianism upon advocating virtues such as humaneness

and righteousness however Mohism emphasizes simplicity and austerity denouncing the

complicated rituals and rites advocated in Confucianism (Feng 1983)

Nevertheless Confucianism Daoism and Buddhism are usually regarded as the most

important Chinese traditions (Peng 2007) The most important figures for Confucianism

are Confucius (551 - 479BC) and Mencius (372 - 289BC) for Daoism Lao-tzu a

mysterious historic figure (Sima 1939) and Chuang-Tzu (369 - 286 BC) Buddhism was

founded by Buddha Gautama (around 300 BC) in India entered China in the latter part of

the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and gradually merged with the Chinese local culture

(Hardy 2014) There are numerous teachings and endless debates about these three

traditions among the experts in Chinese philosophy however these three traditions

merged into one around the time of Song dynasty (96 - 1279) (Feng 1983) Hence most

Chinese are influenced by all these traditions

Here I have only chosen some basic tenets of these three traditions with which most

Chinese will have an understanding

41 Confucianism

According to Confucianism everybody should be unified in virtue (eg Humaneness amp

Righteousness仁义) for Harmonious interpersonal relationship especially within family

and States For example Confucius said ―Do not impose on others what you yourself do

not desire (chapter 122) ―A benevolent man helps others to take their stand in so far as

he himself wishes to take his stand and gets others there in so far as he himself wishes to

10

get there (chapter 630) (Lau 1979)

Confucians emphasize interpersonal connection For example Mengzi persuaded kings to

unify the turbulent China at that time through compassion and actions to fulfill

compassion (Confucius amp Mencius 2007) Xunzi believes that social cooperation and

rites distinguish man from the animals (Feng 1983) Correspondingly many Chinese

scholars believe that Chinese emphasize on interpersonal-relationship more than

Westerners do (eg Zhu amp Han 2008 Gu amp Guo 2015)

42 Daoism

According to Daoism everything is unified in ―Dao the eternal way of natureuniverse

Daoism teaches man to model on nature For example Lao Tzu said ―Man models

himself on Earth Earth on Heaven Heaven on the Way and the Way on that which is

naturally so (Lau 1963 chapter 25)

In nature cause and effect influence each other cause and effect are connected in one

process the eternal way The founder of Daoism Lao Tzu said ―Being and Non-being

produce each other (Lau 1963 chapter 2) Here ―Being and ―Non-being are cause

and effect of each other in fact Daoism does not distinguish cause from effect

Man is an integral part of universe rather than a Subject independently of observed

Objects The distinction between subject and object in Western philosophy remained

unchallenged until Heidegger argued that there is no such thing as an observing subject

that is unaffected by the external world of observed things (Gu amp Guo 2015)

Correspondingly Daoism proclaims that a person should forget self especially desires of

self so that the person would have pure perception of the world and freedom in this

universe

43 Chinese Buddhism

When Buddhism spread to China there were the Theravada and Mahayana traditions

However due to the influence of the existing Chinese traditions especially Confucianism

and Daoism the Theravada tradition faded away within a short period of time whereas

11

Mahayana tradition gradually merged into Chinese culture and came to dominate Chinese

Buddhism (Group 2003)

According to Chinese Buddhism all the Beings Non-Beings and relationships between

BeingsNon-Beings are unified with the Universal Mind Buddha Buddha says ―Banruo

Boruomi (Buddha 2007) Banruo is wisdom like a hard and pure diamond piercing

through illusions and reach the world of truth namely Boruomi

Everything is transient interdependent and void (no-self) only a manifestation of mind

one needs to realize the original identification with the Universal Mind and replace non-

enlightenment with enlightenment to escape the endless transmigration of cause and

effect This extrication is called nirvana (Feng 1983)

The ―Enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism is different from the ―Cognition framed in

Western culture Because men are already unified with Buddha enlightenment is a

process of self-realization of this fact and the unspeakable wisdom is deep in the mind

whereas in Christianity men are separated from God salvation is from Christ and the

gospel needs to be proclaimed Moreover in Buddhism essence and appearance are one

man should not cling to anything However most Western philosophers (eg Plato)

believe that essence is different from appearance (Gu amp Guo 2015)

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy

In general Chinese philosophies emphasize connections and try to unify everything into

one In space everything is unified in one unit (individuals in society or BeingsNon-

beingsrelationships in universe) in time every event is in one process In contrary

western philosophies concern themselves more with atoms in space or cause and effect

in time (Gu amp Guo 2015) Correspondingly Eastern understandings of wisdom

emphasize both analytical and synthetic domains whereas only analytical domains in

Western understandings (Takahashi 2000)

However most Mainland Chinese nowadays may be unfamiliar or disagree with these

profound Chinese philosophies due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China

12

in modern history

5 Modern history of China

Since the painful collision with Western culture in the First Opium War (1839-42)

Mainland of China has undergone a series of historic events that may seriously affect the

transmission of Chinese traditions In general numerous defeats by foreigners especially

Westerners helped Chinese people to reflect upon their own traditions and begin to

realize that Chinese culture is not superior to other cultures especially Western culture

Thus they began to critique their own culture and learn from people in other cultures

especially the Westerners (science philosophy politics etc) It should be noted that

Communism was also from the West and the Communists have governed Mainland of

China (not Taiwan) since 1949

A brief account of modern history of China is given below It should be noted that the

historical account is inevitably biased due to the authorlsquos education life experience

political beliefs etc Nevertheless I endeavor to present a history that is probably known

by most Mainland Chinese

51 Before the Cultural Revolution

A history textbook in Mainland of China will claim that China was repeatedly invaded by

foreigners at the beginning of the modern period (see Ministry of Education in China

2003) The British navy easily defeated China in the First Opium War of 1839 and in

1860 Beijings Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned to the ground by British

and French troops in 1895 Taiwan was ceded to Japan after Chinalsquos defeat in the Battle

of the Yellow Sea in 1900 European powers along with the United States Russia and

Japan seized Beijing coercing the Qing government into paying them 675 million

pounds in indemnity and signing protocols unfair for China (Weatherley amp Rosen 2013)

Angered by its weakness and corruption the Mainland Chinese populace mdashled by Dr

Sun Yat-sen founder of the Chinese Nationalist Partymdash overthrew the Qing government

in 1911 (Fairbank Twitchett amp Feuerwerker 1986) However Sun Yat-sen was unable to

create a government capable of controlling the political situation in Mainland of China

13

Warlords supported by different foreign powers fought against each other leading

Mainland of China into seemingly endless turbulence Eventually Sun Yat-sen built the

Nationalist Partylsquos own army and allied with the Chinese Communist party and the

USSR was preparing to defeat the warlords and reunify China when Sun Yat-sen died

suddenly in 1925 (about the time the oldest of the older generation participants in study 2

was born)

Fulfilling Sun Yat-senlsquos dream the Northern Expedition began from Guangzhou in 1926

the Nationalist Party established its Capital in Nanjing in April 1927 confronting the

Beiyang Government established by the warlords in Beijing In 1928 the Nationalist

party captured Beijing and the warlord in the Northeast of China subsequently declared

his loyalty to the Nanjing government and the Northern Expedition ended however the

Chinese Nationalist Party and Chinese Communist Party had turned against each other

since 1927 and the war between these two parties went on In 1931 the Communist party

established its capital in Ruijin (a Hakka city in the south of China) defying the Nanjing

government in the same year the Japanese invaded Mainland of China The Japanese

had conquered the whole of Northeast China by 1932

In 1936 the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party decided to end

the civil war and join forces to fight against the Japanese The war against the Japanese

was extremely difficult almost one third of Mainland of Chinalsquos territory had been

invaded by Japan (including Beijing which was captured by the Japanese in 1937 and

was not reclaimed until 1945 by the Nationalist party) After Japan surrendered and

returned Taiwan to China in 1945 civil war in China between the Chinese Nationalist

Party and the Chinese Communist Party resumed almost immediately The Communist

Party captured Beijing from the Nationalist party in January 1949 and on October 1st of

the same year the leader of the Communist Party Mao Zedong announced the foundation

of Peoplelsquos Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing In December 1949 Chiang Kai-shek

with his government fled to Taiwan (Fairbank et al 1986) (This was about the time the

youngest of the older generation participants in study 2 was born) Taiwan has been

separated from the Mainland of China since that time

14

After another difficult war in Korea against the United States and its allies (1950-1953)

(for the details see Blair 1987) the Mainland Chinese Communist Party launched

communist reform throughout Mainland of China Communist ideology was proclaimed

private businesses were appropriated as national assets lands were taken from the

landlords and divided among peasants and collective farms were built (MacFarquhar

1991) Chairman Mao wished to build a socialist country for the proletariat however

after he retired from the position of Chairman in 1959 he was disappointed to find

traditional ideas reappear in contemporary literature and the Communist Party suffered

from corruption and bureaucracy Nevertheless these realities did not diminish Maolsquos

―communist dream instead he launched the Cultural Revolution (MacFarquhar 1991)

52 Cultural Revolution

From its beginning in 1966 to its end ten years later the Cultural Revolution is

considered Mainland of Chinalsquos most turbulent time after the founding of the Peoplelsquos

Republic (MacFarquhar 1991) The reason for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

is still debatable but many historians believe that Mao wanted to prevent bureaucracy

revisionism and capitalism that he thought was developing in Khrushchevlsquos USSR

(MacFarquhar 1991) Mao was especially skeptical of the ―deterioration of the central

communist leaders such as Chairman Liu Shaoqi (whom Mao suspected of revisionism

he was persecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution)

Besides many communist leaders numerous innocent scholars who were (or seemed)

unenthusiastic about Maolsquos communist ideology were persecuted during the Cultural

Revolution by Maolsquos loyal followers the ―Red Guards mostly made up of passionate

youths (MacFarquhar 1991) The Red Guards considered Maolsquos Quotations (―Red

Precious Book 「红宝书」) almost as a sacred text and were strongly against anything

related to traditional ideologies such as Confucianism Daoism or Buddhism They were

responsible for the destruction of many national treasures and historic art

Chinese culture and education suffered most during the Cultural Revolution and its

impact has been believed to be long-lasting (MacFarquhar 1991) The youthful spirit of

the Cultural Revolution differed from Chinese tradition in many ways First it was a

15

dictatorship of the proletariat not the aristocracy Second soldiers were respected while

scholars were belittled Traditional literati were usually peaceful gentle and even soft

(Stokstad 2005) while Mao (although a poet) valued military strategy resorting to

violent revolution to tackle social problems He proclaimed that political power come

from military strength (Mao 1972) In fact popular support from the Peoplelsquos Liberation

Army (PLA) was an important basis for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

Finally Marxist materialism was proclaimed while the traditions such as Confucianism

Daoism and Buddhism were roundly denounced

Unfortunately the Cultural Revolution degenerated into chaos (MacFarquhar 1991) In

1971 Maolsquos long-time comrade and chosen successor Marshal Linmdashwho had

enthusiastically supported the Cultural Revolution (at least on the surface)mdashbetrayed

Mao (MacFarquhar 1991) In 1975 one year before Maolsquos death and the de facto end of

the Cultural Revolution Mao wrote his last poem in which he said ―At that time

anxious about our motherland we comrades were not afraid of being beheaded Now the

whole country is red (communist) but who can guard it The work has not finished yet

my body is tired my hair is white How can you be hardhearted enough to let our life-

long dream be gone with the river (Mao 1996)

53 After the Cultural Revolution

Although repeatedly attacked Deng Xiaoping survived the Cultural Revolution to launch

economic reform his ―Reform and Opening started in 1978 has generated rapid

economic growth in Mainland of China since the 1980s (MacFarquhar 1991) The

Cultural Revolution was officially decried The public image of Mao became much more

realistic especially after Denglsquos compromising comments on Maolsquos life his

achievements before the foundation of Peoplelsquos Republic of China and his mistakes in his

late life especially during the Cultural Revolution Moreover Confucianism Daoism

and Buddhism are increasingly appreciated as demonstrated by the growing popularity of

the books about Chinese traditions such as Confucianism (eg Yu 2006) Meanwhile

religions such as Christianity Buddhism and Taoism are recovering after the loosening of

earlier restrictions put in place by the Communist Party (Yang 2006)

16

There are many fundamental changes in current society of Mainland China

First new social classes such as owners of private companies emerged after the

economic reform changing the previous simply layered social structure made up of

famers workers and scholars Meanwhile cooperation rather than conflict between

different classes is emphasized (Lu 2004) Consistently social interaction and social

relationship (关系) are increasingly appreciated The social ability of modern Mainland

Chinese youths is believed to be higher than that of their parents (Huang Deng Chen amp

Lu 2009) However this 关系 also has negative implications For example people who

have connections with governing officials such as the politicianslsquo relatives usually get

advantages in the competition of the immature markets and occupy most social resources

Corruption among the political officials moreover is commonplace Correspondingly

the current income levels in current China are overwhelmingly imbalanced the managers

form the top class of Mainland Chinese society which according to surveys in Shenzhen

and Hefei (Lu 2004) earn 15 times of the income of the workmen who are at the bottom

of the social hierarchy and are often belittled This situation is totally different from that

in Maolsquos age when workmen formed the upper class and were greatly respected Second

knowledge and techniques especially scientific knowledge and techniques are becoming

more and more important Therefore scholars and scientists are more and more

respected Third with the opening up of Mainland China to the outside world Mainland

Chinese society is becoming more and more international and multi-cultural art

literature and philosophy have been flooding into Mainland of China from Hong Kong

Taiwan Korea Japan the United States etc This trend is intensified by the prevalence of

the internet all over China Fourth the one-child policy was implemented Most youths

are the only child or of just one of two children in a family and thus enjoy a luxury of

resources that had not been available to their parents

With such dramatic changes in society there are tremendous gaps between the mentalities

of current Mainland Chinese youths and their parents they are much more

individualistic open-minded critical adventurist and fact-based (not as interested in

theory and ideology as their parents once were during Maolsquos age) legally conscious

interested in public affairs but not so much in social morality caring about the protection

17

of the environment fond of fun rather than being serious (Huang et al 2009) Western

ideas such as freedom and democracy are much more appreciated meanwhile some

negative values such as worshiping financial power and material consumption are also

more common among current Mainland Chinese youth than among their parents

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture

Wisdom studies in non-Western cultures mostly involve Japan and India Very little has

been done in China The Berlin Wisdom criteria were applied in a study to rate a

Mainland Chinese citylsquos elderly peoplelsquos psychological adaptation level which was

found to be significantly positively correlated with their life satisfaction (Weidong 2006)

An opinion paper discussed differences between Chinese and Western practical wisdom

in management and concluded that both value compassion (Opdebeeck amp Habisch

2011) a survey on the wit and wisdom of Mainland Chinese tour guides merely

illustrated tour guideslsquo practical wisdom which was barely a necessary ingredient of a

good life (Dioko Harrill amp Cardon 2013) Bang and Zhou (2014) studied how Ardeltlsquos

(2003) Three-dimensional wisdom Scale related to development of ego identity among

Mainland Chinese undergraduate university students and identified a positive correlation

None of these studies has been specifically focused on wisdom among Mainland Chinese

Yang (2001 2007 2008a 2008b 2008c 2014a) has studied the conception of wisdom in

Chinese culture in depth Yang chose 智慧 as the corresponding Chinese word for

―wisdom and reviewed the development of the meaning of 智慧 in Chinese history 智

慧 is mostly about personal characters especially about cognitive ability and judgments

With the spread of Buddhism in China 智慧 incorporated the components of wisdom in

Hindu culture ability to transcend laws in universe and pierce through transient

phenomenon in this world in order to realize ultimate truth In modern Chinese language

智 and 慧 are very similar in meaning (see httpwwwzdicnet) 智 emphasizes

more intelligence wisdom and resourcefulness 慧 is closer to wisdom (Banruo) in

Buddhism

In an empirical study Taiwanese Chinese who had been nominated as wise exemplars

18

were asked to describe wise decisions and actions in their own lives (Yang 2008c)

Several common themes emerged 1 ―striving for common good by helping others and

making major contributions to society (n = 79 36) 2 achieving a satisfactory state of

life (n = 55 25) 3 developing and determining life paths (n = 37 17) 4 resolving

difficult problems at work (n = 30 14) and 5 doing the right thing in the face of

adversity (n = 19 9) (p 286) In another study Yang (2014b) measured wisdom

among Taiwanese Chinese by methods of other-rating transcripted interviews and self-

report survey in her model wisdom is a real-life process including three components

connected together cognitive integration amp action embodiment amp positive effects for self

and others Yanglsquos model is featured by Chinese philosophy traditions such as emphasis

on integration in space and connection of events in one process Moreover the

component ―action embodiment is missing in most Western models corresponding to

the difference between Chinese and Western philosophy traditions

Besides Yang Chen and his colleagues (Chen Cheng Wu amp Hsueh 2014) applied the

grounded theory method to study Taiwanese Chinese educatorslsquo interpersonal and

intrapersonal perspectives on wisdom and identified four core components of wisdom

―intrapsychic integration ―actions in service of problem solving and ideal

implementation and ―positive results and feedback and adjustments (p 425)

However these findings may not be generalized to Mainland Chinese due to the

difference of culture between Mainland of China and Taiwan Taiwan was ceded from

China to Japan for 50 years after 1895 and was influenced by Japanese culture (Yang

2008a) Moreover Taiwan was governed by Chinese Nationalist party which revived

Chinese traditions through many political and cultural events after 1949 whereas

Mainland of China was governed by the Chinese Communist party and experienced

communist reforms and the 10-year Cultural Revolution attacking Chinese traditions

(MacFarquhar 1991)

19

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth

1 Introduction

11 Choosing Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese

Due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China through the modern history (see

Chapter 1 Section 6) the culture in Mainland of China could be very different from that

in Taiwan Therefore a prototype of wisdom among Mainland Chinese may be different

from that among Taiwanese Chinese Bang and Zhou (2014) believed that a prototype of

wisdom in Chinese culture was congruent with that in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model thus they

conducted a survey among some Mainland Chinese with the three-dimensional wisdom

scale However factor analysis identified a four dimensional structure (Non-dualistic

thinking ―Perspective-taking ―Non-resentment ―Empathy)

In order to test whether Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model or Bang and Zhoulsquos

four-dimensional wisdom model could represent wisdom among Mainland Chinese a

self-report wisdom measure was conducted among 100 Mainland Chinese youth

12 Validity tests of Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure

In order to test whether a wisdom measure is valid researchers could propose several

correlates of wisdom based on theories If the wisdom correlates measured by some

established measurements are significantly correlated with the wisdom measured then

the wisdom measurelsquos validity is testified For our study we chose four wisdom

correlates cognitive intelligence emotional intelligence empathy and prosocial

personality traits (high extroversion low psychoticism and low neuroticism) for reasons

below

Studies of implicit theories of wisdom in North America (ie the lay peoplelsquos theory of

wisdom) revealed that cognitive ability and reasoning were regarded as the most

important factors underlying wisdom (Sternberg 1990) Cognitive ability was found to

be one of the core themes of Western implicit theories of wisdom (Bluck amp Gluumlck 2005)

20

Besides cognitive ability wise people are thought to be good at understanding otherslsquo

emotions (Stange amp Kunzmann 2009) Adams (1998) simply regarded ―wisdom as the

classical version of ―emotional intelligence In a previous study a positive correlation

between wisdom measured by three-dimensional wisdom scale and emotional

intelligence measured by Wong and Lawlsquos emotional intelligence scale was

demonstrated and the effect of wisdom on happiness was reduced to emotional

intelligence (Zacher McKenna amp Rooney 2013) However wisdom should not be

reduced to emotional intelligence because emotional intelligence does not guarantee pro-

social personality as we see in some highly emotionally-intelligent criminals (Hampson

2012) and sly Nazi politicians (Shirer 2011) Understanding of otherslsquo suffering does not

necessary lead to compassion for others Therefore other-related wisdom defined as

empathic Concern for Others (Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013) is often added as an

important attribute for distinguishing wisdom from individual intelligence

Wisdom is interpreted by many researchers as a combination of intelligence and

character the ability to strive for the welfare of individuals and communities and the

willingness to do it (Pasupathi 2001 Stange amp Kunzmann 2009 Staudinger Doumlrner amp

Mickler 2005) Therefore we hypothesized that wise people not only possessed high

cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence but also empathy toward others and

prosocial personality traits such as low psychoticism low neuroticism and high

extroversion

2 Hypotheses

Reliabilities of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale as well as the subscales of

cognitive reflective and affective dimensions of wisdom should be ideal because

wisdom among Mainland Chinese embodies cognitive reflective and affective

components as hypothesized in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model

If Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional scale were valid for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese the wisdom score should be positively correlated with cognitive intelligence

emotional intelligence empathic concern and prosocial personality traits measured by

scales whose reliability and validity among Mainland Chinese were established in

21

previous studies eg Raven Matrix Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence scale the

Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Mainland Chinese

version of the shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the Ethic Committees at Zhejiang Normal

University and the University of Toronto

31 Participants

Ninety-seven Mainland Chinese undergraduate students (46 males aged from 18 to 23

years M = 1971 SD =119 years) at Zhejiang Normal University Jinhua Chinamdash a city

with a population of 5361600 at the 2010 census (―Jinhua 2014) Twelve were

Buddhists 3 were Christians 1 was Muslim 1 was favorable towards all kinds of

religious belief and the other 79 were atheists

32 Material

321 Visual basic program

All the items and pictures used in the scales and tests were presented on a computer one

by one in a home-made Visual Basic Program This program not only made the

characters easily readable but also prevented potential influence between adjacent scale

items

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS)

All the instructions and items were translated into Chinese and then reverse-translated to

English by native Mainland Chinese speakers and compared for accuracy to the original

English items by native English speakers The discrepancy was then corrected and this

double-reverse translation procedure repeated until the Chinese version scale was

consistent with the English version scale

22

For more details of this scale see Chapter 1 Section 23

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS)

The Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) includes four subscales self-

emotion appraisal other-emotion appraisal utilization of emotion and regulation of

emotion scales (Law Wong amp Song 2004) Each subscale has four items Self-emotion

appraisal and other-emotion appraisal refer to the abilities to understand emotion of self

and others respectively Utilization of emotion refers to utilizing emotion of self to guide

actions Regulation of emotion refers to controlling emotion of self The participants rate

the accordance of the description in the items to themselves on a 5-point scale

A previous study in China has demonstrated that the WLEIS was a better predictor of job

performance than the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test developed in

the US (Law Wong Huang amp Li 2008) Besides the WLEIS was testified as reliable

among 680 Mainland Chinese university students (Li Saklofske Bowden Yan amp Fung

2012)

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)

This scale measures four aspects of empathy perspective taking fantasy empathic

concern and personal distress (Siu amp Shek 2005) There are 28 items altogether seven

items for each subscale The Perspective-Taking scale assesses the liability to

spontaneously adopting perspectives of others the Fantasy scale measures the liability to

transpose self imaginatively into the feelings and actions of fictitious characters The

Empathic Concern scale measures other-oriented feelings of sympathy and care for the

suffering individuals The Personal Distress scale measures self-oriented feelings of

personal anxiety and unease in tense interpersonal situations (Davis 1983) The

participants indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or

―strongly agree to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree

The scale was testified as reliable and valid among 580 Mainland Chinese participants

(Siu amp Shek 2005)

23

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

The Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) has 48 items 12

items for each of the following sub-scales Psychoticism Extroversion

Neuroticismemotional instability and LieSocial desirability scales Psychoticism is

tendency to develop a psychotic symptom or anti-social behaviors Extraversion is

tendency to be active in social activities Neuroticism or emotion stability measures

individualslsquo emotional instability and the tendency to develop negative feelings The Lie

scale contains questions on which individuals tend to lie for social desirability (Eysenck

amp Eysenck 1975) The items are questions about the participants and the participants

respond ―yes or ―no to these questions

This scale was testified as reliable and valid among 8637 Mainland Chinese participants

(Mingyi Guocheng Rongchun amp Shen 2000)

426 Progressive Raven Matrix

There are 35 Progressive Raven Matrix items altogether used in this study In each item

the participants need to identify the missing element that completes a pattern on a 33

matrix Raven Matrix was found to be reliable and valid in measuring cognitive

intelligence among several cultures including Chinese culture (Raven 2000)

33 Procedure

The following procedure was completed individually in the Psychology laboratory at

Zhejiang Normal University The participants were left alone in a quiet room to finish the

scales and tests

All the participants completed the three-dimensional Wisdom Scale and the WLEIS In

addition 31 participants (12 males 18 to 22 years M = 1958 years SD =113 years)

finished Progressive Raven Matrix another 66 participants (34 males 18 to 23 years M

= 1977 years SD =122 years) completed the Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal

Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Mainland Chinese version of the shortened Eysenck

personality scale (EPQ-RS) Considering fatigue effect the participants who finished

24

Raven Matrix were not instructed to finish IRI and EPQ-RS

4 Results

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

A reliability test was conducted for the three-dimensional wisdom scale and its subscales

based on the data from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs

alpha of the whole scale was 070 alpha of the cognitive dimension scale was 065 alpha

of the reflective dimension scale was 049 alpha of the affective dimension scale was

030 Therefore the inter-items reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a

whole was acceptable However inter-items reliability of neither the reflective nor

affective dimensional subscale was acceptable all r lt 060

The final score of the three-dimensional wisdom scale ranged from 245 to 392 (M =

320 SD = 026) cognitive wisdom ranged from 207 to 414 (M = 334 SD = 040)

An inter-item reliability analysis was also conducted to test the four-factor structure

proposed by Bang and Zhou Cronbachs alpha of ―Non-dualistic thinking items was

053 alpha of ―Perspective-taking items was 068 alpha of ―Non-resentment items was

037 alpha of ―Empathy items was 028 Therefore only the ―Perspective-taking

subscale has acceptable inter-items reliability the four-factor structure proposed by Bang

and Zhou was not confirmed

42 Factor analysis

Combining the 3DWS data in this study with another 3DWS data of 50 Mainland

Chinese youths (22 males aged from 20 to 30 M = 2404 SD =242) collected in

another study we got data of 148 Mainland Chinese youthslsquo three-dimensional wisdom

items scores Factor analysis using a principal axis factoring analysis (the same method

used by Bang and Zhou) and an oblique rotation method (Direct Oblimin) was conducted

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was acceptable (060) however the

factor analysis extracted 14 factors explaining only 500 variance Moreover the

25

rotation failed to converge in 25 iterations Therefore we quitted the exploratory factor

analysis

Later we fixed the number of factors at three however the extracted three factors only

explained a 198 variance And then we fixed the number of factors at four but the

extracted four factors only explained a 236 variance Therefore there may be more

than four factors that underlie the participantslsquo performance in Ardeltlsquo self reporting

three-dimensional wisdom scale

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores

The 31 participants who took the Raven Matrix test had solved 7 to 34 matrixes (M =

2126 SD = 671) Bivariate correlation analysis between the Raven Matrix test score and

the three-dimensional wisdom score revealed no significant correlation r = 016 p =

038

We hypothesized that cognitive dimension of wisdom should be positively correlated

with the Raven matrix score even if the total wisdom score was not so however the

correlation of the Raven score with the score on cognitive wisdom was also not

significant r = 022 p = 024

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale

A reliability test was conducted for the WLEIS scale and its subscales based on the data

from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs alpha of the total scale

was 080 alpha of ―self-emotion appraisal was 061 alpha of ―other-emotion appraisal

was 080 alpha of ―use of emotion was 075 alpha of ―regulation of emotion was 082

Therefore inter-items reliability of the whole scale and all the sub-scales were

acceptable

The score of the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale ranged from 238 to 475 (M

= 341 SD =041) the score of ―self-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 475 (M =

355 SD =056) the score of ―other-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 500 (M =

26

352 SD =060) the score of ―use of emotion ranged from 200 to 480 (M = 336 SD

=064) the score of ―regulation of emotion ranged from 100 to 500 (M = 320 SD

=066)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that the wisdom score was significantly positively

correlated with WLEIS score r = 047 p lt 0001 and with all the subscale scores all r gt

024 all p lt 005

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the ―perspective-taking scale was 064 the alpha of the ―fantasy

scale was 069 the alpha of the ―empathic concern scale was 059 and the alpha of the

―personal distress scale was 070 Therefore the ―empathic concern scalelsquos inter-item

reliability was marginally acceptable for calculating the ―empathic concern score and the

other scaleslsquo inter-item reliabilities were acceptable

The score of ―perspective-taking ranged from 229 to 457 (M = 338 SD =051)

―fantasy ranged from 157 to 471 (M = 337 SD =063) ―empathic concern ranged

from 229 to 471 (M = 346 SD =049) ―personal distress ranged from 157 to 457 (M

= 330 SD =053)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that score of ―fantasy and ―perspective taking

were significantly positively correlated with wisdom score r = 026 p = 0039 r = 046

p lt 0001 respectively Other correlations were not significant all p gt 005

46 Eysenck personality scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the Psychoticism scale was 021 the alpha of the Extroversion scale

was 071 the alpha of the Neuroticism scale was 075 the alpha of the LieSocial

desirability scale was 059 Therefore the inter-item reliabilities of the Extroversion and

Neuroticism scales were ideal for calculating the total scores and that of the LieSocial

desirability scale was marginally acceptable

27

The Extroversion score ranged from 0 to 12 (M =663 SD =337) the Neuroticism score

ranged from 1 to 12 (M = 695 SD = 291) the LieSocial desirability score ranged from

0 to 11 (M = 454 SD =224) The LieSocial desirability score was not significantly

positively correlated with the Extroversion or Neuroticism score all r lt 01 all p gt 005

Therefore the Extroversion and Neuroticism scores were not biased by social

desirability

Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that the Extraversion score was significantly

positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 036 p = 0003 whereas the

Neuroticism score was significantly negatively correlated with the wisdom score r = -

032 p = 0008 However it should be noted that the Liesocial desirability score was

significantly positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 026 p = 0037 but not

with any other self-report score (eg emotional intelligence empathy) all r lt 01 all p gt

005

5 Discussion

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model

Although the reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a whole was acceptable

(Cronbachs alpha = 070) the inter-items reliabilities of reflective wisdom and affective

wisdom were quite poor This result revealed that the three-factor structure of wisdom

proposed by Ardelt may not exist among Mainland Chinese Indeed Bang and Zhou

(2014) also failed to find a three-factor structure of wisdom Moreover the four-factor

structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was also not testified in our study Therefore a

different wisdom model may be necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese A qualitative method such as an implicit theory study of wisdom among

Mainland Chinese may be helpful for exploring the structure of wisdom among Mainland

Chinese which was fulfilled in Study 2 of this thesis

52 Validity test results

Our hypothesis about wisdom related to cognitive intelligence was not confirmed by the

correlation result Perhaps wisdom is more about cognition of grand objects (eg

28

meaning of life and human nature) and thus the ability to recognize the pattern of matrix

is not related to the cognitive dimension of wisdom In fact a previous study has shown

that an increase of crystalized intelligence a component of wisdom was not related to

fluid intelligence (Christensen Batterham amp Mackinnon 2013) Wisdom may be more

related to intelligence in the domains about life in general which is essentially different

from intelligence in other domains such as that measured by the Raven matrix

Our hypotheses about positive correlation of wisdom with emotional intelligence

empathy (―perspective taking ―fantasy) and prosocial personality traits

(―extroversion ―emotion stability) were confirmed by the correlation results (Note that

the social desirability score was not correlated with any of these wisdom correlates and

thus these significant correlations can not be accounted for by the effect of social

desirability) Overall our results suggested that wisdom was embodied in reasonably

handling emotion of self and others (appraising otherslsquo emotion utilizing and regulating

emotion emotional stability) and taking care of others taking otherslsquo perspectives

transposing oneself imaginatively into the feelings and actions of others (related to

―fantasy) and being active in social interaction (―extraversion) However no cause-

effect relation can be derived from these correlation results These factors could be either

the outcomes or the sources of wisdom Eg extraversion could be the outcome of

wisdom wiser people are more likely to interact with others because they appreciate

more about the value of social networking On the other hand extraversion could

contribute to wisdom social interaction provides individuals more opportunities for

learning from others Likewise emotional stability may be important for reflective

wisdom while emotional stability could be an outcome of wisdom Individuals of high

neuroticism may be weak at reflecting upon their self-images due to their easily irritable

temperament preventing them from accepting ideas harmful for their self-image while

wise people are not self-centralized and thus emotionally stable Finally all these

potential components of wisdom need to be integrated For example an extravert without

empathy for others may interact with others superficially without being aware of otherslsquo

inner feelings and thoughts and thus wonlsquot accumulate experience of some fundamental

life pragmatics in social life such as painful separation from a beloved person

29

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability

According to Confucianism a Superior Man should examine himself objectively

(Confucius 2009) however the liesocial desirability score was significantly positively

correlated with the score of three-dimensional wisdom This result corresponded to the

proposition of Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) that self-reported measurement of wisdom

may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception wise

individuals are arguably more accurate in self-reflection and thus score lower than those

unwise individuals who have positive bias in their self-reflection In fact a positive

correlation between impression management and scores on some items in the three-

dimensional wisdom scale was demonstrated in a previous study (Taylor Bates amp

Webster 2011) Therefore a method more objective than self-report such as performance

measure is necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland Chinese This problem

is tackled in Study 3 of this thesis

6 Conclusion

Emotional intelligence empathy emotion stability and extraversion were significantly

positively correlated with wisdom measured by Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

For Mainland Chinese wisdom may be embodied in the ability and willingness to

understand and regulate emotion of selves and others in social life However the

structure of wisdom was unclear neither the three-factor structure proposed by Ardelt nor

the four-factor structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was testified Moreover the self-

report wisdom score was significantly positively correlated with social desirability score

Therefore we probably need a different model and a performance measure for wisdom

measurement among Mainland Chinese

30

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

1 Introduction

In order to explore the structure of wisdom ie the potential wisdom components among

Mainland Chinese and build a Mainland Chinese Wisdom model the implicit theory of

wisdom among Mainland Chinese was examined

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners

The implicit theory of wisdom is about the lay peoplelsquos latent understanding of wisdom

or implicit conceptualization of ―wisdom Implicit theory studies typically use one of

two main approaches ―descriptor rating and ―nomination of exemplars (Bluck amp

Gluumlck 2005)

Descriptor rating studies of wisdom The earliest and still most common method of

research on implicit theories of wisdom uses attribute rating (eg Clayton amp Birren

1980 Holliday amp Chandler 1986 Jason et al 2001a Sternberg 1985) Participants first

list attributes they associate with wisdom that are then merged into a master list with

repetitions idiosyncrasies and synonyms removed the master list is then presented to a

second (often larger) sample of participants who rate each attribute for how central it is

to wisdom Multidimensional scaling is then used to extract underlying components from

ratings with dimensions labeled according to their characteristic attributes

Exemplar approaches to implicit theories of wisdom Another way of studying implicit

theories of wisdom is to ask people to nominate individual exemplars of wisdom (eg

Orwoll amp Perlmutter 1990 Takayama 2002) Nomination studies of wisdom ask people

to nominate someone they consider wise from history or from their personal

acquaintance Historical exemplars of wisdom are not universal For example Jewish

Canadians frequently nominated Gandhi as a historical exemplar of wisdom among a

wide range of political and intellectual figuresmdashmany of importance to Judaism like

Moses However Gandhi was nominated only once in Pakistan with 60 of participants

31

choosing the Prophet Mohammed (Ferrari Kahn Benayon amp Nero 2011)

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories

Gluumlck and Bluck (2005 see also Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011) identified five core themes

of Western implicit theories of wisdom in their careful review of all Descriptor rating

studies of wisdom completed to that time

1 Cognitive ability (profound knowledge amp reasoning about novel problems)

2 Insight (willingness and ability to ponder deeply on complex issues)

3 Reflective attitude (do think profoundly about self others and the world from many

different perspectives to be self-critical and not biased by emotion of self)

4 Concern for Others beyond close family and friends (self-transcendent concern and

compassion)

5 Problem-solving skills (applying knowledge to concrete problems)

Later Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) summarized these as core components of wisdom in

subjective theories and then added another three components of wisdom from some

expertslsquo subjective theories especially those for some self-report wisdom scales

Spirituality and connectedness to nature to be spiritual in life and enjoy a connection

with the divine and care for the natural environment (Jason et al 2001b) Emancipatory

nature of wisdom interests in self-critical reflection and autonomy and knowledge that

increases the freedom of the self and provides opportunities for self-development

(Sternberg 1990) Humor the ability to see comical components even in serious

situations (Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011)

13 This study

Given the shortcomings of self-report wisdom measure as demonstrated in study 1 we

conducted another study based on the secondary data from a previous study to explore the

potential factors underlying wisdom in Mainland Chinese culture The conceptions of

32

wisdom among two generations of Mainland Chinese were examined The older

generation had experienced the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when they were

emerging or middle-aged adults (18 to 42 years old in 1966) whereas the younger

generation was born after the Cultural Revolution As far as we know this is the first

study on the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese

As mentioned earlier Mainland China underwent the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-

1976) during which the traditional wisdom ideologies of Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism were fiercely denounced nationwide while Maolsquos Communist ideology was

proclaimed instead (Yang 2006) The Cultural Revolution provides a unique opportunity

to study an event that disrupted transmission of Chinese traditions People who lived

through this time may incorporate elements of communist ideology into their conceptions

of wisdom

2 Hypotheses

We hypothesized that people who had experienced the Cultural Revolution should have

an implicit theory of wisdom different from that among those born after the Cultural

Revolution conceptual wisdom components related to Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism should be less prevalent whereas conceptual wisdom components related to

Communism should be more prevalent among the older generation than among the

younger generation

Parallel hypothesis

Similar to all cross-section studies cohort effect is mixed with age effect and thus not

identifiable People who had experienced the Cultural Revolution may later learn the

revived traditions and become even more affected by these traditions due to their greater

experience of the revived traditions through age Therefore conceptual wisdom

components related to Chinese traditions may be more prevalent among the elders than

among the youths

33

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the ethics committee at the University of

Toronto

31 Participants

One hundred Mainland Chinese adults were interviewed in Beijing in 2008 half were

native-born Mainland Chinese elders living in the Beijing area (28 males aged from 60

to 84 M = 7166 SD =599) They were born between 1924 and 1948 and had

experienced the Cultural Revolution and were living independently or with family around

the time of interview Among them 15 participants had not finished high school 12

participants had high school or equivalent diploma 7 participants had some college

education and 16 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent degree one was Buddhist 1

was Muslim 16 named their religious affiliation as Communism and the other 32 did not

indicate any religious affiliation

The other 50 were students at Beijing Normal University (22 males aged from 20 to 30

M = 2404 SD =242) born between 1978 and 1988 after the Cultural Revolution which

ended in 1976 Among this generation 18 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent

degree 31 participants had a Masterlsquos degree and one participant a doctorate one was

Buddhist 1 was Muslim 2 were Christians and 2 named their religious affiliation as

Communism the other 44 did not indicate any religious affiliation

32 Material

Recorder printed ―Interview guide etc

33 Procedure

Participants were interviewed individually in a quiet room They nominated several

wisdom exemplars from among historic figures and their acquaintances and then

34

explained why they regarded the exemplars as wise how the wisdom exemplars had

become wise and what the definition of wisdom is The Mainland Chinese term used for

wisdom is the same as that in Yangs study with Taiwanese Chinese Zhi Hui (智慧)

(Yang 2008)

More specifically it included the following questions

(1) Please take a moment to think of the wisest person you know of in history among

your acquaintances Who is this person and what makes them so wise What is one story

you know about this person or one thing they said or did that shows them to be wise

We included the following probes ―What was wise about that What might some other

person have said or done We also asked ―Has this person affected or inspired you in

your own life Is it possible for you to become more like them Are there any wise

moments in your life

(2) Finally we asked about the participantslsquo own definition of wisdom ―Now that we

have had a chance to talk about it what is wisdom What does wisdom mean to you

The interviews were recorded and transcribed

The nomination of wisdom exemplars may reveal who had influenced the participantslsquo

conceptualization of wisdom The reasons for the participantslsquo nomination were arguably

determined by their conceptualization of wisdom We made this arrangement because the

conceptualization of wisdom is not easy for lay people to articulate and asking questions

relevant to wisdom before addressing their definition of wisdom could activate the

neural-network carrying information related to wisdom conceptualization However the

participants sometimes talked about something unrelated to their definitions of wisdom

which is inevitable because it is very difficult for common people to focus on the topic

―wisdom throughout the whole conversation Nevertheless when the participants

responded to our last question ie the definition of wisdom they were mostly focused

on their conceptualizations of wisdom Therefore we chose to code their responses to the

last question

In total 92 Mainland Chinese participants (47 male aged from 20 to 84 M = 4722 SD

35

=2408) reported their definition of wisdom including 47 youths (27 males 20 to 30

years M = 2409 years SD =246years) and 45 elders (20 males 60 to 84 years M =

7138 years SD =607years) Thematic analysis using a grounded theory method

allowed us to code these participantslsquo answers and discover common themes of the

Mainland Chinese participantslsquo definition of wisdom After these common themes were

found 2 Taiwanese Chinese research assistants coded the transcripts again and identified

all the common themes we found without discovering any new theme Finally a

codebook was developed based on these common themes and then two trained Mainland

Chinese coders coded the transcripts again according to this codebook Coder agreement

and Kappa values on each category of this codebook were analyzed just as in a previous

study (Gluumlck et al 2005) Disagreements were later resolved by discussion between

these coders and then the frequency of each category coded was calculated

4 Results

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants

Participants made a total of 180 nominations of historical wise exemplars nominating 64

historic figures The mostly frequently nominated historic wisdom exemplars were

political or military leaders (ie emperors presidents premiers civil officials and

generals) nominated by 74 participants The second most frequently nominated group of

historic wisdom exemplars were scholars (ie philosophers literary authors poets and

historians) nominated by 21 participants Following these two groups of historic wisdom

exemplars were scientists nominated by four participants and then religious leaders

nominated by three participants Buddha nominated by a Christian Jesus nominated by a

Buddhist Muhammad nominated by an atheist

The leaders were regarded by the participants as wise mostly for their personal abilities

and contribution to their society The leaderslsquo personal abilities included leadership in

military or political events talents in ruling organizations and states social interaction

organizational and leadership skills such as understanding otherslsquo mentality and

managing the talented persons The leaderslsquo contribution to their society included

36

recovering the order of the society and showing compassion for the poor The scholars

were regarded as wise mostly for their mentality cognitive ability cognitive traits

cognitive outcome (eg works of literature) and virtue teaching wisdom to the public

self-transformation and transcendent personalities The wisdom of leaders emphasized

more on changing the external world ie society whereas the wisdom of scholars on

transforming the internal world ie mind

Table 1 shows a chronological ranked ordering of the 24 historic figures who received at

least 2 nominations as wise exemplars (All other figures received only a single

nomination and thus was not reported here) It should be noted that 19 of these 24

nominees were Chinese 15 of the 24 were political or military leadersmdashsome dating

back over 2000 years to the unification of China as a centralized country by Qin Shi

Huang (260ndash210 BC) the first emperor of China mdash through to the 17th

c but then we

found a gap of almost 200 years until 6 leaders within living memory of the older

generation In addition to these political or military leaders 8 were scholars and only 1

was a religious figure (Muhammad)

37

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Wisdom Exemplarparticipants Youth Elder Total

Lao-tzu Legendary founder of Daoism Zhou dynasty (6th c BC) 2 0 2

Confucius (551ndash479 BC) Ancient educator and political advisor

founder of Confucianism

9 1 10

Plato (429ndash347 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Aristotle (384ndash322 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Emperor Qin [Shi Huang] (260ndash210 BC) First emperor Qin dynasty 3 4 7

Emperor Gaozu (256 or 247-195 BC) First emperor Han dynasty 1 1 2

Emperor Wu (156 ndash 87 BC) Seventh emperor Han dynasty 2 0 2

Sima Qian (145 or 135-86 BC) Ancient historian in Han dynasty 2 0 2

Cao Cao (155-220) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

1 2 3

Zhu Geliang (181-234) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

6 6 12

Muhammad (570 - 632) Prophet and founder of Islam 2 0 2

Emperor Taizong (598-649) Emperor Tang dynasty 3 3 6

Emperor Wu Zetian (624-705) A female emperor in Tang dynasty 1 1 2

Su Shi (1037-1101) Song Dynasty writer poet painter calligrapher

pharmacologist and statesman

4 0 4

Empress Xiao Chuang (1613-1688) Concubine of the Qing Dynasty

ruler Hong Taiji grandmother of Emperor Kangxi

2 0 2

Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) Fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty 3 3 6

Karl Marx (1818-1883) Philosopher 2 0 2

Marie Curie (1867-1934) Scientist 2 0 2

iii

(general and personal) The participantslsquo wisdom performance was videotaped and then rated on

the Mainland Chinese and Berlin Wisdom criteria Their videotaped facial expression was

analyzed by software The results revealed that our Chinese wisdom measurement is reliable and

valid the Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating were highly consistent

with each other finally the feeling of surprise may contribute to wisdom performance

iv

Acknowledgments

Thanks to my parents on the other side of this planet always encouraging me to carry on in my

studies

Thanks to my supervisor Dr Michel Ferrari such a patient and gentle scholar knowledgeable in

many different fields and very supportive of my studies here at the University of Toronto

I also want to thank my thesis committee members Dr Earl Woodruff Dr Shih-ying Yang Dr

Xi Chen-Bumgardner and Dr Thao N Le on their advices and help with my thesis writing

Without their help I would not be able to have such precious ideas and thoughts embodied in this

thesis

Thanks to the staff at our department Applied Psychology amp Human Development such as Lisa

Chinchamie Marisa Freire and Jennifer OReilly some of them are no longer working in our

department but I will always remember their kindness and patience

Thanks to the University of Toronto for giving me such a precious opportunity to study in one of

the worldlsquos most multicultural and open-minded environments

Thanks to my supervisor for my Masterlsquos thesis Prf Genyue Fu and my friends such as

Qiandong Wang for their advices and supports for my Doctorate thesis studies

Thanks to all the participants raters and coders who participated in our studies especially the

middle-aged professor and editor Without their help this thesis could not be done

Finally I want to thank my dear friend Ethan Weare for his help with proofreading

v

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot iv

Table of Contents middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot v

List of Tables middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot xii

List of Figures middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot xiii

List of Appendices middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotxiv

Chapter 1 General introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

1 Definitions of wisdom middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm 1

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm 1

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm 4

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms 4

22 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale 5

23 ―MORE model 6

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models 7

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 7

4 Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 8

41 Confucianism 9

42 Daoism 10

43 Chinese Buddhism 10

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy 11

vi

5 Modern history of China middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 12

51 Before the Cultural Revolution 12

52 Cultural Revolution 14

53 After the Cultural Revolution 15

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 17

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

11 Choosing Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese 19

12 Validity tests of Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure 19

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 20

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 21

31 Participants 21

32 Material 21

321 Visual basic program 21

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS) 21

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) 22

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) 22

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) 23

426 Progressive Raven Matrix 23

33 Procedure 23

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 24

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom

scale 24

42 Factor analysis 24

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores 25

vii

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale 25

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale 26

46 Eysenck personality scale 26

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 27

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model 27

52 Validity test results 27

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability 29

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 29

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners 30

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories 31

13 This study 31

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 32

Parallel hypothesis 32

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 33

31 Participants 33

32 Material 33

33 Procedure 33

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 35

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 35

42 Generation difference in nomination 38

43 Acquaintance wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 41

44 Mainland Chinese implicit theory of wisdom 42

viii

441 ―Ability in Cognition related to the Western theme ―Cognitive Ability 42

442 ―Ability in Practice an extension of the Western theme ―Problem Solving

Skills 43

443 ―Concern for Others related to the Western theme ―Concern for Others

relevant to Confucianism 43

444 ―Eschewing-world Spirituality similar to the Western theme ―Insight but

framed in Chinese traditions 44

445 ―Positive Mindset missing in the Western implicit theory of wisdom

relevant to the historic turbulence 44

Others 45

45 Conceptual wisdom components and group difference 45

46 Relationship between wisdom exemplar nomination and conceptual wisdom

component 46

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 47

51 Personally known and historical exemplars of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

the generation difference 47

52 The implicit theory of wisdom among our Mainland Chinese participants and the

generation difference 48

53 Effects of Communist ideology on Wisdom conceptualization and Exemplars 53

54 Comparing the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese participants to

that among Westerners 54

55 Comparison between the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

that among Taiwanese Chinese 55

56 Comparing the Mainland Chinese wisdom model with Western wisdom models 56

561 Traditional Berlin Wisdom and Personal wisdom model 56

562 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model 57

563 ―MORE model 58

564 Brief Summary of these comparisons 58

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 59

ix

Chapter 4 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm a performance-based wisdom measure middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

11 Lack of emotional components in previous Berlin Paradigms 61

12 Innovative 2nd person wisdom measurement 63

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

31 Participants 65

32 Material 65

321 Berlin Wisdom paradigm vignettes 65

322 Berlin Wisdom manual (adapted) 65

323 Mainland Chinese wisdom manual 66

324 iMotions - Attention Tool FACET module (version 21) 67

325 Others 68

33 Procedure 68

34 Data analyses 69

341 Wisdom ratings 69

342 Facial expression analysis 69

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 72

41 Reliability of the Berlin and Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 72

42 Correlation between Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings

74

43 Correlation between performance-based and self-report wisdom measures 75

44 Validity test of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 75

441 Correlations with previous scores on wisdom correlates 75

442 Correlations with life satisfaction the following year 77

x

443 Conclusion 77

45 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 77

46 Thematic contents in participantslsquo responses 80

461 Life plan problem ―a friendlsquos unrealizable dream 80

462 Life review problem ―a teacherlsquos unrealized dream 81

463 Responses in the life plan problem rated highestlowest on BerlinMainland

Chinese wisdom rating 82

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 84

51 The role of experience in performance measure of wisdom 84

52 Berlin Wisdom rating was highly consistent with Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating

84

53 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 85

531 Measurement of emotional components of wisdom 85

532 Surprise and wisdom 86

533 Expression of negativepositive emotion may influence ratings on ―Ability in

PracticePositive Mindset 87

Chapter 5 General Discussion and Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

1 Concept of wisdom in a culture lay people VS philosophers middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

2 Universal Wisdom and cultural variation middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

3 Advantages of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 90

4 Limitation of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigmmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 91

5 Potential impacts on Western wisdom studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 92

51 Culture difference and universal wisdom model 92

52 Advantages of performance-based wisdom measure 93

53 The 2nd-person wisdom measure 94

6 General Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 95

xi

References middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 96

Appendicesmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 107

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items 107

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items 111

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm 113

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria 113

41 Criterion 1 Ability in Cognition认知能力 113

42 Criterion 2 Ability in Practice 实践能力 114

43 Criterion 3 Concern for Others 关心他人 115

44 Criterion 4 Eschewing-world Spirituality出世精神 116

45 Criterion 5 Positive Mindset 积极心态 118

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year 119

Copyright Acknowledgements middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 120

xii

List of Tables

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Table 2 Number of the participants mentioned each wisdom component in their definitions of

wisdom

Table 3 Rating of the participantslsquo performance in the life plan problem on each criterion

Table 4 Correlations between the ratings on Berlin and Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

Table 5 Correlations of the ratings on Chinese wisdom criteria with wisdom correlates

Table 6 Proportional time of each category of emotion in each scenario

xiii

List of Figures

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

Figure 2 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

Figure 3 A segment of a participantlsquos evidence value of surprise

xiv

List of Appendices

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year

1

Chapter 1 General introduction

1 Definitions of wisdom

Even though wisdom has become a topic of research in empirical psychology since the

last quarter of the 20th century there is still no scientific consensus on the definition of

wisdom (For a review of the definitions of wisdom see Bangen Meeks amp Jeste 2013)

Modern empirical psychologists generally view wisdom as a mature understanding and

conduct of life especially in difficult situations (Staudinger 2008) Two of the most

widely acknowledged definitions are the Berlin Wisdom researcherslsquo definition of

wisdom as expertise knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000) and Ardeltlsquos (2004) defining wisdom as an ideal type of character that

combines cognitive reflective and affective aspects of personality

Regardless of the difficulty in settling on a definition of it wisdom is believed to be an

important resource for a good life Wisdom provides insights and guidance for people to

lead a meaningful and happy life (Ferrari amp Potworowski 2008) In fact it may be

impossible to define wisdom semantically just as many scientific structures that can only

be represented in certain measures (see Giere 2009) a representation of the structure of

wisdom within a proper measurement may be the best a researcher can do Still this kind

of measurement is meaningful for many reasons both theoretical and practical

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm

The well-established Berlin Wisdom model defines wisdom as expertise and judgment

concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life and ―the pinnacle of insight into the

human condition and about the means and ends of a good life (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 122) rather than personality traits or individual abilities Staudinger (1996) has

further defined wisdom as a social interactive product Balteslsquo understanding of wisdom

2

might have been influenced by the Gestalt cognitive theory originating in Germanymdash

especially that of Koumlhler (1924) who believes that insight based on experience and

understanding of the structure of a situation was inherent to wisdom solving the

pragmatics in a creative way

Nevertheless the full model of the Berlin Wisdom paradigm (as shown in Figure 1) is not

simply about wisdom as expertise in life pragmatics but also about the ontogeny and

function of this life expertise (Baltes amp Smith 2008) Three factors are thought to be

associated with development maintenance and application of wisdom general person

factors (eg cognitive mechanics cognitive style mental health creativity and ego

strength) specific expertise-related factors (eg exposure to life scenarios and significant

life events motivation mentorship) and context (eg age cohort historical period

culture) Furthermore excellence in mind and virtue such as exceptionally good

judgment good advice insightful commentary about difficult and uncertain matters of

life and nonverbal behaviors associated with good conduct emotion regulation and

empathy in interpersonal and group contexts are regarded as necessary

manifestationoutcome of wisdom

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

3

Baltes and his colleagues measured wisdom through a think-aloud procedure testing the

participantslsquo responses in some hypothetical life-scenario situations such as the life-

planning life-monitoring and life-review problem for example ―In reflecting over their

lives people sometimes realize that they have not achieved what they had once planned

to achieve What should onethey do and consider (Staudinger amp Baltes 1996 p 762)

Participants reflected on these questions for a while before they responded by thinking

aloud Their thinking-aloud answers were tape recorded During both the reflection time

and the answering time the interviewer left the room so that participants felt less

constrained in talking about private issues The responses were transcribed and then rated

by 10 raters on five criteria (one criterion for each rater two raters per criterion) which

were developed based on Balteslsquo life-span theory and other cognitive psychologistslsquo

conceptions about the nature of cognitive development and problem solving in highly

complicated and ecological tasks (Staudinger Baltes amp Smith 1994)

The criteria of excellence (expertise) in fundamental pragmatics of life are a two-tiered

family the first level is rich factual (declarative) and procedural knowledge about the

fundamental life pragmatics includes life planning life management and life review the

second level is meta-criteria including understandings of lifespan contextualism

relativism of values and life priorities recognition and management of uncertainty

Factual knowledge includes knowledge of ―human nature life-long development

variations in developmental processes and outcomes interpersonal relations social

norms critical events in life and their possible constellations as well as knowledge about

the coordination of the well-being of oneself and that of others (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 125) Procedural knowledge involves ―strategies and heuristics for dealing with

the meaning and conduct of lifemdashfor example heuristics for giving advice and for the

structuring and weighing of life goals ways to handle life conflicts and life decisions and

knowledge about alternative back-up strategies if development were not to proceed as

expected (p 125) Lifespan contextualism refers to knowledge ―that considers the many

themes and contexts of life (eg education family work friends leisure the public good

of society etc) their interrelations and cultural variations and in addition incorporates a

4

lifetime temporal perspective (p 125-126) Relativism of values and life priorities refers

to ―acknowledgment of and tolerance for value differences and the relativity of the values

held by individuals and society (p 126) Finally the recognition of and management of

uncertainty describes an awareness of ―(a) the validity of human information processing

itself is essentially limited (constrained) (b) individuals have access only to select parts

of reality (c) the future cannot be fully known in advance (p 126)

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm

Charlotte Mickler and Ursula M Staudinger (2008) argued that general wisdom

concerning life in general as measured in the traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm was

different from Personal Wisdom which is an individuallsquos insight into his or her own life

In the Personal Wisdom paradigm the participants think aloud about themselves as a

friend such as their typical behaviors as a friend and their actions in difficult situations

The procedure was similar to that in the traditional Berlin wisdom paradigm however

the transcripted responses were rated on the Personal Wisdom criteria developed based on

the Berlin Wisdom criteria and conceptions of personality maturity in psychology

The Personal Wisdom criteria include two basic criteria (p 788) ―Self-knowledge (deep

insight into oneself and onelsquos own life) ―Growth and self-regulation (heuristics that

helps one to cope with various difficult and challenging situations and to learn from

them) and three meta-criteria ―Interrelating the self (an awareness of the contextual

embeddedness of onelsquos behavior feelings or both and onelsquos biographical embeddedness

dependency on others and the interrelatedness of different self-domains) ―Self-

relativism (―critically appraise their own behavior without losing a basic level of self-

esteem) and ―Tolerance of ambiguity (―ability to recognize and manage the

uncertainties in onelsquos own life and onelsquos own development)

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms

The traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm is a 3rd person perspective wisdom measure

which is not relevant to the participantslsquo personal life and thus not emotionally-engaging

In fact wisdom cannot exist independently of individuals (Ardelt 2004) On the other

5

hand the Personal wisdom paradigm is a 1st-person perspective wisdom measure

Therefore it may be vulnerable to the participantslsquo social desirability and inaccuracy in

self-judgment or self-serving bias Furthermore there is no measurement of emotional

components of wisdom in any of these two paradigms

22 Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale

Based on Clayton and Birrenlsquos definition of wisdom Monika Ardelt (2003 2004)

proposed that wisdom was the integration of cognitive reflective and affective

personality traits Ardelt critiqued the Berlin Wisdom paradigmlsquos definition of wisdom as

some kind of expert knowledge she believes that wisdom cannot exist independently of

individuals (Ardelt 2004) In contrary Baltes and his colleagues proposed that wisdom is

about the fundamental truth of life which is very difficult for a person to grasp (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000)

Ardelt developed a self-reportself-assessment scale to measure wisdom The participants

indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or ―strongly agree

to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree There are 39 items in three-

dimensional wisdom scale 14 for the cognitive dimension 12 for the reflective

dimension and 13 for the affective dimension (Ardelt 2003 2004) (see Appendix 1) The

cognitive dimension embodies the desire to know the truth a deep understanding of life

(eg ―Ignorance is bliss (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item and relativistic thinking

(eg ―People are either good or bad (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item) The reflective

dimension includes self-examination self-awareness and self-insight (eg ―Things often

go wrong for me by no fault of my own (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) as well as

the ability to perceive a phenomenon from different perspectives (eg ―Before criticizing

somebody I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place (Ardelt 2003 p

317)) and ―transcendence from self-projections and self-serving bias (eg ―I either get

very angry or depressed if things go wrong (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) Lastly

the affective dimension refers to sympathy and compassion for others (eg ―Sometimes I

feel a real compassion for everyone (Ardelt 2003 p 318))

Below is a detailed list of the sub-dimensions of the three wisdom dimensions (Ardelt

6

unpublished documentation authorized by Ardelt) ―

Cognitive dimension

1 Ability and willingness to understand a situation or phenomenon thoroughly

2 Acknowledgement of ambiguity complexity and uncertainty in life

3 Ability to make important decisions despite lifelsquos unpredictability and uncertainties

Reflective dimension

1 Ability and willingness to look at phenomena and events from different perspectives

2 Absence of subjectivity and projections

Affective dimension

1 Presence of positive and caring emotions toward others

2 Absence of indifferent or negative emotions toward others

3 Motivation to nurture the well-being of others

Ardeltlsquos method is also a 1st person perspective measure while self-report measure of

wisdom may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception

(Staudinger Gluck 2011) In fact a positive association between impression

management and scores on some items in Ardeltlsquos scale was demonstrated in a survey

(Taylor Bates amp Webster 2011)

23 ldquoMORErdquo model

Focused on the development of wisdom Gluumlck and Bluck (2012) proposed the MORE

model of wisdom embodying four resources of wisdom

1 A Sense of Mastery belief in onelsquos ability of handling life challenges

2 Openness awareness of multiple perspectives on a phenomenon interests in ―learning

7

from new perspectives and from other people (p 9)

3 Reflective Attitude ―willingness to look at life issues in a complex way (p 10)

4 Emotion RegulationEmpathy ―ability to deal with otherslsquo feelings effectively and

―reach out to others through empathetic concern (p 12)

The model is still under development Gluumlck and Bluck suggested a longitudinal survey

to explore the developmental dynamics between MORE resources and life experiences

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models

In general Western researchers proposing these models may be implicitly influenced by

Western culture characterized by Greek philosophy and Christian religion Furthermore

these models have been mainly applied to Western participants growing up in a Western

cultural background which has significantly influenced the scientific understanding of

wisdom (for reviews see Bangen et al 2013 Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013 Sternberg amp

Jordan 2005) Little is known about the conception of wisdom in other social-cultural

contexts Therefore we are not sure if these models are relevant for other cultural groups

It could be relevant because wisdom is a universal quality of human life or irrelevant

the structure of wisdom is cultural-specific because culture influences wisdom

conception which further influences wisdom development

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds

Most of the existing studies in non-western cultures have targeted a particular wisdom

tradition such as Levittlsquos (1999) qualitative study of Tibetan Buddhist monks which

found that wisdom was defined as examination of reality understanding of ―true self

and being altruistic to others or focused on a particular explicit theory of wisdom such

as Grossmann and his colleagueslsquo (2012) cross-culture study on Japanese and Americanslsquo

wise decision making which found that American (not Japanese) performed better with

increasing age

8

In general wisdom researchers in Eastern cultures believe that culture significantly

shapes conception of wisdom (Brezina amp Oudenhoven 2012) Ivan Brezina and Jan

Pieter Van Oudenhoven examined the conception of wisdom among five different

nations Ecuador (predominantly Christian) India (predominantly Hindu) and the

predominantly Muslim countries Indonesia Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

They showed the participants different items each of which describes an individual

characteristic and the participants indicated their agreement with its relatedness to

wisdom The factor analysis results revealed three primary factors underlying the concept

of wisdom ―serenity referring to detachment from emotion and material

―determination reflecting reflection upon oneself and persistence in difficulties and

―altruism defined as selflessness Moreover they found that effect of national culture

was more significant than an effect of religion upon the conception of wisdom However

their research method has a shortcoming in that the researchers own conception of

wisdom rather than that of the local population was examined Therefore the

similarities between the wisdom conception among the participants and that identified in

Western studies could be caused by the unconscious impact of the abundant Western

wisdom research literature upon the researchers Moreover the participants were all

immigrants who had already experienced a different social culture that may influence

their conception of wisdom

Nevertheless the idea that the Eastern conception of wisdom differs from the Western

conception was confirmed by other studies exploring implicit theories of wisdom in

Eastern cultures For example a survey in several Asian countries (India Indonesia

Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates) revealed that their conceptions of wisdom were

more related to many aspects of personal characters compared with that in Western

cultures (Ivan amp Alojz 2010) a survey on American Australian Indian and Japanese

revealed that Western conception of wisdom emphasized cognitive dimension while

Eastern conception both cognitive and affective dimensions (Takahashi amp Bordia 2000)

4 Chinese culture

It is not easy to define culture For my thesis culture is defined as beliefs about human

9

life commonly shared by a group of people which are influenced by their philosophy

religion literature history politics economy etc For example Chinese culture is well-

known for its characteristic Confucianism (Winfield Mizuno amp Beaudoin 2000)

However Chinese culture is influenced not only by Confucianism but also by Daoism

Buddhism and other schools of philosophy For example the Legalist School argues that

governments should build on strict and established laws instead of morality proclaimed

by Confucians Mohism advocates indiscriminating love iron will and strict discipline

denounces all kinds of offensive wars admires noble talents worships ghosts and

heaven Mohism agrees with Confucianism upon advocating virtues such as humaneness

and righteousness however Mohism emphasizes simplicity and austerity denouncing the

complicated rituals and rites advocated in Confucianism (Feng 1983)

Nevertheless Confucianism Daoism and Buddhism are usually regarded as the most

important Chinese traditions (Peng 2007) The most important figures for Confucianism

are Confucius (551 - 479BC) and Mencius (372 - 289BC) for Daoism Lao-tzu a

mysterious historic figure (Sima 1939) and Chuang-Tzu (369 - 286 BC) Buddhism was

founded by Buddha Gautama (around 300 BC) in India entered China in the latter part of

the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and gradually merged with the Chinese local culture

(Hardy 2014) There are numerous teachings and endless debates about these three

traditions among the experts in Chinese philosophy however these three traditions

merged into one around the time of Song dynasty (96 - 1279) (Feng 1983) Hence most

Chinese are influenced by all these traditions

Here I have only chosen some basic tenets of these three traditions with which most

Chinese will have an understanding

41 Confucianism

According to Confucianism everybody should be unified in virtue (eg Humaneness amp

Righteousness仁义) for Harmonious interpersonal relationship especially within family

and States For example Confucius said ―Do not impose on others what you yourself do

not desire (chapter 122) ―A benevolent man helps others to take their stand in so far as

he himself wishes to take his stand and gets others there in so far as he himself wishes to

10

get there (chapter 630) (Lau 1979)

Confucians emphasize interpersonal connection For example Mengzi persuaded kings to

unify the turbulent China at that time through compassion and actions to fulfill

compassion (Confucius amp Mencius 2007) Xunzi believes that social cooperation and

rites distinguish man from the animals (Feng 1983) Correspondingly many Chinese

scholars believe that Chinese emphasize on interpersonal-relationship more than

Westerners do (eg Zhu amp Han 2008 Gu amp Guo 2015)

42 Daoism

According to Daoism everything is unified in ―Dao the eternal way of natureuniverse

Daoism teaches man to model on nature For example Lao Tzu said ―Man models

himself on Earth Earth on Heaven Heaven on the Way and the Way on that which is

naturally so (Lau 1963 chapter 25)

In nature cause and effect influence each other cause and effect are connected in one

process the eternal way The founder of Daoism Lao Tzu said ―Being and Non-being

produce each other (Lau 1963 chapter 2) Here ―Being and ―Non-being are cause

and effect of each other in fact Daoism does not distinguish cause from effect

Man is an integral part of universe rather than a Subject independently of observed

Objects The distinction between subject and object in Western philosophy remained

unchallenged until Heidegger argued that there is no such thing as an observing subject

that is unaffected by the external world of observed things (Gu amp Guo 2015)

Correspondingly Daoism proclaims that a person should forget self especially desires of

self so that the person would have pure perception of the world and freedom in this

universe

43 Chinese Buddhism

When Buddhism spread to China there were the Theravada and Mahayana traditions

However due to the influence of the existing Chinese traditions especially Confucianism

and Daoism the Theravada tradition faded away within a short period of time whereas

11

Mahayana tradition gradually merged into Chinese culture and came to dominate Chinese

Buddhism (Group 2003)

According to Chinese Buddhism all the Beings Non-Beings and relationships between

BeingsNon-Beings are unified with the Universal Mind Buddha Buddha says ―Banruo

Boruomi (Buddha 2007) Banruo is wisdom like a hard and pure diamond piercing

through illusions and reach the world of truth namely Boruomi

Everything is transient interdependent and void (no-self) only a manifestation of mind

one needs to realize the original identification with the Universal Mind and replace non-

enlightenment with enlightenment to escape the endless transmigration of cause and

effect This extrication is called nirvana (Feng 1983)

The ―Enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism is different from the ―Cognition framed in

Western culture Because men are already unified with Buddha enlightenment is a

process of self-realization of this fact and the unspeakable wisdom is deep in the mind

whereas in Christianity men are separated from God salvation is from Christ and the

gospel needs to be proclaimed Moreover in Buddhism essence and appearance are one

man should not cling to anything However most Western philosophers (eg Plato)

believe that essence is different from appearance (Gu amp Guo 2015)

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy

In general Chinese philosophies emphasize connections and try to unify everything into

one In space everything is unified in one unit (individuals in society or BeingsNon-

beingsrelationships in universe) in time every event is in one process In contrary

western philosophies concern themselves more with atoms in space or cause and effect

in time (Gu amp Guo 2015) Correspondingly Eastern understandings of wisdom

emphasize both analytical and synthetic domains whereas only analytical domains in

Western understandings (Takahashi 2000)

However most Mainland Chinese nowadays may be unfamiliar or disagree with these

profound Chinese philosophies due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China

12

in modern history

5 Modern history of China

Since the painful collision with Western culture in the First Opium War (1839-42)

Mainland of China has undergone a series of historic events that may seriously affect the

transmission of Chinese traditions In general numerous defeats by foreigners especially

Westerners helped Chinese people to reflect upon their own traditions and begin to

realize that Chinese culture is not superior to other cultures especially Western culture

Thus they began to critique their own culture and learn from people in other cultures

especially the Westerners (science philosophy politics etc) It should be noted that

Communism was also from the West and the Communists have governed Mainland of

China (not Taiwan) since 1949

A brief account of modern history of China is given below It should be noted that the

historical account is inevitably biased due to the authorlsquos education life experience

political beliefs etc Nevertheless I endeavor to present a history that is probably known

by most Mainland Chinese

51 Before the Cultural Revolution

A history textbook in Mainland of China will claim that China was repeatedly invaded by

foreigners at the beginning of the modern period (see Ministry of Education in China

2003) The British navy easily defeated China in the First Opium War of 1839 and in

1860 Beijings Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned to the ground by British

and French troops in 1895 Taiwan was ceded to Japan after Chinalsquos defeat in the Battle

of the Yellow Sea in 1900 European powers along with the United States Russia and

Japan seized Beijing coercing the Qing government into paying them 675 million

pounds in indemnity and signing protocols unfair for China (Weatherley amp Rosen 2013)

Angered by its weakness and corruption the Mainland Chinese populace mdashled by Dr

Sun Yat-sen founder of the Chinese Nationalist Partymdash overthrew the Qing government

in 1911 (Fairbank Twitchett amp Feuerwerker 1986) However Sun Yat-sen was unable to

create a government capable of controlling the political situation in Mainland of China

13

Warlords supported by different foreign powers fought against each other leading

Mainland of China into seemingly endless turbulence Eventually Sun Yat-sen built the

Nationalist Partylsquos own army and allied with the Chinese Communist party and the

USSR was preparing to defeat the warlords and reunify China when Sun Yat-sen died

suddenly in 1925 (about the time the oldest of the older generation participants in study 2

was born)

Fulfilling Sun Yat-senlsquos dream the Northern Expedition began from Guangzhou in 1926

the Nationalist Party established its Capital in Nanjing in April 1927 confronting the

Beiyang Government established by the warlords in Beijing In 1928 the Nationalist

party captured Beijing and the warlord in the Northeast of China subsequently declared

his loyalty to the Nanjing government and the Northern Expedition ended however the

Chinese Nationalist Party and Chinese Communist Party had turned against each other

since 1927 and the war between these two parties went on In 1931 the Communist party

established its capital in Ruijin (a Hakka city in the south of China) defying the Nanjing

government in the same year the Japanese invaded Mainland of China The Japanese

had conquered the whole of Northeast China by 1932

In 1936 the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party decided to end

the civil war and join forces to fight against the Japanese The war against the Japanese

was extremely difficult almost one third of Mainland of Chinalsquos territory had been

invaded by Japan (including Beijing which was captured by the Japanese in 1937 and

was not reclaimed until 1945 by the Nationalist party) After Japan surrendered and

returned Taiwan to China in 1945 civil war in China between the Chinese Nationalist

Party and the Chinese Communist Party resumed almost immediately The Communist

Party captured Beijing from the Nationalist party in January 1949 and on October 1st of

the same year the leader of the Communist Party Mao Zedong announced the foundation

of Peoplelsquos Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing In December 1949 Chiang Kai-shek

with his government fled to Taiwan (Fairbank et al 1986) (This was about the time the

youngest of the older generation participants in study 2 was born) Taiwan has been

separated from the Mainland of China since that time

14

After another difficult war in Korea against the United States and its allies (1950-1953)

(for the details see Blair 1987) the Mainland Chinese Communist Party launched

communist reform throughout Mainland of China Communist ideology was proclaimed

private businesses were appropriated as national assets lands were taken from the

landlords and divided among peasants and collective farms were built (MacFarquhar

1991) Chairman Mao wished to build a socialist country for the proletariat however

after he retired from the position of Chairman in 1959 he was disappointed to find

traditional ideas reappear in contemporary literature and the Communist Party suffered

from corruption and bureaucracy Nevertheless these realities did not diminish Maolsquos

―communist dream instead he launched the Cultural Revolution (MacFarquhar 1991)

52 Cultural Revolution

From its beginning in 1966 to its end ten years later the Cultural Revolution is

considered Mainland of Chinalsquos most turbulent time after the founding of the Peoplelsquos

Republic (MacFarquhar 1991) The reason for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

is still debatable but many historians believe that Mao wanted to prevent bureaucracy

revisionism and capitalism that he thought was developing in Khrushchevlsquos USSR

(MacFarquhar 1991) Mao was especially skeptical of the ―deterioration of the central

communist leaders such as Chairman Liu Shaoqi (whom Mao suspected of revisionism

he was persecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution)

Besides many communist leaders numerous innocent scholars who were (or seemed)

unenthusiastic about Maolsquos communist ideology were persecuted during the Cultural

Revolution by Maolsquos loyal followers the ―Red Guards mostly made up of passionate

youths (MacFarquhar 1991) The Red Guards considered Maolsquos Quotations (―Red

Precious Book 「红宝书」) almost as a sacred text and were strongly against anything

related to traditional ideologies such as Confucianism Daoism or Buddhism They were

responsible for the destruction of many national treasures and historic art

Chinese culture and education suffered most during the Cultural Revolution and its

impact has been believed to be long-lasting (MacFarquhar 1991) The youthful spirit of

the Cultural Revolution differed from Chinese tradition in many ways First it was a

15

dictatorship of the proletariat not the aristocracy Second soldiers were respected while

scholars were belittled Traditional literati were usually peaceful gentle and even soft

(Stokstad 2005) while Mao (although a poet) valued military strategy resorting to

violent revolution to tackle social problems He proclaimed that political power come

from military strength (Mao 1972) In fact popular support from the Peoplelsquos Liberation

Army (PLA) was an important basis for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

Finally Marxist materialism was proclaimed while the traditions such as Confucianism

Daoism and Buddhism were roundly denounced

Unfortunately the Cultural Revolution degenerated into chaos (MacFarquhar 1991) In

1971 Maolsquos long-time comrade and chosen successor Marshal Linmdashwho had

enthusiastically supported the Cultural Revolution (at least on the surface)mdashbetrayed

Mao (MacFarquhar 1991) In 1975 one year before Maolsquos death and the de facto end of

the Cultural Revolution Mao wrote his last poem in which he said ―At that time

anxious about our motherland we comrades were not afraid of being beheaded Now the

whole country is red (communist) but who can guard it The work has not finished yet

my body is tired my hair is white How can you be hardhearted enough to let our life-

long dream be gone with the river (Mao 1996)

53 After the Cultural Revolution

Although repeatedly attacked Deng Xiaoping survived the Cultural Revolution to launch

economic reform his ―Reform and Opening started in 1978 has generated rapid

economic growth in Mainland of China since the 1980s (MacFarquhar 1991) The

Cultural Revolution was officially decried The public image of Mao became much more

realistic especially after Denglsquos compromising comments on Maolsquos life his

achievements before the foundation of Peoplelsquos Republic of China and his mistakes in his

late life especially during the Cultural Revolution Moreover Confucianism Daoism

and Buddhism are increasingly appreciated as demonstrated by the growing popularity of

the books about Chinese traditions such as Confucianism (eg Yu 2006) Meanwhile

religions such as Christianity Buddhism and Taoism are recovering after the loosening of

earlier restrictions put in place by the Communist Party (Yang 2006)

16

There are many fundamental changes in current society of Mainland China

First new social classes such as owners of private companies emerged after the

economic reform changing the previous simply layered social structure made up of

famers workers and scholars Meanwhile cooperation rather than conflict between

different classes is emphasized (Lu 2004) Consistently social interaction and social

relationship (关系) are increasingly appreciated The social ability of modern Mainland

Chinese youths is believed to be higher than that of their parents (Huang Deng Chen amp

Lu 2009) However this 关系 also has negative implications For example people who

have connections with governing officials such as the politicianslsquo relatives usually get

advantages in the competition of the immature markets and occupy most social resources

Corruption among the political officials moreover is commonplace Correspondingly

the current income levels in current China are overwhelmingly imbalanced the managers

form the top class of Mainland Chinese society which according to surveys in Shenzhen

and Hefei (Lu 2004) earn 15 times of the income of the workmen who are at the bottom

of the social hierarchy and are often belittled This situation is totally different from that

in Maolsquos age when workmen formed the upper class and were greatly respected Second

knowledge and techniques especially scientific knowledge and techniques are becoming

more and more important Therefore scholars and scientists are more and more

respected Third with the opening up of Mainland China to the outside world Mainland

Chinese society is becoming more and more international and multi-cultural art

literature and philosophy have been flooding into Mainland of China from Hong Kong

Taiwan Korea Japan the United States etc This trend is intensified by the prevalence of

the internet all over China Fourth the one-child policy was implemented Most youths

are the only child or of just one of two children in a family and thus enjoy a luxury of

resources that had not been available to their parents

With such dramatic changes in society there are tremendous gaps between the mentalities

of current Mainland Chinese youths and their parents they are much more

individualistic open-minded critical adventurist and fact-based (not as interested in

theory and ideology as their parents once were during Maolsquos age) legally conscious

interested in public affairs but not so much in social morality caring about the protection

17

of the environment fond of fun rather than being serious (Huang et al 2009) Western

ideas such as freedom and democracy are much more appreciated meanwhile some

negative values such as worshiping financial power and material consumption are also

more common among current Mainland Chinese youth than among their parents

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture

Wisdom studies in non-Western cultures mostly involve Japan and India Very little has

been done in China The Berlin Wisdom criteria were applied in a study to rate a

Mainland Chinese citylsquos elderly peoplelsquos psychological adaptation level which was

found to be significantly positively correlated with their life satisfaction (Weidong 2006)

An opinion paper discussed differences between Chinese and Western practical wisdom

in management and concluded that both value compassion (Opdebeeck amp Habisch

2011) a survey on the wit and wisdom of Mainland Chinese tour guides merely

illustrated tour guideslsquo practical wisdom which was barely a necessary ingredient of a

good life (Dioko Harrill amp Cardon 2013) Bang and Zhou (2014) studied how Ardeltlsquos

(2003) Three-dimensional wisdom Scale related to development of ego identity among

Mainland Chinese undergraduate university students and identified a positive correlation

None of these studies has been specifically focused on wisdom among Mainland Chinese

Yang (2001 2007 2008a 2008b 2008c 2014a) has studied the conception of wisdom in

Chinese culture in depth Yang chose 智慧 as the corresponding Chinese word for

―wisdom and reviewed the development of the meaning of 智慧 in Chinese history 智

慧 is mostly about personal characters especially about cognitive ability and judgments

With the spread of Buddhism in China 智慧 incorporated the components of wisdom in

Hindu culture ability to transcend laws in universe and pierce through transient

phenomenon in this world in order to realize ultimate truth In modern Chinese language

智 and 慧 are very similar in meaning (see httpwwwzdicnet) 智 emphasizes

more intelligence wisdom and resourcefulness 慧 is closer to wisdom (Banruo) in

Buddhism

In an empirical study Taiwanese Chinese who had been nominated as wise exemplars

18

were asked to describe wise decisions and actions in their own lives (Yang 2008c)

Several common themes emerged 1 ―striving for common good by helping others and

making major contributions to society (n = 79 36) 2 achieving a satisfactory state of

life (n = 55 25) 3 developing and determining life paths (n = 37 17) 4 resolving

difficult problems at work (n = 30 14) and 5 doing the right thing in the face of

adversity (n = 19 9) (p 286) In another study Yang (2014b) measured wisdom

among Taiwanese Chinese by methods of other-rating transcripted interviews and self-

report survey in her model wisdom is a real-life process including three components

connected together cognitive integration amp action embodiment amp positive effects for self

and others Yanglsquos model is featured by Chinese philosophy traditions such as emphasis

on integration in space and connection of events in one process Moreover the

component ―action embodiment is missing in most Western models corresponding to

the difference between Chinese and Western philosophy traditions

Besides Yang Chen and his colleagues (Chen Cheng Wu amp Hsueh 2014) applied the

grounded theory method to study Taiwanese Chinese educatorslsquo interpersonal and

intrapersonal perspectives on wisdom and identified four core components of wisdom

―intrapsychic integration ―actions in service of problem solving and ideal

implementation and ―positive results and feedback and adjustments (p 425)

However these findings may not be generalized to Mainland Chinese due to the

difference of culture between Mainland of China and Taiwan Taiwan was ceded from

China to Japan for 50 years after 1895 and was influenced by Japanese culture (Yang

2008a) Moreover Taiwan was governed by Chinese Nationalist party which revived

Chinese traditions through many political and cultural events after 1949 whereas

Mainland of China was governed by the Chinese Communist party and experienced

communist reforms and the 10-year Cultural Revolution attacking Chinese traditions

(MacFarquhar 1991)

19

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth

1 Introduction

11 Choosing Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese

Due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China through the modern history (see

Chapter 1 Section 6) the culture in Mainland of China could be very different from that

in Taiwan Therefore a prototype of wisdom among Mainland Chinese may be different

from that among Taiwanese Chinese Bang and Zhou (2014) believed that a prototype of

wisdom in Chinese culture was congruent with that in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model thus they

conducted a survey among some Mainland Chinese with the three-dimensional wisdom

scale However factor analysis identified a four dimensional structure (Non-dualistic

thinking ―Perspective-taking ―Non-resentment ―Empathy)

In order to test whether Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model or Bang and Zhoulsquos

four-dimensional wisdom model could represent wisdom among Mainland Chinese a

self-report wisdom measure was conducted among 100 Mainland Chinese youth

12 Validity tests of Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure

In order to test whether a wisdom measure is valid researchers could propose several

correlates of wisdom based on theories If the wisdom correlates measured by some

established measurements are significantly correlated with the wisdom measured then

the wisdom measurelsquos validity is testified For our study we chose four wisdom

correlates cognitive intelligence emotional intelligence empathy and prosocial

personality traits (high extroversion low psychoticism and low neuroticism) for reasons

below

Studies of implicit theories of wisdom in North America (ie the lay peoplelsquos theory of

wisdom) revealed that cognitive ability and reasoning were regarded as the most

important factors underlying wisdom (Sternberg 1990) Cognitive ability was found to

be one of the core themes of Western implicit theories of wisdom (Bluck amp Gluumlck 2005)

20

Besides cognitive ability wise people are thought to be good at understanding otherslsquo

emotions (Stange amp Kunzmann 2009) Adams (1998) simply regarded ―wisdom as the

classical version of ―emotional intelligence In a previous study a positive correlation

between wisdom measured by three-dimensional wisdom scale and emotional

intelligence measured by Wong and Lawlsquos emotional intelligence scale was

demonstrated and the effect of wisdom on happiness was reduced to emotional

intelligence (Zacher McKenna amp Rooney 2013) However wisdom should not be

reduced to emotional intelligence because emotional intelligence does not guarantee pro-

social personality as we see in some highly emotionally-intelligent criminals (Hampson

2012) and sly Nazi politicians (Shirer 2011) Understanding of otherslsquo suffering does not

necessary lead to compassion for others Therefore other-related wisdom defined as

empathic Concern for Others (Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013) is often added as an

important attribute for distinguishing wisdom from individual intelligence

Wisdom is interpreted by many researchers as a combination of intelligence and

character the ability to strive for the welfare of individuals and communities and the

willingness to do it (Pasupathi 2001 Stange amp Kunzmann 2009 Staudinger Doumlrner amp

Mickler 2005) Therefore we hypothesized that wise people not only possessed high

cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence but also empathy toward others and

prosocial personality traits such as low psychoticism low neuroticism and high

extroversion

2 Hypotheses

Reliabilities of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale as well as the subscales of

cognitive reflective and affective dimensions of wisdom should be ideal because

wisdom among Mainland Chinese embodies cognitive reflective and affective

components as hypothesized in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model

If Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional scale were valid for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese the wisdom score should be positively correlated with cognitive intelligence

emotional intelligence empathic concern and prosocial personality traits measured by

scales whose reliability and validity among Mainland Chinese were established in

21

previous studies eg Raven Matrix Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence scale the

Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Mainland Chinese

version of the shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the Ethic Committees at Zhejiang Normal

University and the University of Toronto

31 Participants

Ninety-seven Mainland Chinese undergraduate students (46 males aged from 18 to 23

years M = 1971 SD =119 years) at Zhejiang Normal University Jinhua Chinamdash a city

with a population of 5361600 at the 2010 census (―Jinhua 2014) Twelve were

Buddhists 3 were Christians 1 was Muslim 1 was favorable towards all kinds of

religious belief and the other 79 were atheists

32 Material

321 Visual basic program

All the items and pictures used in the scales and tests were presented on a computer one

by one in a home-made Visual Basic Program This program not only made the

characters easily readable but also prevented potential influence between adjacent scale

items

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS)

All the instructions and items were translated into Chinese and then reverse-translated to

English by native Mainland Chinese speakers and compared for accuracy to the original

English items by native English speakers The discrepancy was then corrected and this

double-reverse translation procedure repeated until the Chinese version scale was

consistent with the English version scale

22

For more details of this scale see Chapter 1 Section 23

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS)

The Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) includes four subscales self-

emotion appraisal other-emotion appraisal utilization of emotion and regulation of

emotion scales (Law Wong amp Song 2004) Each subscale has four items Self-emotion

appraisal and other-emotion appraisal refer to the abilities to understand emotion of self

and others respectively Utilization of emotion refers to utilizing emotion of self to guide

actions Regulation of emotion refers to controlling emotion of self The participants rate

the accordance of the description in the items to themselves on a 5-point scale

A previous study in China has demonstrated that the WLEIS was a better predictor of job

performance than the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test developed in

the US (Law Wong Huang amp Li 2008) Besides the WLEIS was testified as reliable

among 680 Mainland Chinese university students (Li Saklofske Bowden Yan amp Fung

2012)

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)

This scale measures four aspects of empathy perspective taking fantasy empathic

concern and personal distress (Siu amp Shek 2005) There are 28 items altogether seven

items for each subscale The Perspective-Taking scale assesses the liability to

spontaneously adopting perspectives of others the Fantasy scale measures the liability to

transpose self imaginatively into the feelings and actions of fictitious characters The

Empathic Concern scale measures other-oriented feelings of sympathy and care for the

suffering individuals The Personal Distress scale measures self-oriented feelings of

personal anxiety and unease in tense interpersonal situations (Davis 1983) The

participants indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or

―strongly agree to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree

The scale was testified as reliable and valid among 580 Mainland Chinese participants

(Siu amp Shek 2005)

23

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

The Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) has 48 items 12

items for each of the following sub-scales Psychoticism Extroversion

Neuroticismemotional instability and LieSocial desirability scales Psychoticism is

tendency to develop a psychotic symptom or anti-social behaviors Extraversion is

tendency to be active in social activities Neuroticism or emotion stability measures

individualslsquo emotional instability and the tendency to develop negative feelings The Lie

scale contains questions on which individuals tend to lie for social desirability (Eysenck

amp Eysenck 1975) The items are questions about the participants and the participants

respond ―yes or ―no to these questions

This scale was testified as reliable and valid among 8637 Mainland Chinese participants

(Mingyi Guocheng Rongchun amp Shen 2000)

426 Progressive Raven Matrix

There are 35 Progressive Raven Matrix items altogether used in this study In each item

the participants need to identify the missing element that completes a pattern on a 33

matrix Raven Matrix was found to be reliable and valid in measuring cognitive

intelligence among several cultures including Chinese culture (Raven 2000)

33 Procedure

The following procedure was completed individually in the Psychology laboratory at

Zhejiang Normal University The participants were left alone in a quiet room to finish the

scales and tests

All the participants completed the three-dimensional Wisdom Scale and the WLEIS In

addition 31 participants (12 males 18 to 22 years M = 1958 years SD =113 years)

finished Progressive Raven Matrix another 66 participants (34 males 18 to 23 years M

= 1977 years SD =122 years) completed the Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal

Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Mainland Chinese version of the shortened Eysenck

personality scale (EPQ-RS) Considering fatigue effect the participants who finished

24

Raven Matrix were not instructed to finish IRI and EPQ-RS

4 Results

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

A reliability test was conducted for the three-dimensional wisdom scale and its subscales

based on the data from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs

alpha of the whole scale was 070 alpha of the cognitive dimension scale was 065 alpha

of the reflective dimension scale was 049 alpha of the affective dimension scale was

030 Therefore the inter-items reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a

whole was acceptable However inter-items reliability of neither the reflective nor

affective dimensional subscale was acceptable all r lt 060

The final score of the three-dimensional wisdom scale ranged from 245 to 392 (M =

320 SD = 026) cognitive wisdom ranged from 207 to 414 (M = 334 SD = 040)

An inter-item reliability analysis was also conducted to test the four-factor structure

proposed by Bang and Zhou Cronbachs alpha of ―Non-dualistic thinking items was

053 alpha of ―Perspective-taking items was 068 alpha of ―Non-resentment items was

037 alpha of ―Empathy items was 028 Therefore only the ―Perspective-taking

subscale has acceptable inter-items reliability the four-factor structure proposed by Bang

and Zhou was not confirmed

42 Factor analysis

Combining the 3DWS data in this study with another 3DWS data of 50 Mainland

Chinese youths (22 males aged from 20 to 30 M = 2404 SD =242) collected in

another study we got data of 148 Mainland Chinese youthslsquo three-dimensional wisdom

items scores Factor analysis using a principal axis factoring analysis (the same method

used by Bang and Zhou) and an oblique rotation method (Direct Oblimin) was conducted

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was acceptable (060) however the

factor analysis extracted 14 factors explaining only 500 variance Moreover the

25

rotation failed to converge in 25 iterations Therefore we quitted the exploratory factor

analysis

Later we fixed the number of factors at three however the extracted three factors only

explained a 198 variance And then we fixed the number of factors at four but the

extracted four factors only explained a 236 variance Therefore there may be more

than four factors that underlie the participantslsquo performance in Ardeltlsquo self reporting

three-dimensional wisdom scale

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores

The 31 participants who took the Raven Matrix test had solved 7 to 34 matrixes (M =

2126 SD = 671) Bivariate correlation analysis between the Raven Matrix test score and

the three-dimensional wisdom score revealed no significant correlation r = 016 p =

038

We hypothesized that cognitive dimension of wisdom should be positively correlated

with the Raven matrix score even if the total wisdom score was not so however the

correlation of the Raven score with the score on cognitive wisdom was also not

significant r = 022 p = 024

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale

A reliability test was conducted for the WLEIS scale and its subscales based on the data

from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs alpha of the total scale

was 080 alpha of ―self-emotion appraisal was 061 alpha of ―other-emotion appraisal

was 080 alpha of ―use of emotion was 075 alpha of ―regulation of emotion was 082

Therefore inter-items reliability of the whole scale and all the sub-scales were

acceptable

The score of the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale ranged from 238 to 475 (M

= 341 SD =041) the score of ―self-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 475 (M =

355 SD =056) the score of ―other-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 500 (M =

26

352 SD =060) the score of ―use of emotion ranged from 200 to 480 (M = 336 SD

=064) the score of ―regulation of emotion ranged from 100 to 500 (M = 320 SD

=066)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that the wisdom score was significantly positively

correlated with WLEIS score r = 047 p lt 0001 and with all the subscale scores all r gt

024 all p lt 005

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the ―perspective-taking scale was 064 the alpha of the ―fantasy

scale was 069 the alpha of the ―empathic concern scale was 059 and the alpha of the

―personal distress scale was 070 Therefore the ―empathic concern scalelsquos inter-item

reliability was marginally acceptable for calculating the ―empathic concern score and the

other scaleslsquo inter-item reliabilities were acceptable

The score of ―perspective-taking ranged from 229 to 457 (M = 338 SD =051)

―fantasy ranged from 157 to 471 (M = 337 SD =063) ―empathic concern ranged

from 229 to 471 (M = 346 SD =049) ―personal distress ranged from 157 to 457 (M

= 330 SD =053)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that score of ―fantasy and ―perspective taking

were significantly positively correlated with wisdom score r = 026 p = 0039 r = 046

p lt 0001 respectively Other correlations were not significant all p gt 005

46 Eysenck personality scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the Psychoticism scale was 021 the alpha of the Extroversion scale

was 071 the alpha of the Neuroticism scale was 075 the alpha of the LieSocial

desirability scale was 059 Therefore the inter-item reliabilities of the Extroversion and

Neuroticism scales were ideal for calculating the total scores and that of the LieSocial

desirability scale was marginally acceptable

27

The Extroversion score ranged from 0 to 12 (M =663 SD =337) the Neuroticism score

ranged from 1 to 12 (M = 695 SD = 291) the LieSocial desirability score ranged from

0 to 11 (M = 454 SD =224) The LieSocial desirability score was not significantly

positively correlated with the Extroversion or Neuroticism score all r lt 01 all p gt 005

Therefore the Extroversion and Neuroticism scores were not biased by social

desirability

Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that the Extraversion score was significantly

positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 036 p = 0003 whereas the

Neuroticism score was significantly negatively correlated with the wisdom score r = -

032 p = 0008 However it should be noted that the Liesocial desirability score was

significantly positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 026 p = 0037 but not

with any other self-report score (eg emotional intelligence empathy) all r lt 01 all p gt

005

5 Discussion

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model

Although the reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a whole was acceptable

(Cronbachs alpha = 070) the inter-items reliabilities of reflective wisdom and affective

wisdom were quite poor This result revealed that the three-factor structure of wisdom

proposed by Ardelt may not exist among Mainland Chinese Indeed Bang and Zhou

(2014) also failed to find a three-factor structure of wisdom Moreover the four-factor

structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was also not testified in our study Therefore a

different wisdom model may be necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese A qualitative method such as an implicit theory study of wisdom among

Mainland Chinese may be helpful for exploring the structure of wisdom among Mainland

Chinese which was fulfilled in Study 2 of this thesis

52 Validity test results

Our hypothesis about wisdom related to cognitive intelligence was not confirmed by the

correlation result Perhaps wisdom is more about cognition of grand objects (eg

28

meaning of life and human nature) and thus the ability to recognize the pattern of matrix

is not related to the cognitive dimension of wisdom In fact a previous study has shown

that an increase of crystalized intelligence a component of wisdom was not related to

fluid intelligence (Christensen Batterham amp Mackinnon 2013) Wisdom may be more

related to intelligence in the domains about life in general which is essentially different

from intelligence in other domains such as that measured by the Raven matrix

Our hypotheses about positive correlation of wisdom with emotional intelligence

empathy (―perspective taking ―fantasy) and prosocial personality traits

(―extroversion ―emotion stability) were confirmed by the correlation results (Note that

the social desirability score was not correlated with any of these wisdom correlates and

thus these significant correlations can not be accounted for by the effect of social

desirability) Overall our results suggested that wisdom was embodied in reasonably

handling emotion of self and others (appraising otherslsquo emotion utilizing and regulating

emotion emotional stability) and taking care of others taking otherslsquo perspectives

transposing oneself imaginatively into the feelings and actions of others (related to

―fantasy) and being active in social interaction (―extraversion) However no cause-

effect relation can be derived from these correlation results These factors could be either

the outcomes or the sources of wisdom Eg extraversion could be the outcome of

wisdom wiser people are more likely to interact with others because they appreciate

more about the value of social networking On the other hand extraversion could

contribute to wisdom social interaction provides individuals more opportunities for

learning from others Likewise emotional stability may be important for reflective

wisdom while emotional stability could be an outcome of wisdom Individuals of high

neuroticism may be weak at reflecting upon their self-images due to their easily irritable

temperament preventing them from accepting ideas harmful for their self-image while

wise people are not self-centralized and thus emotionally stable Finally all these

potential components of wisdom need to be integrated For example an extravert without

empathy for others may interact with others superficially without being aware of otherslsquo

inner feelings and thoughts and thus wonlsquot accumulate experience of some fundamental

life pragmatics in social life such as painful separation from a beloved person

29

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability

According to Confucianism a Superior Man should examine himself objectively

(Confucius 2009) however the liesocial desirability score was significantly positively

correlated with the score of three-dimensional wisdom This result corresponded to the

proposition of Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) that self-reported measurement of wisdom

may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception wise

individuals are arguably more accurate in self-reflection and thus score lower than those

unwise individuals who have positive bias in their self-reflection In fact a positive

correlation between impression management and scores on some items in the three-

dimensional wisdom scale was demonstrated in a previous study (Taylor Bates amp

Webster 2011) Therefore a method more objective than self-report such as performance

measure is necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland Chinese This problem

is tackled in Study 3 of this thesis

6 Conclusion

Emotional intelligence empathy emotion stability and extraversion were significantly

positively correlated with wisdom measured by Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

For Mainland Chinese wisdom may be embodied in the ability and willingness to

understand and regulate emotion of selves and others in social life However the

structure of wisdom was unclear neither the three-factor structure proposed by Ardelt nor

the four-factor structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was testified Moreover the self-

report wisdom score was significantly positively correlated with social desirability score

Therefore we probably need a different model and a performance measure for wisdom

measurement among Mainland Chinese

30

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

1 Introduction

In order to explore the structure of wisdom ie the potential wisdom components among

Mainland Chinese and build a Mainland Chinese Wisdom model the implicit theory of

wisdom among Mainland Chinese was examined

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners

The implicit theory of wisdom is about the lay peoplelsquos latent understanding of wisdom

or implicit conceptualization of ―wisdom Implicit theory studies typically use one of

two main approaches ―descriptor rating and ―nomination of exemplars (Bluck amp

Gluumlck 2005)

Descriptor rating studies of wisdom The earliest and still most common method of

research on implicit theories of wisdom uses attribute rating (eg Clayton amp Birren

1980 Holliday amp Chandler 1986 Jason et al 2001a Sternberg 1985) Participants first

list attributes they associate with wisdom that are then merged into a master list with

repetitions idiosyncrasies and synonyms removed the master list is then presented to a

second (often larger) sample of participants who rate each attribute for how central it is

to wisdom Multidimensional scaling is then used to extract underlying components from

ratings with dimensions labeled according to their characteristic attributes

Exemplar approaches to implicit theories of wisdom Another way of studying implicit

theories of wisdom is to ask people to nominate individual exemplars of wisdom (eg

Orwoll amp Perlmutter 1990 Takayama 2002) Nomination studies of wisdom ask people

to nominate someone they consider wise from history or from their personal

acquaintance Historical exemplars of wisdom are not universal For example Jewish

Canadians frequently nominated Gandhi as a historical exemplar of wisdom among a

wide range of political and intellectual figuresmdashmany of importance to Judaism like

Moses However Gandhi was nominated only once in Pakistan with 60 of participants

31

choosing the Prophet Mohammed (Ferrari Kahn Benayon amp Nero 2011)

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories

Gluumlck and Bluck (2005 see also Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011) identified five core themes

of Western implicit theories of wisdom in their careful review of all Descriptor rating

studies of wisdom completed to that time

1 Cognitive ability (profound knowledge amp reasoning about novel problems)

2 Insight (willingness and ability to ponder deeply on complex issues)

3 Reflective attitude (do think profoundly about self others and the world from many

different perspectives to be self-critical and not biased by emotion of self)

4 Concern for Others beyond close family and friends (self-transcendent concern and

compassion)

5 Problem-solving skills (applying knowledge to concrete problems)

Later Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) summarized these as core components of wisdom in

subjective theories and then added another three components of wisdom from some

expertslsquo subjective theories especially those for some self-report wisdom scales

Spirituality and connectedness to nature to be spiritual in life and enjoy a connection

with the divine and care for the natural environment (Jason et al 2001b) Emancipatory

nature of wisdom interests in self-critical reflection and autonomy and knowledge that

increases the freedom of the self and provides opportunities for self-development

(Sternberg 1990) Humor the ability to see comical components even in serious

situations (Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011)

13 This study

Given the shortcomings of self-report wisdom measure as demonstrated in study 1 we

conducted another study based on the secondary data from a previous study to explore the

potential factors underlying wisdom in Mainland Chinese culture The conceptions of

32

wisdom among two generations of Mainland Chinese were examined The older

generation had experienced the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when they were

emerging or middle-aged adults (18 to 42 years old in 1966) whereas the younger

generation was born after the Cultural Revolution As far as we know this is the first

study on the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese

As mentioned earlier Mainland China underwent the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-

1976) during which the traditional wisdom ideologies of Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism were fiercely denounced nationwide while Maolsquos Communist ideology was

proclaimed instead (Yang 2006) The Cultural Revolution provides a unique opportunity

to study an event that disrupted transmission of Chinese traditions People who lived

through this time may incorporate elements of communist ideology into their conceptions

of wisdom

2 Hypotheses

We hypothesized that people who had experienced the Cultural Revolution should have

an implicit theory of wisdom different from that among those born after the Cultural

Revolution conceptual wisdom components related to Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism should be less prevalent whereas conceptual wisdom components related to

Communism should be more prevalent among the older generation than among the

younger generation

Parallel hypothesis

Similar to all cross-section studies cohort effect is mixed with age effect and thus not

identifiable People who had experienced the Cultural Revolution may later learn the

revived traditions and become even more affected by these traditions due to their greater

experience of the revived traditions through age Therefore conceptual wisdom

components related to Chinese traditions may be more prevalent among the elders than

among the youths

33

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the ethics committee at the University of

Toronto

31 Participants

One hundred Mainland Chinese adults were interviewed in Beijing in 2008 half were

native-born Mainland Chinese elders living in the Beijing area (28 males aged from 60

to 84 M = 7166 SD =599) They were born between 1924 and 1948 and had

experienced the Cultural Revolution and were living independently or with family around

the time of interview Among them 15 participants had not finished high school 12

participants had high school or equivalent diploma 7 participants had some college

education and 16 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent degree one was Buddhist 1

was Muslim 16 named their religious affiliation as Communism and the other 32 did not

indicate any religious affiliation

The other 50 were students at Beijing Normal University (22 males aged from 20 to 30

M = 2404 SD =242) born between 1978 and 1988 after the Cultural Revolution which

ended in 1976 Among this generation 18 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent

degree 31 participants had a Masterlsquos degree and one participant a doctorate one was

Buddhist 1 was Muslim 2 were Christians and 2 named their religious affiliation as

Communism the other 44 did not indicate any religious affiliation

32 Material

Recorder printed ―Interview guide etc

33 Procedure

Participants were interviewed individually in a quiet room They nominated several

wisdom exemplars from among historic figures and their acquaintances and then

34

explained why they regarded the exemplars as wise how the wisdom exemplars had

become wise and what the definition of wisdom is The Mainland Chinese term used for

wisdom is the same as that in Yangs study with Taiwanese Chinese Zhi Hui (智慧)

(Yang 2008)

More specifically it included the following questions

(1) Please take a moment to think of the wisest person you know of in history among

your acquaintances Who is this person and what makes them so wise What is one story

you know about this person or one thing they said or did that shows them to be wise

We included the following probes ―What was wise about that What might some other

person have said or done We also asked ―Has this person affected or inspired you in

your own life Is it possible for you to become more like them Are there any wise

moments in your life

(2) Finally we asked about the participantslsquo own definition of wisdom ―Now that we

have had a chance to talk about it what is wisdom What does wisdom mean to you

The interviews were recorded and transcribed

The nomination of wisdom exemplars may reveal who had influenced the participantslsquo

conceptualization of wisdom The reasons for the participantslsquo nomination were arguably

determined by their conceptualization of wisdom We made this arrangement because the

conceptualization of wisdom is not easy for lay people to articulate and asking questions

relevant to wisdom before addressing their definition of wisdom could activate the

neural-network carrying information related to wisdom conceptualization However the

participants sometimes talked about something unrelated to their definitions of wisdom

which is inevitable because it is very difficult for common people to focus on the topic

―wisdom throughout the whole conversation Nevertheless when the participants

responded to our last question ie the definition of wisdom they were mostly focused

on their conceptualizations of wisdom Therefore we chose to code their responses to the

last question

In total 92 Mainland Chinese participants (47 male aged from 20 to 84 M = 4722 SD

35

=2408) reported their definition of wisdom including 47 youths (27 males 20 to 30

years M = 2409 years SD =246years) and 45 elders (20 males 60 to 84 years M =

7138 years SD =607years) Thematic analysis using a grounded theory method

allowed us to code these participantslsquo answers and discover common themes of the

Mainland Chinese participantslsquo definition of wisdom After these common themes were

found 2 Taiwanese Chinese research assistants coded the transcripts again and identified

all the common themes we found without discovering any new theme Finally a

codebook was developed based on these common themes and then two trained Mainland

Chinese coders coded the transcripts again according to this codebook Coder agreement

and Kappa values on each category of this codebook were analyzed just as in a previous

study (Gluumlck et al 2005) Disagreements were later resolved by discussion between

these coders and then the frequency of each category coded was calculated

4 Results

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants

Participants made a total of 180 nominations of historical wise exemplars nominating 64

historic figures The mostly frequently nominated historic wisdom exemplars were

political or military leaders (ie emperors presidents premiers civil officials and

generals) nominated by 74 participants The second most frequently nominated group of

historic wisdom exemplars were scholars (ie philosophers literary authors poets and

historians) nominated by 21 participants Following these two groups of historic wisdom

exemplars were scientists nominated by four participants and then religious leaders

nominated by three participants Buddha nominated by a Christian Jesus nominated by a

Buddhist Muhammad nominated by an atheist

The leaders were regarded by the participants as wise mostly for their personal abilities

and contribution to their society The leaderslsquo personal abilities included leadership in

military or political events talents in ruling organizations and states social interaction

organizational and leadership skills such as understanding otherslsquo mentality and

managing the talented persons The leaderslsquo contribution to their society included

36

recovering the order of the society and showing compassion for the poor The scholars

were regarded as wise mostly for their mentality cognitive ability cognitive traits

cognitive outcome (eg works of literature) and virtue teaching wisdom to the public

self-transformation and transcendent personalities The wisdom of leaders emphasized

more on changing the external world ie society whereas the wisdom of scholars on

transforming the internal world ie mind

Table 1 shows a chronological ranked ordering of the 24 historic figures who received at

least 2 nominations as wise exemplars (All other figures received only a single

nomination and thus was not reported here) It should be noted that 19 of these 24

nominees were Chinese 15 of the 24 were political or military leadersmdashsome dating

back over 2000 years to the unification of China as a centralized country by Qin Shi

Huang (260ndash210 BC) the first emperor of China mdash through to the 17th

c but then we

found a gap of almost 200 years until 6 leaders within living memory of the older

generation In addition to these political or military leaders 8 were scholars and only 1

was a religious figure (Muhammad)

37

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Wisdom Exemplarparticipants Youth Elder Total

Lao-tzu Legendary founder of Daoism Zhou dynasty (6th c BC) 2 0 2

Confucius (551ndash479 BC) Ancient educator and political advisor

founder of Confucianism

9 1 10

Plato (429ndash347 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Aristotle (384ndash322 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Emperor Qin [Shi Huang] (260ndash210 BC) First emperor Qin dynasty 3 4 7

Emperor Gaozu (256 or 247-195 BC) First emperor Han dynasty 1 1 2

Emperor Wu (156 ndash 87 BC) Seventh emperor Han dynasty 2 0 2

Sima Qian (145 or 135-86 BC) Ancient historian in Han dynasty 2 0 2

Cao Cao (155-220) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

1 2 3

Zhu Geliang (181-234) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

6 6 12

Muhammad (570 - 632) Prophet and founder of Islam 2 0 2

Emperor Taizong (598-649) Emperor Tang dynasty 3 3 6

Emperor Wu Zetian (624-705) A female emperor in Tang dynasty 1 1 2

Su Shi (1037-1101) Song Dynasty writer poet painter calligrapher

pharmacologist and statesman

4 0 4

Empress Xiao Chuang (1613-1688) Concubine of the Qing Dynasty

ruler Hong Taiji grandmother of Emperor Kangxi

2 0 2

Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) Fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty 3 3 6

Karl Marx (1818-1883) Philosopher 2 0 2

Marie Curie (1867-1934) Scientist 2 0 2

iv

Acknowledgments

Thanks to my parents on the other side of this planet always encouraging me to carry on in my

studies

Thanks to my supervisor Dr Michel Ferrari such a patient and gentle scholar knowledgeable in

many different fields and very supportive of my studies here at the University of Toronto

I also want to thank my thesis committee members Dr Earl Woodruff Dr Shih-ying Yang Dr

Xi Chen-Bumgardner and Dr Thao N Le on their advices and help with my thesis writing

Without their help I would not be able to have such precious ideas and thoughts embodied in this

thesis

Thanks to the staff at our department Applied Psychology amp Human Development such as Lisa

Chinchamie Marisa Freire and Jennifer OReilly some of them are no longer working in our

department but I will always remember their kindness and patience

Thanks to the University of Toronto for giving me such a precious opportunity to study in one of

the worldlsquos most multicultural and open-minded environments

Thanks to my supervisor for my Masterlsquos thesis Prf Genyue Fu and my friends such as

Qiandong Wang for their advices and supports for my Doctorate thesis studies

Thanks to all the participants raters and coders who participated in our studies especially the

middle-aged professor and editor Without their help this thesis could not be done

Finally I want to thank my dear friend Ethan Weare for his help with proofreading

v

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot iv

Table of Contents middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot v

List of Tables middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot xii

List of Figures middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot xiii

List of Appendices middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotxiv

Chapter 1 General introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

1 Definitions of wisdom middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm 1

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm 1

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm 4

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms 4

22 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale 5

23 ―MORE model 6

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models 7

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 7

4 Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 8

41 Confucianism 9

42 Daoism 10

43 Chinese Buddhism 10

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy 11

vi

5 Modern history of China middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 12

51 Before the Cultural Revolution 12

52 Cultural Revolution 14

53 After the Cultural Revolution 15

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 17

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

11 Choosing Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese 19

12 Validity tests of Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure 19

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 20

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 21

31 Participants 21

32 Material 21

321 Visual basic program 21

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS) 21

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) 22

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) 22

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) 23

426 Progressive Raven Matrix 23

33 Procedure 23

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 24

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom

scale 24

42 Factor analysis 24

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores 25

vii

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale 25

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale 26

46 Eysenck personality scale 26

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 27

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model 27

52 Validity test results 27

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability 29

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 29

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners 30

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories 31

13 This study 31

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 32

Parallel hypothesis 32

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 33

31 Participants 33

32 Material 33

33 Procedure 33

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 35

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 35

42 Generation difference in nomination 38

43 Acquaintance wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 41

44 Mainland Chinese implicit theory of wisdom 42

viii

441 ―Ability in Cognition related to the Western theme ―Cognitive Ability 42

442 ―Ability in Practice an extension of the Western theme ―Problem Solving

Skills 43

443 ―Concern for Others related to the Western theme ―Concern for Others

relevant to Confucianism 43

444 ―Eschewing-world Spirituality similar to the Western theme ―Insight but

framed in Chinese traditions 44

445 ―Positive Mindset missing in the Western implicit theory of wisdom

relevant to the historic turbulence 44

Others 45

45 Conceptual wisdom components and group difference 45

46 Relationship between wisdom exemplar nomination and conceptual wisdom

component 46

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 47

51 Personally known and historical exemplars of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

the generation difference 47

52 The implicit theory of wisdom among our Mainland Chinese participants and the

generation difference 48

53 Effects of Communist ideology on Wisdom conceptualization and Exemplars 53

54 Comparing the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese participants to

that among Westerners 54

55 Comparison between the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

that among Taiwanese Chinese 55

56 Comparing the Mainland Chinese wisdom model with Western wisdom models 56

561 Traditional Berlin Wisdom and Personal wisdom model 56

562 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model 57

563 ―MORE model 58

564 Brief Summary of these comparisons 58

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 59

ix

Chapter 4 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm a performance-based wisdom measure middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

11 Lack of emotional components in previous Berlin Paradigms 61

12 Innovative 2nd person wisdom measurement 63

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

31 Participants 65

32 Material 65

321 Berlin Wisdom paradigm vignettes 65

322 Berlin Wisdom manual (adapted) 65

323 Mainland Chinese wisdom manual 66

324 iMotions - Attention Tool FACET module (version 21) 67

325 Others 68

33 Procedure 68

34 Data analyses 69

341 Wisdom ratings 69

342 Facial expression analysis 69

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 72

41 Reliability of the Berlin and Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 72

42 Correlation between Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings

74

43 Correlation between performance-based and self-report wisdom measures 75

44 Validity test of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 75

441 Correlations with previous scores on wisdom correlates 75

442 Correlations with life satisfaction the following year 77

x

443 Conclusion 77

45 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 77

46 Thematic contents in participantslsquo responses 80

461 Life plan problem ―a friendlsquos unrealizable dream 80

462 Life review problem ―a teacherlsquos unrealized dream 81

463 Responses in the life plan problem rated highestlowest on BerlinMainland

Chinese wisdom rating 82

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 84

51 The role of experience in performance measure of wisdom 84

52 Berlin Wisdom rating was highly consistent with Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating

84

53 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 85

531 Measurement of emotional components of wisdom 85

532 Surprise and wisdom 86

533 Expression of negativepositive emotion may influence ratings on ―Ability in

PracticePositive Mindset 87

Chapter 5 General Discussion and Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

1 Concept of wisdom in a culture lay people VS philosophers middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

2 Universal Wisdom and cultural variation middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

3 Advantages of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 90

4 Limitation of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigmmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 91

5 Potential impacts on Western wisdom studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 92

51 Culture difference and universal wisdom model 92

52 Advantages of performance-based wisdom measure 93

53 The 2nd-person wisdom measure 94

6 General Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 95

xi

References middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 96

Appendicesmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 107

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items 107

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items 111

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm 113

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria 113

41 Criterion 1 Ability in Cognition认知能力 113

42 Criterion 2 Ability in Practice 实践能力 114

43 Criterion 3 Concern for Others 关心他人 115

44 Criterion 4 Eschewing-world Spirituality出世精神 116

45 Criterion 5 Positive Mindset 积极心态 118

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year 119

Copyright Acknowledgements middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 120

xii

List of Tables

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Table 2 Number of the participants mentioned each wisdom component in their definitions of

wisdom

Table 3 Rating of the participantslsquo performance in the life plan problem on each criterion

Table 4 Correlations between the ratings on Berlin and Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

Table 5 Correlations of the ratings on Chinese wisdom criteria with wisdom correlates

Table 6 Proportional time of each category of emotion in each scenario

xiii

List of Figures

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

Figure 2 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

Figure 3 A segment of a participantlsquos evidence value of surprise

xiv

List of Appendices

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year

1

Chapter 1 General introduction

1 Definitions of wisdom

Even though wisdom has become a topic of research in empirical psychology since the

last quarter of the 20th century there is still no scientific consensus on the definition of

wisdom (For a review of the definitions of wisdom see Bangen Meeks amp Jeste 2013)

Modern empirical psychologists generally view wisdom as a mature understanding and

conduct of life especially in difficult situations (Staudinger 2008) Two of the most

widely acknowledged definitions are the Berlin Wisdom researcherslsquo definition of

wisdom as expertise knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000) and Ardeltlsquos (2004) defining wisdom as an ideal type of character that

combines cognitive reflective and affective aspects of personality

Regardless of the difficulty in settling on a definition of it wisdom is believed to be an

important resource for a good life Wisdom provides insights and guidance for people to

lead a meaningful and happy life (Ferrari amp Potworowski 2008) In fact it may be

impossible to define wisdom semantically just as many scientific structures that can only

be represented in certain measures (see Giere 2009) a representation of the structure of

wisdom within a proper measurement may be the best a researcher can do Still this kind

of measurement is meaningful for many reasons both theoretical and practical

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm

The well-established Berlin Wisdom model defines wisdom as expertise and judgment

concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life and ―the pinnacle of insight into the

human condition and about the means and ends of a good life (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 122) rather than personality traits or individual abilities Staudinger (1996) has

further defined wisdom as a social interactive product Balteslsquo understanding of wisdom

2

might have been influenced by the Gestalt cognitive theory originating in Germanymdash

especially that of Koumlhler (1924) who believes that insight based on experience and

understanding of the structure of a situation was inherent to wisdom solving the

pragmatics in a creative way

Nevertheless the full model of the Berlin Wisdom paradigm (as shown in Figure 1) is not

simply about wisdom as expertise in life pragmatics but also about the ontogeny and

function of this life expertise (Baltes amp Smith 2008) Three factors are thought to be

associated with development maintenance and application of wisdom general person

factors (eg cognitive mechanics cognitive style mental health creativity and ego

strength) specific expertise-related factors (eg exposure to life scenarios and significant

life events motivation mentorship) and context (eg age cohort historical period

culture) Furthermore excellence in mind and virtue such as exceptionally good

judgment good advice insightful commentary about difficult and uncertain matters of

life and nonverbal behaviors associated with good conduct emotion regulation and

empathy in interpersonal and group contexts are regarded as necessary

manifestationoutcome of wisdom

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

3

Baltes and his colleagues measured wisdom through a think-aloud procedure testing the

participantslsquo responses in some hypothetical life-scenario situations such as the life-

planning life-monitoring and life-review problem for example ―In reflecting over their

lives people sometimes realize that they have not achieved what they had once planned

to achieve What should onethey do and consider (Staudinger amp Baltes 1996 p 762)

Participants reflected on these questions for a while before they responded by thinking

aloud Their thinking-aloud answers were tape recorded During both the reflection time

and the answering time the interviewer left the room so that participants felt less

constrained in talking about private issues The responses were transcribed and then rated

by 10 raters on five criteria (one criterion for each rater two raters per criterion) which

were developed based on Balteslsquo life-span theory and other cognitive psychologistslsquo

conceptions about the nature of cognitive development and problem solving in highly

complicated and ecological tasks (Staudinger Baltes amp Smith 1994)

The criteria of excellence (expertise) in fundamental pragmatics of life are a two-tiered

family the first level is rich factual (declarative) and procedural knowledge about the

fundamental life pragmatics includes life planning life management and life review the

second level is meta-criteria including understandings of lifespan contextualism

relativism of values and life priorities recognition and management of uncertainty

Factual knowledge includes knowledge of ―human nature life-long development

variations in developmental processes and outcomes interpersonal relations social

norms critical events in life and their possible constellations as well as knowledge about

the coordination of the well-being of oneself and that of others (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 125) Procedural knowledge involves ―strategies and heuristics for dealing with

the meaning and conduct of lifemdashfor example heuristics for giving advice and for the

structuring and weighing of life goals ways to handle life conflicts and life decisions and

knowledge about alternative back-up strategies if development were not to proceed as

expected (p 125) Lifespan contextualism refers to knowledge ―that considers the many

themes and contexts of life (eg education family work friends leisure the public good

of society etc) their interrelations and cultural variations and in addition incorporates a

4

lifetime temporal perspective (p 125-126) Relativism of values and life priorities refers

to ―acknowledgment of and tolerance for value differences and the relativity of the values

held by individuals and society (p 126) Finally the recognition of and management of

uncertainty describes an awareness of ―(a) the validity of human information processing

itself is essentially limited (constrained) (b) individuals have access only to select parts

of reality (c) the future cannot be fully known in advance (p 126)

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm

Charlotte Mickler and Ursula M Staudinger (2008) argued that general wisdom

concerning life in general as measured in the traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm was

different from Personal Wisdom which is an individuallsquos insight into his or her own life

In the Personal Wisdom paradigm the participants think aloud about themselves as a

friend such as their typical behaviors as a friend and their actions in difficult situations

The procedure was similar to that in the traditional Berlin wisdom paradigm however

the transcripted responses were rated on the Personal Wisdom criteria developed based on

the Berlin Wisdom criteria and conceptions of personality maturity in psychology

The Personal Wisdom criteria include two basic criteria (p 788) ―Self-knowledge (deep

insight into oneself and onelsquos own life) ―Growth and self-regulation (heuristics that

helps one to cope with various difficult and challenging situations and to learn from

them) and three meta-criteria ―Interrelating the self (an awareness of the contextual

embeddedness of onelsquos behavior feelings or both and onelsquos biographical embeddedness

dependency on others and the interrelatedness of different self-domains) ―Self-

relativism (―critically appraise their own behavior without losing a basic level of self-

esteem) and ―Tolerance of ambiguity (―ability to recognize and manage the

uncertainties in onelsquos own life and onelsquos own development)

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms

The traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm is a 3rd person perspective wisdom measure

which is not relevant to the participantslsquo personal life and thus not emotionally-engaging

In fact wisdom cannot exist independently of individuals (Ardelt 2004) On the other

5

hand the Personal wisdom paradigm is a 1st-person perspective wisdom measure

Therefore it may be vulnerable to the participantslsquo social desirability and inaccuracy in

self-judgment or self-serving bias Furthermore there is no measurement of emotional

components of wisdom in any of these two paradigms

22 Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale

Based on Clayton and Birrenlsquos definition of wisdom Monika Ardelt (2003 2004)

proposed that wisdom was the integration of cognitive reflective and affective

personality traits Ardelt critiqued the Berlin Wisdom paradigmlsquos definition of wisdom as

some kind of expert knowledge she believes that wisdom cannot exist independently of

individuals (Ardelt 2004) In contrary Baltes and his colleagues proposed that wisdom is

about the fundamental truth of life which is very difficult for a person to grasp (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000)

Ardelt developed a self-reportself-assessment scale to measure wisdom The participants

indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or ―strongly agree

to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree There are 39 items in three-

dimensional wisdom scale 14 for the cognitive dimension 12 for the reflective

dimension and 13 for the affective dimension (Ardelt 2003 2004) (see Appendix 1) The

cognitive dimension embodies the desire to know the truth a deep understanding of life

(eg ―Ignorance is bliss (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item and relativistic thinking

(eg ―People are either good or bad (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item) The reflective

dimension includes self-examination self-awareness and self-insight (eg ―Things often

go wrong for me by no fault of my own (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) as well as

the ability to perceive a phenomenon from different perspectives (eg ―Before criticizing

somebody I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place (Ardelt 2003 p

317)) and ―transcendence from self-projections and self-serving bias (eg ―I either get

very angry or depressed if things go wrong (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) Lastly

the affective dimension refers to sympathy and compassion for others (eg ―Sometimes I

feel a real compassion for everyone (Ardelt 2003 p 318))

Below is a detailed list of the sub-dimensions of the three wisdom dimensions (Ardelt

6

unpublished documentation authorized by Ardelt) ―

Cognitive dimension

1 Ability and willingness to understand a situation or phenomenon thoroughly

2 Acknowledgement of ambiguity complexity and uncertainty in life

3 Ability to make important decisions despite lifelsquos unpredictability and uncertainties

Reflective dimension

1 Ability and willingness to look at phenomena and events from different perspectives

2 Absence of subjectivity and projections

Affective dimension

1 Presence of positive and caring emotions toward others

2 Absence of indifferent or negative emotions toward others

3 Motivation to nurture the well-being of others

Ardeltlsquos method is also a 1st person perspective measure while self-report measure of

wisdom may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception

(Staudinger Gluck 2011) In fact a positive association between impression

management and scores on some items in Ardeltlsquos scale was demonstrated in a survey

(Taylor Bates amp Webster 2011)

23 ldquoMORErdquo model

Focused on the development of wisdom Gluumlck and Bluck (2012) proposed the MORE

model of wisdom embodying four resources of wisdom

1 A Sense of Mastery belief in onelsquos ability of handling life challenges

2 Openness awareness of multiple perspectives on a phenomenon interests in ―learning

7

from new perspectives and from other people (p 9)

3 Reflective Attitude ―willingness to look at life issues in a complex way (p 10)

4 Emotion RegulationEmpathy ―ability to deal with otherslsquo feelings effectively and

―reach out to others through empathetic concern (p 12)

The model is still under development Gluumlck and Bluck suggested a longitudinal survey

to explore the developmental dynamics between MORE resources and life experiences

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models

In general Western researchers proposing these models may be implicitly influenced by

Western culture characterized by Greek philosophy and Christian religion Furthermore

these models have been mainly applied to Western participants growing up in a Western

cultural background which has significantly influenced the scientific understanding of

wisdom (for reviews see Bangen et al 2013 Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013 Sternberg amp

Jordan 2005) Little is known about the conception of wisdom in other social-cultural

contexts Therefore we are not sure if these models are relevant for other cultural groups

It could be relevant because wisdom is a universal quality of human life or irrelevant

the structure of wisdom is cultural-specific because culture influences wisdom

conception which further influences wisdom development

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds

Most of the existing studies in non-western cultures have targeted a particular wisdom

tradition such as Levittlsquos (1999) qualitative study of Tibetan Buddhist monks which

found that wisdom was defined as examination of reality understanding of ―true self

and being altruistic to others or focused on a particular explicit theory of wisdom such

as Grossmann and his colleagueslsquo (2012) cross-culture study on Japanese and Americanslsquo

wise decision making which found that American (not Japanese) performed better with

increasing age

8

In general wisdom researchers in Eastern cultures believe that culture significantly

shapes conception of wisdom (Brezina amp Oudenhoven 2012) Ivan Brezina and Jan

Pieter Van Oudenhoven examined the conception of wisdom among five different

nations Ecuador (predominantly Christian) India (predominantly Hindu) and the

predominantly Muslim countries Indonesia Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

They showed the participants different items each of which describes an individual

characteristic and the participants indicated their agreement with its relatedness to

wisdom The factor analysis results revealed three primary factors underlying the concept

of wisdom ―serenity referring to detachment from emotion and material

―determination reflecting reflection upon oneself and persistence in difficulties and

―altruism defined as selflessness Moreover they found that effect of national culture

was more significant than an effect of religion upon the conception of wisdom However

their research method has a shortcoming in that the researchers own conception of

wisdom rather than that of the local population was examined Therefore the

similarities between the wisdom conception among the participants and that identified in

Western studies could be caused by the unconscious impact of the abundant Western

wisdom research literature upon the researchers Moreover the participants were all

immigrants who had already experienced a different social culture that may influence

their conception of wisdom

Nevertheless the idea that the Eastern conception of wisdom differs from the Western

conception was confirmed by other studies exploring implicit theories of wisdom in

Eastern cultures For example a survey in several Asian countries (India Indonesia

Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates) revealed that their conceptions of wisdom were

more related to many aspects of personal characters compared with that in Western

cultures (Ivan amp Alojz 2010) a survey on American Australian Indian and Japanese

revealed that Western conception of wisdom emphasized cognitive dimension while

Eastern conception both cognitive and affective dimensions (Takahashi amp Bordia 2000)

4 Chinese culture

It is not easy to define culture For my thesis culture is defined as beliefs about human

9

life commonly shared by a group of people which are influenced by their philosophy

religion literature history politics economy etc For example Chinese culture is well-

known for its characteristic Confucianism (Winfield Mizuno amp Beaudoin 2000)

However Chinese culture is influenced not only by Confucianism but also by Daoism

Buddhism and other schools of philosophy For example the Legalist School argues that

governments should build on strict and established laws instead of morality proclaimed

by Confucians Mohism advocates indiscriminating love iron will and strict discipline

denounces all kinds of offensive wars admires noble talents worships ghosts and

heaven Mohism agrees with Confucianism upon advocating virtues such as humaneness

and righteousness however Mohism emphasizes simplicity and austerity denouncing the

complicated rituals and rites advocated in Confucianism (Feng 1983)

Nevertheless Confucianism Daoism and Buddhism are usually regarded as the most

important Chinese traditions (Peng 2007) The most important figures for Confucianism

are Confucius (551 - 479BC) and Mencius (372 - 289BC) for Daoism Lao-tzu a

mysterious historic figure (Sima 1939) and Chuang-Tzu (369 - 286 BC) Buddhism was

founded by Buddha Gautama (around 300 BC) in India entered China in the latter part of

the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and gradually merged with the Chinese local culture

(Hardy 2014) There are numerous teachings and endless debates about these three

traditions among the experts in Chinese philosophy however these three traditions

merged into one around the time of Song dynasty (96 - 1279) (Feng 1983) Hence most

Chinese are influenced by all these traditions

Here I have only chosen some basic tenets of these three traditions with which most

Chinese will have an understanding

41 Confucianism

According to Confucianism everybody should be unified in virtue (eg Humaneness amp

Righteousness仁义) for Harmonious interpersonal relationship especially within family

and States For example Confucius said ―Do not impose on others what you yourself do

not desire (chapter 122) ―A benevolent man helps others to take their stand in so far as

he himself wishes to take his stand and gets others there in so far as he himself wishes to

10

get there (chapter 630) (Lau 1979)

Confucians emphasize interpersonal connection For example Mengzi persuaded kings to

unify the turbulent China at that time through compassion and actions to fulfill

compassion (Confucius amp Mencius 2007) Xunzi believes that social cooperation and

rites distinguish man from the animals (Feng 1983) Correspondingly many Chinese

scholars believe that Chinese emphasize on interpersonal-relationship more than

Westerners do (eg Zhu amp Han 2008 Gu amp Guo 2015)

42 Daoism

According to Daoism everything is unified in ―Dao the eternal way of natureuniverse

Daoism teaches man to model on nature For example Lao Tzu said ―Man models

himself on Earth Earth on Heaven Heaven on the Way and the Way on that which is

naturally so (Lau 1963 chapter 25)

In nature cause and effect influence each other cause and effect are connected in one

process the eternal way The founder of Daoism Lao Tzu said ―Being and Non-being

produce each other (Lau 1963 chapter 2) Here ―Being and ―Non-being are cause

and effect of each other in fact Daoism does not distinguish cause from effect

Man is an integral part of universe rather than a Subject independently of observed

Objects The distinction between subject and object in Western philosophy remained

unchallenged until Heidegger argued that there is no such thing as an observing subject

that is unaffected by the external world of observed things (Gu amp Guo 2015)

Correspondingly Daoism proclaims that a person should forget self especially desires of

self so that the person would have pure perception of the world and freedom in this

universe

43 Chinese Buddhism

When Buddhism spread to China there were the Theravada and Mahayana traditions

However due to the influence of the existing Chinese traditions especially Confucianism

and Daoism the Theravada tradition faded away within a short period of time whereas

11

Mahayana tradition gradually merged into Chinese culture and came to dominate Chinese

Buddhism (Group 2003)

According to Chinese Buddhism all the Beings Non-Beings and relationships between

BeingsNon-Beings are unified with the Universal Mind Buddha Buddha says ―Banruo

Boruomi (Buddha 2007) Banruo is wisdom like a hard and pure diamond piercing

through illusions and reach the world of truth namely Boruomi

Everything is transient interdependent and void (no-self) only a manifestation of mind

one needs to realize the original identification with the Universal Mind and replace non-

enlightenment with enlightenment to escape the endless transmigration of cause and

effect This extrication is called nirvana (Feng 1983)

The ―Enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism is different from the ―Cognition framed in

Western culture Because men are already unified with Buddha enlightenment is a

process of self-realization of this fact and the unspeakable wisdom is deep in the mind

whereas in Christianity men are separated from God salvation is from Christ and the

gospel needs to be proclaimed Moreover in Buddhism essence and appearance are one

man should not cling to anything However most Western philosophers (eg Plato)

believe that essence is different from appearance (Gu amp Guo 2015)

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy

In general Chinese philosophies emphasize connections and try to unify everything into

one In space everything is unified in one unit (individuals in society or BeingsNon-

beingsrelationships in universe) in time every event is in one process In contrary

western philosophies concern themselves more with atoms in space or cause and effect

in time (Gu amp Guo 2015) Correspondingly Eastern understandings of wisdom

emphasize both analytical and synthetic domains whereas only analytical domains in

Western understandings (Takahashi 2000)

However most Mainland Chinese nowadays may be unfamiliar or disagree with these

profound Chinese philosophies due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China

12

in modern history

5 Modern history of China

Since the painful collision with Western culture in the First Opium War (1839-42)

Mainland of China has undergone a series of historic events that may seriously affect the

transmission of Chinese traditions In general numerous defeats by foreigners especially

Westerners helped Chinese people to reflect upon their own traditions and begin to

realize that Chinese culture is not superior to other cultures especially Western culture

Thus they began to critique their own culture and learn from people in other cultures

especially the Westerners (science philosophy politics etc) It should be noted that

Communism was also from the West and the Communists have governed Mainland of

China (not Taiwan) since 1949

A brief account of modern history of China is given below It should be noted that the

historical account is inevitably biased due to the authorlsquos education life experience

political beliefs etc Nevertheless I endeavor to present a history that is probably known

by most Mainland Chinese

51 Before the Cultural Revolution

A history textbook in Mainland of China will claim that China was repeatedly invaded by

foreigners at the beginning of the modern period (see Ministry of Education in China

2003) The British navy easily defeated China in the First Opium War of 1839 and in

1860 Beijings Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned to the ground by British

and French troops in 1895 Taiwan was ceded to Japan after Chinalsquos defeat in the Battle

of the Yellow Sea in 1900 European powers along with the United States Russia and

Japan seized Beijing coercing the Qing government into paying them 675 million

pounds in indemnity and signing protocols unfair for China (Weatherley amp Rosen 2013)

Angered by its weakness and corruption the Mainland Chinese populace mdashled by Dr

Sun Yat-sen founder of the Chinese Nationalist Partymdash overthrew the Qing government

in 1911 (Fairbank Twitchett amp Feuerwerker 1986) However Sun Yat-sen was unable to

create a government capable of controlling the political situation in Mainland of China

13

Warlords supported by different foreign powers fought against each other leading

Mainland of China into seemingly endless turbulence Eventually Sun Yat-sen built the

Nationalist Partylsquos own army and allied with the Chinese Communist party and the

USSR was preparing to defeat the warlords and reunify China when Sun Yat-sen died

suddenly in 1925 (about the time the oldest of the older generation participants in study 2

was born)

Fulfilling Sun Yat-senlsquos dream the Northern Expedition began from Guangzhou in 1926

the Nationalist Party established its Capital in Nanjing in April 1927 confronting the

Beiyang Government established by the warlords in Beijing In 1928 the Nationalist

party captured Beijing and the warlord in the Northeast of China subsequently declared

his loyalty to the Nanjing government and the Northern Expedition ended however the

Chinese Nationalist Party and Chinese Communist Party had turned against each other

since 1927 and the war between these two parties went on In 1931 the Communist party

established its capital in Ruijin (a Hakka city in the south of China) defying the Nanjing

government in the same year the Japanese invaded Mainland of China The Japanese

had conquered the whole of Northeast China by 1932

In 1936 the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party decided to end

the civil war and join forces to fight against the Japanese The war against the Japanese

was extremely difficult almost one third of Mainland of Chinalsquos territory had been

invaded by Japan (including Beijing which was captured by the Japanese in 1937 and

was not reclaimed until 1945 by the Nationalist party) After Japan surrendered and

returned Taiwan to China in 1945 civil war in China between the Chinese Nationalist

Party and the Chinese Communist Party resumed almost immediately The Communist

Party captured Beijing from the Nationalist party in January 1949 and on October 1st of

the same year the leader of the Communist Party Mao Zedong announced the foundation

of Peoplelsquos Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing In December 1949 Chiang Kai-shek

with his government fled to Taiwan (Fairbank et al 1986) (This was about the time the

youngest of the older generation participants in study 2 was born) Taiwan has been

separated from the Mainland of China since that time

14

After another difficult war in Korea against the United States and its allies (1950-1953)

(for the details see Blair 1987) the Mainland Chinese Communist Party launched

communist reform throughout Mainland of China Communist ideology was proclaimed

private businesses were appropriated as national assets lands were taken from the

landlords and divided among peasants and collective farms were built (MacFarquhar

1991) Chairman Mao wished to build a socialist country for the proletariat however

after he retired from the position of Chairman in 1959 he was disappointed to find

traditional ideas reappear in contemporary literature and the Communist Party suffered

from corruption and bureaucracy Nevertheless these realities did not diminish Maolsquos

―communist dream instead he launched the Cultural Revolution (MacFarquhar 1991)

52 Cultural Revolution

From its beginning in 1966 to its end ten years later the Cultural Revolution is

considered Mainland of Chinalsquos most turbulent time after the founding of the Peoplelsquos

Republic (MacFarquhar 1991) The reason for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

is still debatable but many historians believe that Mao wanted to prevent bureaucracy

revisionism and capitalism that he thought was developing in Khrushchevlsquos USSR

(MacFarquhar 1991) Mao was especially skeptical of the ―deterioration of the central

communist leaders such as Chairman Liu Shaoqi (whom Mao suspected of revisionism

he was persecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution)

Besides many communist leaders numerous innocent scholars who were (or seemed)

unenthusiastic about Maolsquos communist ideology were persecuted during the Cultural

Revolution by Maolsquos loyal followers the ―Red Guards mostly made up of passionate

youths (MacFarquhar 1991) The Red Guards considered Maolsquos Quotations (―Red

Precious Book 「红宝书」) almost as a sacred text and were strongly against anything

related to traditional ideologies such as Confucianism Daoism or Buddhism They were

responsible for the destruction of many national treasures and historic art

Chinese culture and education suffered most during the Cultural Revolution and its

impact has been believed to be long-lasting (MacFarquhar 1991) The youthful spirit of

the Cultural Revolution differed from Chinese tradition in many ways First it was a

15

dictatorship of the proletariat not the aristocracy Second soldiers were respected while

scholars were belittled Traditional literati were usually peaceful gentle and even soft

(Stokstad 2005) while Mao (although a poet) valued military strategy resorting to

violent revolution to tackle social problems He proclaimed that political power come

from military strength (Mao 1972) In fact popular support from the Peoplelsquos Liberation

Army (PLA) was an important basis for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

Finally Marxist materialism was proclaimed while the traditions such as Confucianism

Daoism and Buddhism were roundly denounced

Unfortunately the Cultural Revolution degenerated into chaos (MacFarquhar 1991) In

1971 Maolsquos long-time comrade and chosen successor Marshal Linmdashwho had

enthusiastically supported the Cultural Revolution (at least on the surface)mdashbetrayed

Mao (MacFarquhar 1991) In 1975 one year before Maolsquos death and the de facto end of

the Cultural Revolution Mao wrote his last poem in which he said ―At that time

anxious about our motherland we comrades were not afraid of being beheaded Now the

whole country is red (communist) but who can guard it The work has not finished yet

my body is tired my hair is white How can you be hardhearted enough to let our life-

long dream be gone with the river (Mao 1996)

53 After the Cultural Revolution

Although repeatedly attacked Deng Xiaoping survived the Cultural Revolution to launch

economic reform his ―Reform and Opening started in 1978 has generated rapid

economic growth in Mainland of China since the 1980s (MacFarquhar 1991) The

Cultural Revolution was officially decried The public image of Mao became much more

realistic especially after Denglsquos compromising comments on Maolsquos life his

achievements before the foundation of Peoplelsquos Republic of China and his mistakes in his

late life especially during the Cultural Revolution Moreover Confucianism Daoism

and Buddhism are increasingly appreciated as demonstrated by the growing popularity of

the books about Chinese traditions such as Confucianism (eg Yu 2006) Meanwhile

religions such as Christianity Buddhism and Taoism are recovering after the loosening of

earlier restrictions put in place by the Communist Party (Yang 2006)

16

There are many fundamental changes in current society of Mainland China

First new social classes such as owners of private companies emerged after the

economic reform changing the previous simply layered social structure made up of

famers workers and scholars Meanwhile cooperation rather than conflict between

different classes is emphasized (Lu 2004) Consistently social interaction and social

relationship (关系) are increasingly appreciated The social ability of modern Mainland

Chinese youths is believed to be higher than that of their parents (Huang Deng Chen amp

Lu 2009) However this 关系 also has negative implications For example people who

have connections with governing officials such as the politicianslsquo relatives usually get

advantages in the competition of the immature markets and occupy most social resources

Corruption among the political officials moreover is commonplace Correspondingly

the current income levels in current China are overwhelmingly imbalanced the managers

form the top class of Mainland Chinese society which according to surveys in Shenzhen

and Hefei (Lu 2004) earn 15 times of the income of the workmen who are at the bottom

of the social hierarchy and are often belittled This situation is totally different from that

in Maolsquos age when workmen formed the upper class and were greatly respected Second

knowledge and techniques especially scientific knowledge and techniques are becoming

more and more important Therefore scholars and scientists are more and more

respected Third with the opening up of Mainland China to the outside world Mainland

Chinese society is becoming more and more international and multi-cultural art

literature and philosophy have been flooding into Mainland of China from Hong Kong

Taiwan Korea Japan the United States etc This trend is intensified by the prevalence of

the internet all over China Fourth the one-child policy was implemented Most youths

are the only child or of just one of two children in a family and thus enjoy a luxury of

resources that had not been available to their parents

With such dramatic changes in society there are tremendous gaps between the mentalities

of current Mainland Chinese youths and their parents they are much more

individualistic open-minded critical adventurist and fact-based (not as interested in

theory and ideology as their parents once were during Maolsquos age) legally conscious

interested in public affairs but not so much in social morality caring about the protection

17

of the environment fond of fun rather than being serious (Huang et al 2009) Western

ideas such as freedom and democracy are much more appreciated meanwhile some

negative values such as worshiping financial power and material consumption are also

more common among current Mainland Chinese youth than among their parents

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture

Wisdom studies in non-Western cultures mostly involve Japan and India Very little has

been done in China The Berlin Wisdom criteria were applied in a study to rate a

Mainland Chinese citylsquos elderly peoplelsquos psychological adaptation level which was

found to be significantly positively correlated with their life satisfaction (Weidong 2006)

An opinion paper discussed differences between Chinese and Western practical wisdom

in management and concluded that both value compassion (Opdebeeck amp Habisch

2011) a survey on the wit and wisdom of Mainland Chinese tour guides merely

illustrated tour guideslsquo practical wisdom which was barely a necessary ingredient of a

good life (Dioko Harrill amp Cardon 2013) Bang and Zhou (2014) studied how Ardeltlsquos

(2003) Three-dimensional wisdom Scale related to development of ego identity among

Mainland Chinese undergraduate university students and identified a positive correlation

None of these studies has been specifically focused on wisdom among Mainland Chinese

Yang (2001 2007 2008a 2008b 2008c 2014a) has studied the conception of wisdom in

Chinese culture in depth Yang chose 智慧 as the corresponding Chinese word for

―wisdom and reviewed the development of the meaning of 智慧 in Chinese history 智

慧 is mostly about personal characters especially about cognitive ability and judgments

With the spread of Buddhism in China 智慧 incorporated the components of wisdom in

Hindu culture ability to transcend laws in universe and pierce through transient

phenomenon in this world in order to realize ultimate truth In modern Chinese language

智 and 慧 are very similar in meaning (see httpwwwzdicnet) 智 emphasizes

more intelligence wisdom and resourcefulness 慧 is closer to wisdom (Banruo) in

Buddhism

In an empirical study Taiwanese Chinese who had been nominated as wise exemplars

18

were asked to describe wise decisions and actions in their own lives (Yang 2008c)

Several common themes emerged 1 ―striving for common good by helping others and

making major contributions to society (n = 79 36) 2 achieving a satisfactory state of

life (n = 55 25) 3 developing and determining life paths (n = 37 17) 4 resolving

difficult problems at work (n = 30 14) and 5 doing the right thing in the face of

adversity (n = 19 9) (p 286) In another study Yang (2014b) measured wisdom

among Taiwanese Chinese by methods of other-rating transcripted interviews and self-

report survey in her model wisdom is a real-life process including three components

connected together cognitive integration amp action embodiment amp positive effects for self

and others Yanglsquos model is featured by Chinese philosophy traditions such as emphasis

on integration in space and connection of events in one process Moreover the

component ―action embodiment is missing in most Western models corresponding to

the difference between Chinese and Western philosophy traditions

Besides Yang Chen and his colleagues (Chen Cheng Wu amp Hsueh 2014) applied the

grounded theory method to study Taiwanese Chinese educatorslsquo interpersonal and

intrapersonal perspectives on wisdom and identified four core components of wisdom

―intrapsychic integration ―actions in service of problem solving and ideal

implementation and ―positive results and feedback and adjustments (p 425)

However these findings may not be generalized to Mainland Chinese due to the

difference of culture between Mainland of China and Taiwan Taiwan was ceded from

China to Japan for 50 years after 1895 and was influenced by Japanese culture (Yang

2008a) Moreover Taiwan was governed by Chinese Nationalist party which revived

Chinese traditions through many political and cultural events after 1949 whereas

Mainland of China was governed by the Chinese Communist party and experienced

communist reforms and the 10-year Cultural Revolution attacking Chinese traditions

(MacFarquhar 1991)

19

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth

1 Introduction

11 Choosing Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese

Due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China through the modern history (see

Chapter 1 Section 6) the culture in Mainland of China could be very different from that

in Taiwan Therefore a prototype of wisdom among Mainland Chinese may be different

from that among Taiwanese Chinese Bang and Zhou (2014) believed that a prototype of

wisdom in Chinese culture was congruent with that in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model thus they

conducted a survey among some Mainland Chinese with the three-dimensional wisdom

scale However factor analysis identified a four dimensional structure (Non-dualistic

thinking ―Perspective-taking ―Non-resentment ―Empathy)

In order to test whether Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model or Bang and Zhoulsquos

four-dimensional wisdom model could represent wisdom among Mainland Chinese a

self-report wisdom measure was conducted among 100 Mainland Chinese youth

12 Validity tests of Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure

In order to test whether a wisdom measure is valid researchers could propose several

correlates of wisdom based on theories If the wisdom correlates measured by some

established measurements are significantly correlated with the wisdom measured then

the wisdom measurelsquos validity is testified For our study we chose four wisdom

correlates cognitive intelligence emotional intelligence empathy and prosocial

personality traits (high extroversion low psychoticism and low neuroticism) for reasons

below

Studies of implicit theories of wisdom in North America (ie the lay peoplelsquos theory of

wisdom) revealed that cognitive ability and reasoning were regarded as the most

important factors underlying wisdom (Sternberg 1990) Cognitive ability was found to

be one of the core themes of Western implicit theories of wisdom (Bluck amp Gluumlck 2005)

20

Besides cognitive ability wise people are thought to be good at understanding otherslsquo

emotions (Stange amp Kunzmann 2009) Adams (1998) simply regarded ―wisdom as the

classical version of ―emotional intelligence In a previous study a positive correlation

between wisdom measured by three-dimensional wisdom scale and emotional

intelligence measured by Wong and Lawlsquos emotional intelligence scale was

demonstrated and the effect of wisdom on happiness was reduced to emotional

intelligence (Zacher McKenna amp Rooney 2013) However wisdom should not be

reduced to emotional intelligence because emotional intelligence does not guarantee pro-

social personality as we see in some highly emotionally-intelligent criminals (Hampson

2012) and sly Nazi politicians (Shirer 2011) Understanding of otherslsquo suffering does not

necessary lead to compassion for others Therefore other-related wisdom defined as

empathic Concern for Others (Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013) is often added as an

important attribute for distinguishing wisdom from individual intelligence

Wisdom is interpreted by many researchers as a combination of intelligence and

character the ability to strive for the welfare of individuals and communities and the

willingness to do it (Pasupathi 2001 Stange amp Kunzmann 2009 Staudinger Doumlrner amp

Mickler 2005) Therefore we hypothesized that wise people not only possessed high

cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence but also empathy toward others and

prosocial personality traits such as low psychoticism low neuroticism and high

extroversion

2 Hypotheses

Reliabilities of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale as well as the subscales of

cognitive reflective and affective dimensions of wisdom should be ideal because

wisdom among Mainland Chinese embodies cognitive reflective and affective

components as hypothesized in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model

If Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional scale were valid for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese the wisdom score should be positively correlated with cognitive intelligence

emotional intelligence empathic concern and prosocial personality traits measured by

scales whose reliability and validity among Mainland Chinese were established in

21

previous studies eg Raven Matrix Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence scale the

Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Mainland Chinese

version of the shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the Ethic Committees at Zhejiang Normal

University and the University of Toronto

31 Participants

Ninety-seven Mainland Chinese undergraduate students (46 males aged from 18 to 23

years M = 1971 SD =119 years) at Zhejiang Normal University Jinhua Chinamdash a city

with a population of 5361600 at the 2010 census (―Jinhua 2014) Twelve were

Buddhists 3 were Christians 1 was Muslim 1 was favorable towards all kinds of

religious belief and the other 79 were atheists

32 Material

321 Visual basic program

All the items and pictures used in the scales and tests were presented on a computer one

by one in a home-made Visual Basic Program This program not only made the

characters easily readable but also prevented potential influence between adjacent scale

items

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS)

All the instructions and items were translated into Chinese and then reverse-translated to

English by native Mainland Chinese speakers and compared for accuracy to the original

English items by native English speakers The discrepancy was then corrected and this

double-reverse translation procedure repeated until the Chinese version scale was

consistent with the English version scale

22

For more details of this scale see Chapter 1 Section 23

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS)

The Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) includes four subscales self-

emotion appraisal other-emotion appraisal utilization of emotion and regulation of

emotion scales (Law Wong amp Song 2004) Each subscale has four items Self-emotion

appraisal and other-emotion appraisal refer to the abilities to understand emotion of self

and others respectively Utilization of emotion refers to utilizing emotion of self to guide

actions Regulation of emotion refers to controlling emotion of self The participants rate

the accordance of the description in the items to themselves on a 5-point scale

A previous study in China has demonstrated that the WLEIS was a better predictor of job

performance than the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test developed in

the US (Law Wong Huang amp Li 2008) Besides the WLEIS was testified as reliable

among 680 Mainland Chinese university students (Li Saklofske Bowden Yan amp Fung

2012)

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)

This scale measures four aspects of empathy perspective taking fantasy empathic

concern and personal distress (Siu amp Shek 2005) There are 28 items altogether seven

items for each subscale The Perspective-Taking scale assesses the liability to

spontaneously adopting perspectives of others the Fantasy scale measures the liability to

transpose self imaginatively into the feelings and actions of fictitious characters The

Empathic Concern scale measures other-oriented feelings of sympathy and care for the

suffering individuals The Personal Distress scale measures self-oriented feelings of

personal anxiety and unease in tense interpersonal situations (Davis 1983) The

participants indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or

―strongly agree to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree

The scale was testified as reliable and valid among 580 Mainland Chinese participants

(Siu amp Shek 2005)

23

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

The Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) has 48 items 12

items for each of the following sub-scales Psychoticism Extroversion

Neuroticismemotional instability and LieSocial desirability scales Psychoticism is

tendency to develop a psychotic symptom or anti-social behaviors Extraversion is

tendency to be active in social activities Neuroticism or emotion stability measures

individualslsquo emotional instability and the tendency to develop negative feelings The Lie

scale contains questions on which individuals tend to lie for social desirability (Eysenck

amp Eysenck 1975) The items are questions about the participants and the participants

respond ―yes or ―no to these questions

This scale was testified as reliable and valid among 8637 Mainland Chinese participants

(Mingyi Guocheng Rongchun amp Shen 2000)

426 Progressive Raven Matrix

There are 35 Progressive Raven Matrix items altogether used in this study In each item

the participants need to identify the missing element that completes a pattern on a 33

matrix Raven Matrix was found to be reliable and valid in measuring cognitive

intelligence among several cultures including Chinese culture (Raven 2000)

33 Procedure

The following procedure was completed individually in the Psychology laboratory at

Zhejiang Normal University The participants were left alone in a quiet room to finish the

scales and tests

All the participants completed the three-dimensional Wisdom Scale and the WLEIS In

addition 31 participants (12 males 18 to 22 years M = 1958 years SD =113 years)

finished Progressive Raven Matrix another 66 participants (34 males 18 to 23 years M

= 1977 years SD =122 years) completed the Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal

Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Mainland Chinese version of the shortened Eysenck

personality scale (EPQ-RS) Considering fatigue effect the participants who finished

24

Raven Matrix were not instructed to finish IRI and EPQ-RS

4 Results

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

A reliability test was conducted for the three-dimensional wisdom scale and its subscales

based on the data from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs

alpha of the whole scale was 070 alpha of the cognitive dimension scale was 065 alpha

of the reflective dimension scale was 049 alpha of the affective dimension scale was

030 Therefore the inter-items reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a

whole was acceptable However inter-items reliability of neither the reflective nor

affective dimensional subscale was acceptable all r lt 060

The final score of the three-dimensional wisdom scale ranged from 245 to 392 (M =

320 SD = 026) cognitive wisdom ranged from 207 to 414 (M = 334 SD = 040)

An inter-item reliability analysis was also conducted to test the four-factor structure

proposed by Bang and Zhou Cronbachs alpha of ―Non-dualistic thinking items was

053 alpha of ―Perspective-taking items was 068 alpha of ―Non-resentment items was

037 alpha of ―Empathy items was 028 Therefore only the ―Perspective-taking

subscale has acceptable inter-items reliability the four-factor structure proposed by Bang

and Zhou was not confirmed

42 Factor analysis

Combining the 3DWS data in this study with another 3DWS data of 50 Mainland

Chinese youths (22 males aged from 20 to 30 M = 2404 SD =242) collected in

another study we got data of 148 Mainland Chinese youthslsquo three-dimensional wisdom

items scores Factor analysis using a principal axis factoring analysis (the same method

used by Bang and Zhou) and an oblique rotation method (Direct Oblimin) was conducted

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was acceptable (060) however the

factor analysis extracted 14 factors explaining only 500 variance Moreover the

25

rotation failed to converge in 25 iterations Therefore we quitted the exploratory factor

analysis

Later we fixed the number of factors at three however the extracted three factors only

explained a 198 variance And then we fixed the number of factors at four but the

extracted four factors only explained a 236 variance Therefore there may be more

than four factors that underlie the participantslsquo performance in Ardeltlsquo self reporting

three-dimensional wisdom scale

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores

The 31 participants who took the Raven Matrix test had solved 7 to 34 matrixes (M =

2126 SD = 671) Bivariate correlation analysis between the Raven Matrix test score and

the three-dimensional wisdom score revealed no significant correlation r = 016 p =

038

We hypothesized that cognitive dimension of wisdom should be positively correlated

with the Raven matrix score even if the total wisdom score was not so however the

correlation of the Raven score with the score on cognitive wisdom was also not

significant r = 022 p = 024

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale

A reliability test was conducted for the WLEIS scale and its subscales based on the data

from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs alpha of the total scale

was 080 alpha of ―self-emotion appraisal was 061 alpha of ―other-emotion appraisal

was 080 alpha of ―use of emotion was 075 alpha of ―regulation of emotion was 082

Therefore inter-items reliability of the whole scale and all the sub-scales were

acceptable

The score of the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale ranged from 238 to 475 (M

= 341 SD =041) the score of ―self-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 475 (M =

355 SD =056) the score of ―other-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 500 (M =

26

352 SD =060) the score of ―use of emotion ranged from 200 to 480 (M = 336 SD

=064) the score of ―regulation of emotion ranged from 100 to 500 (M = 320 SD

=066)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that the wisdom score was significantly positively

correlated with WLEIS score r = 047 p lt 0001 and with all the subscale scores all r gt

024 all p lt 005

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the ―perspective-taking scale was 064 the alpha of the ―fantasy

scale was 069 the alpha of the ―empathic concern scale was 059 and the alpha of the

―personal distress scale was 070 Therefore the ―empathic concern scalelsquos inter-item

reliability was marginally acceptable for calculating the ―empathic concern score and the

other scaleslsquo inter-item reliabilities were acceptable

The score of ―perspective-taking ranged from 229 to 457 (M = 338 SD =051)

―fantasy ranged from 157 to 471 (M = 337 SD =063) ―empathic concern ranged

from 229 to 471 (M = 346 SD =049) ―personal distress ranged from 157 to 457 (M

= 330 SD =053)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that score of ―fantasy and ―perspective taking

were significantly positively correlated with wisdom score r = 026 p = 0039 r = 046

p lt 0001 respectively Other correlations were not significant all p gt 005

46 Eysenck personality scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the Psychoticism scale was 021 the alpha of the Extroversion scale

was 071 the alpha of the Neuroticism scale was 075 the alpha of the LieSocial

desirability scale was 059 Therefore the inter-item reliabilities of the Extroversion and

Neuroticism scales were ideal for calculating the total scores and that of the LieSocial

desirability scale was marginally acceptable

27

The Extroversion score ranged from 0 to 12 (M =663 SD =337) the Neuroticism score

ranged from 1 to 12 (M = 695 SD = 291) the LieSocial desirability score ranged from

0 to 11 (M = 454 SD =224) The LieSocial desirability score was not significantly

positively correlated with the Extroversion or Neuroticism score all r lt 01 all p gt 005

Therefore the Extroversion and Neuroticism scores were not biased by social

desirability

Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that the Extraversion score was significantly

positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 036 p = 0003 whereas the

Neuroticism score was significantly negatively correlated with the wisdom score r = -

032 p = 0008 However it should be noted that the Liesocial desirability score was

significantly positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 026 p = 0037 but not

with any other self-report score (eg emotional intelligence empathy) all r lt 01 all p gt

005

5 Discussion

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model

Although the reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a whole was acceptable

(Cronbachs alpha = 070) the inter-items reliabilities of reflective wisdom and affective

wisdom were quite poor This result revealed that the three-factor structure of wisdom

proposed by Ardelt may not exist among Mainland Chinese Indeed Bang and Zhou

(2014) also failed to find a three-factor structure of wisdom Moreover the four-factor

structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was also not testified in our study Therefore a

different wisdom model may be necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese A qualitative method such as an implicit theory study of wisdom among

Mainland Chinese may be helpful for exploring the structure of wisdom among Mainland

Chinese which was fulfilled in Study 2 of this thesis

52 Validity test results

Our hypothesis about wisdom related to cognitive intelligence was not confirmed by the

correlation result Perhaps wisdom is more about cognition of grand objects (eg

28

meaning of life and human nature) and thus the ability to recognize the pattern of matrix

is not related to the cognitive dimension of wisdom In fact a previous study has shown

that an increase of crystalized intelligence a component of wisdom was not related to

fluid intelligence (Christensen Batterham amp Mackinnon 2013) Wisdom may be more

related to intelligence in the domains about life in general which is essentially different

from intelligence in other domains such as that measured by the Raven matrix

Our hypotheses about positive correlation of wisdom with emotional intelligence

empathy (―perspective taking ―fantasy) and prosocial personality traits

(―extroversion ―emotion stability) were confirmed by the correlation results (Note that

the social desirability score was not correlated with any of these wisdom correlates and

thus these significant correlations can not be accounted for by the effect of social

desirability) Overall our results suggested that wisdom was embodied in reasonably

handling emotion of self and others (appraising otherslsquo emotion utilizing and regulating

emotion emotional stability) and taking care of others taking otherslsquo perspectives

transposing oneself imaginatively into the feelings and actions of others (related to

―fantasy) and being active in social interaction (―extraversion) However no cause-

effect relation can be derived from these correlation results These factors could be either

the outcomes or the sources of wisdom Eg extraversion could be the outcome of

wisdom wiser people are more likely to interact with others because they appreciate

more about the value of social networking On the other hand extraversion could

contribute to wisdom social interaction provides individuals more opportunities for

learning from others Likewise emotional stability may be important for reflective

wisdom while emotional stability could be an outcome of wisdom Individuals of high

neuroticism may be weak at reflecting upon their self-images due to their easily irritable

temperament preventing them from accepting ideas harmful for their self-image while

wise people are not self-centralized and thus emotionally stable Finally all these

potential components of wisdom need to be integrated For example an extravert without

empathy for others may interact with others superficially without being aware of otherslsquo

inner feelings and thoughts and thus wonlsquot accumulate experience of some fundamental

life pragmatics in social life such as painful separation from a beloved person

29

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability

According to Confucianism a Superior Man should examine himself objectively

(Confucius 2009) however the liesocial desirability score was significantly positively

correlated with the score of three-dimensional wisdom This result corresponded to the

proposition of Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) that self-reported measurement of wisdom

may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception wise

individuals are arguably more accurate in self-reflection and thus score lower than those

unwise individuals who have positive bias in their self-reflection In fact a positive

correlation between impression management and scores on some items in the three-

dimensional wisdom scale was demonstrated in a previous study (Taylor Bates amp

Webster 2011) Therefore a method more objective than self-report such as performance

measure is necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland Chinese This problem

is tackled in Study 3 of this thesis

6 Conclusion

Emotional intelligence empathy emotion stability and extraversion were significantly

positively correlated with wisdom measured by Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

For Mainland Chinese wisdom may be embodied in the ability and willingness to

understand and regulate emotion of selves and others in social life However the

structure of wisdom was unclear neither the three-factor structure proposed by Ardelt nor

the four-factor structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was testified Moreover the self-

report wisdom score was significantly positively correlated with social desirability score

Therefore we probably need a different model and a performance measure for wisdom

measurement among Mainland Chinese

30

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

1 Introduction

In order to explore the structure of wisdom ie the potential wisdom components among

Mainland Chinese and build a Mainland Chinese Wisdom model the implicit theory of

wisdom among Mainland Chinese was examined

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners

The implicit theory of wisdom is about the lay peoplelsquos latent understanding of wisdom

or implicit conceptualization of ―wisdom Implicit theory studies typically use one of

two main approaches ―descriptor rating and ―nomination of exemplars (Bluck amp

Gluumlck 2005)

Descriptor rating studies of wisdom The earliest and still most common method of

research on implicit theories of wisdom uses attribute rating (eg Clayton amp Birren

1980 Holliday amp Chandler 1986 Jason et al 2001a Sternberg 1985) Participants first

list attributes they associate with wisdom that are then merged into a master list with

repetitions idiosyncrasies and synonyms removed the master list is then presented to a

second (often larger) sample of participants who rate each attribute for how central it is

to wisdom Multidimensional scaling is then used to extract underlying components from

ratings with dimensions labeled according to their characteristic attributes

Exemplar approaches to implicit theories of wisdom Another way of studying implicit

theories of wisdom is to ask people to nominate individual exemplars of wisdom (eg

Orwoll amp Perlmutter 1990 Takayama 2002) Nomination studies of wisdom ask people

to nominate someone they consider wise from history or from their personal

acquaintance Historical exemplars of wisdom are not universal For example Jewish

Canadians frequently nominated Gandhi as a historical exemplar of wisdom among a

wide range of political and intellectual figuresmdashmany of importance to Judaism like

Moses However Gandhi was nominated only once in Pakistan with 60 of participants

31

choosing the Prophet Mohammed (Ferrari Kahn Benayon amp Nero 2011)

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories

Gluumlck and Bluck (2005 see also Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011) identified five core themes

of Western implicit theories of wisdom in their careful review of all Descriptor rating

studies of wisdom completed to that time

1 Cognitive ability (profound knowledge amp reasoning about novel problems)

2 Insight (willingness and ability to ponder deeply on complex issues)

3 Reflective attitude (do think profoundly about self others and the world from many

different perspectives to be self-critical and not biased by emotion of self)

4 Concern for Others beyond close family and friends (self-transcendent concern and

compassion)

5 Problem-solving skills (applying knowledge to concrete problems)

Later Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) summarized these as core components of wisdom in

subjective theories and then added another three components of wisdom from some

expertslsquo subjective theories especially those for some self-report wisdom scales

Spirituality and connectedness to nature to be spiritual in life and enjoy a connection

with the divine and care for the natural environment (Jason et al 2001b) Emancipatory

nature of wisdom interests in self-critical reflection and autonomy and knowledge that

increases the freedom of the self and provides opportunities for self-development

(Sternberg 1990) Humor the ability to see comical components even in serious

situations (Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011)

13 This study

Given the shortcomings of self-report wisdom measure as demonstrated in study 1 we

conducted another study based on the secondary data from a previous study to explore the

potential factors underlying wisdom in Mainland Chinese culture The conceptions of

32

wisdom among two generations of Mainland Chinese were examined The older

generation had experienced the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when they were

emerging or middle-aged adults (18 to 42 years old in 1966) whereas the younger

generation was born after the Cultural Revolution As far as we know this is the first

study on the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese

As mentioned earlier Mainland China underwent the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-

1976) during which the traditional wisdom ideologies of Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism were fiercely denounced nationwide while Maolsquos Communist ideology was

proclaimed instead (Yang 2006) The Cultural Revolution provides a unique opportunity

to study an event that disrupted transmission of Chinese traditions People who lived

through this time may incorporate elements of communist ideology into their conceptions

of wisdom

2 Hypotheses

We hypothesized that people who had experienced the Cultural Revolution should have

an implicit theory of wisdom different from that among those born after the Cultural

Revolution conceptual wisdom components related to Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism should be less prevalent whereas conceptual wisdom components related to

Communism should be more prevalent among the older generation than among the

younger generation

Parallel hypothesis

Similar to all cross-section studies cohort effect is mixed with age effect and thus not

identifiable People who had experienced the Cultural Revolution may later learn the

revived traditions and become even more affected by these traditions due to their greater

experience of the revived traditions through age Therefore conceptual wisdom

components related to Chinese traditions may be more prevalent among the elders than

among the youths

33

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the ethics committee at the University of

Toronto

31 Participants

One hundred Mainland Chinese adults were interviewed in Beijing in 2008 half were

native-born Mainland Chinese elders living in the Beijing area (28 males aged from 60

to 84 M = 7166 SD =599) They were born between 1924 and 1948 and had

experienced the Cultural Revolution and were living independently or with family around

the time of interview Among them 15 participants had not finished high school 12

participants had high school or equivalent diploma 7 participants had some college

education and 16 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent degree one was Buddhist 1

was Muslim 16 named their religious affiliation as Communism and the other 32 did not

indicate any religious affiliation

The other 50 were students at Beijing Normal University (22 males aged from 20 to 30

M = 2404 SD =242) born between 1978 and 1988 after the Cultural Revolution which

ended in 1976 Among this generation 18 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent

degree 31 participants had a Masterlsquos degree and one participant a doctorate one was

Buddhist 1 was Muslim 2 were Christians and 2 named their religious affiliation as

Communism the other 44 did not indicate any religious affiliation

32 Material

Recorder printed ―Interview guide etc

33 Procedure

Participants were interviewed individually in a quiet room They nominated several

wisdom exemplars from among historic figures and their acquaintances and then

34

explained why they regarded the exemplars as wise how the wisdom exemplars had

become wise and what the definition of wisdom is The Mainland Chinese term used for

wisdom is the same as that in Yangs study with Taiwanese Chinese Zhi Hui (智慧)

(Yang 2008)

More specifically it included the following questions

(1) Please take a moment to think of the wisest person you know of in history among

your acquaintances Who is this person and what makes them so wise What is one story

you know about this person or one thing they said or did that shows them to be wise

We included the following probes ―What was wise about that What might some other

person have said or done We also asked ―Has this person affected or inspired you in

your own life Is it possible for you to become more like them Are there any wise

moments in your life

(2) Finally we asked about the participantslsquo own definition of wisdom ―Now that we

have had a chance to talk about it what is wisdom What does wisdom mean to you

The interviews were recorded and transcribed

The nomination of wisdom exemplars may reveal who had influenced the participantslsquo

conceptualization of wisdom The reasons for the participantslsquo nomination were arguably

determined by their conceptualization of wisdom We made this arrangement because the

conceptualization of wisdom is not easy for lay people to articulate and asking questions

relevant to wisdom before addressing their definition of wisdom could activate the

neural-network carrying information related to wisdom conceptualization However the

participants sometimes talked about something unrelated to their definitions of wisdom

which is inevitable because it is very difficult for common people to focus on the topic

―wisdom throughout the whole conversation Nevertheless when the participants

responded to our last question ie the definition of wisdom they were mostly focused

on their conceptualizations of wisdom Therefore we chose to code their responses to the

last question

In total 92 Mainland Chinese participants (47 male aged from 20 to 84 M = 4722 SD

35

=2408) reported their definition of wisdom including 47 youths (27 males 20 to 30

years M = 2409 years SD =246years) and 45 elders (20 males 60 to 84 years M =

7138 years SD =607years) Thematic analysis using a grounded theory method

allowed us to code these participantslsquo answers and discover common themes of the

Mainland Chinese participantslsquo definition of wisdom After these common themes were

found 2 Taiwanese Chinese research assistants coded the transcripts again and identified

all the common themes we found without discovering any new theme Finally a

codebook was developed based on these common themes and then two trained Mainland

Chinese coders coded the transcripts again according to this codebook Coder agreement

and Kappa values on each category of this codebook were analyzed just as in a previous

study (Gluumlck et al 2005) Disagreements were later resolved by discussion between

these coders and then the frequency of each category coded was calculated

4 Results

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants

Participants made a total of 180 nominations of historical wise exemplars nominating 64

historic figures The mostly frequently nominated historic wisdom exemplars were

political or military leaders (ie emperors presidents premiers civil officials and

generals) nominated by 74 participants The second most frequently nominated group of

historic wisdom exemplars were scholars (ie philosophers literary authors poets and

historians) nominated by 21 participants Following these two groups of historic wisdom

exemplars were scientists nominated by four participants and then religious leaders

nominated by three participants Buddha nominated by a Christian Jesus nominated by a

Buddhist Muhammad nominated by an atheist

The leaders were regarded by the participants as wise mostly for their personal abilities

and contribution to their society The leaderslsquo personal abilities included leadership in

military or political events talents in ruling organizations and states social interaction

organizational and leadership skills such as understanding otherslsquo mentality and

managing the talented persons The leaderslsquo contribution to their society included

36

recovering the order of the society and showing compassion for the poor The scholars

were regarded as wise mostly for their mentality cognitive ability cognitive traits

cognitive outcome (eg works of literature) and virtue teaching wisdom to the public

self-transformation and transcendent personalities The wisdom of leaders emphasized

more on changing the external world ie society whereas the wisdom of scholars on

transforming the internal world ie mind

Table 1 shows a chronological ranked ordering of the 24 historic figures who received at

least 2 nominations as wise exemplars (All other figures received only a single

nomination and thus was not reported here) It should be noted that 19 of these 24

nominees were Chinese 15 of the 24 were political or military leadersmdashsome dating

back over 2000 years to the unification of China as a centralized country by Qin Shi

Huang (260ndash210 BC) the first emperor of China mdash through to the 17th

c but then we

found a gap of almost 200 years until 6 leaders within living memory of the older

generation In addition to these political or military leaders 8 were scholars and only 1

was a religious figure (Muhammad)

37

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Wisdom Exemplarparticipants Youth Elder Total

Lao-tzu Legendary founder of Daoism Zhou dynasty (6th c BC) 2 0 2

Confucius (551ndash479 BC) Ancient educator and political advisor

founder of Confucianism

9 1 10

Plato (429ndash347 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Aristotle (384ndash322 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Emperor Qin [Shi Huang] (260ndash210 BC) First emperor Qin dynasty 3 4 7

Emperor Gaozu (256 or 247-195 BC) First emperor Han dynasty 1 1 2

Emperor Wu (156 ndash 87 BC) Seventh emperor Han dynasty 2 0 2

Sima Qian (145 or 135-86 BC) Ancient historian in Han dynasty 2 0 2

Cao Cao (155-220) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

1 2 3

Zhu Geliang (181-234) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

6 6 12

Muhammad (570 - 632) Prophet and founder of Islam 2 0 2

Emperor Taizong (598-649) Emperor Tang dynasty 3 3 6

Emperor Wu Zetian (624-705) A female emperor in Tang dynasty 1 1 2

Su Shi (1037-1101) Song Dynasty writer poet painter calligrapher

pharmacologist and statesman

4 0 4

Empress Xiao Chuang (1613-1688) Concubine of the Qing Dynasty

ruler Hong Taiji grandmother of Emperor Kangxi

2 0 2

Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) Fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty 3 3 6

Karl Marx (1818-1883) Philosopher 2 0 2

Marie Curie (1867-1934) Scientist 2 0 2

v

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot iv

Table of Contents middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot v

List of Tables middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot xii

List of Figures middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot xiii

List of Appendices middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotxiv

Chapter 1 General introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

1 Definitions of wisdom middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 1

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm 1

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm 1

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm 4

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms 4

22 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale 5

23 ―MORE model 6

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models 7

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 7

4 Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 8

41 Confucianism 9

42 Daoism 10

43 Chinese Buddhism 10

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy 11

vi

5 Modern history of China middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 12

51 Before the Cultural Revolution 12

52 Cultural Revolution 14

53 After the Cultural Revolution 15

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 17

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

11 Choosing Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese 19

12 Validity tests of Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure 19

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 20

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 21

31 Participants 21

32 Material 21

321 Visual basic program 21

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS) 21

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) 22

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) 22

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) 23

426 Progressive Raven Matrix 23

33 Procedure 23

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 24

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom

scale 24

42 Factor analysis 24

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores 25

vii

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale 25

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale 26

46 Eysenck personality scale 26

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 27

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model 27

52 Validity test results 27

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability 29

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 29

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners 30

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories 31

13 This study 31

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 32

Parallel hypothesis 32

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 33

31 Participants 33

32 Material 33

33 Procedure 33

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 35

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 35

42 Generation difference in nomination 38

43 Acquaintance wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 41

44 Mainland Chinese implicit theory of wisdom 42

viii

441 ―Ability in Cognition related to the Western theme ―Cognitive Ability 42

442 ―Ability in Practice an extension of the Western theme ―Problem Solving

Skills 43

443 ―Concern for Others related to the Western theme ―Concern for Others

relevant to Confucianism 43

444 ―Eschewing-world Spirituality similar to the Western theme ―Insight but

framed in Chinese traditions 44

445 ―Positive Mindset missing in the Western implicit theory of wisdom

relevant to the historic turbulence 44

Others 45

45 Conceptual wisdom components and group difference 45

46 Relationship between wisdom exemplar nomination and conceptual wisdom

component 46

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 47

51 Personally known and historical exemplars of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

the generation difference 47

52 The implicit theory of wisdom among our Mainland Chinese participants and the

generation difference 48

53 Effects of Communist ideology on Wisdom conceptualization and Exemplars 53

54 Comparing the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese participants to

that among Westerners 54

55 Comparison between the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

that among Taiwanese Chinese 55

56 Comparing the Mainland Chinese wisdom model with Western wisdom models 56

561 Traditional Berlin Wisdom and Personal wisdom model 56

562 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model 57

563 ―MORE model 58

564 Brief Summary of these comparisons 58

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 59

ix

Chapter 4 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm a performance-based wisdom measure middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

11 Lack of emotional components in previous Berlin Paradigms 61

12 Innovative 2nd person wisdom measurement 63

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

31 Participants 65

32 Material 65

321 Berlin Wisdom paradigm vignettes 65

322 Berlin Wisdom manual (adapted) 65

323 Mainland Chinese wisdom manual 66

324 iMotions - Attention Tool FACET module (version 21) 67

325 Others 68

33 Procedure 68

34 Data analyses 69

341 Wisdom ratings 69

342 Facial expression analysis 69

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 72

41 Reliability of the Berlin and Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 72

42 Correlation between Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings

74

43 Correlation between performance-based and self-report wisdom measures 75

44 Validity test of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 75

441 Correlations with previous scores on wisdom correlates 75

442 Correlations with life satisfaction the following year 77

x

443 Conclusion 77

45 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 77

46 Thematic contents in participantslsquo responses 80

461 Life plan problem ―a friendlsquos unrealizable dream 80

462 Life review problem ―a teacherlsquos unrealized dream 81

463 Responses in the life plan problem rated highestlowest on BerlinMainland

Chinese wisdom rating 82

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 84

51 The role of experience in performance measure of wisdom 84

52 Berlin Wisdom rating was highly consistent with Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating

84

53 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 85

531 Measurement of emotional components of wisdom 85

532 Surprise and wisdom 86

533 Expression of negativepositive emotion may influence ratings on ―Ability in

PracticePositive Mindset 87

Chapter 5 General Discussion and Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

1 Concept of wisdom in a culture lay people VS philosophers middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

2 Universal Wisdom and cultural variation middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

3 Advantages of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 90

4 Limitation of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigmmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 91

5 Potential impacts on Western wisdom studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 92

51 Culture difference and universal wisdom model 92

52 Advantages of performance-based wisdom measure 93

53 The 2nd-person wisdom measure 94

6 General Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 95

xi

References middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 96

Appendicesmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 107

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items 107

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items 111

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm 113

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria 113

41 Criterion 1 Ability in Cognition认知能力 113

42 Criterion 2 Ability in Practice 实践能力 114

43 Criterion 3 Concern for Others 关心他人 115

44 Criterion 4 Eschewing-world Spirituality出世精神 116

45 Criterion 5 Positive Mindset 积极心态 118

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year 119

Copyright Acknowledgements middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 120

xii

List of Tables

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Table 2 Number of the participants mentioned each wisdom component in their definitions of

wisdom

Table 3 Rating of the participantslsquo performance in the life plan problem on each criterion

Table 4 Correlations between the ratings on Berlin and Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

Table 5 Correlations of the ratings on Chinese wisdom criteria with wisdom correlates

Table 6 Proportional time of each category of emotion in each scenario

xiii

List of Figures

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

Figure 2 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

Figure 3 A segment of a participantlsquos evidence value of surprise

xiv

List of Appendices

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year

1

Chapter 1 General introduction

1 Definitions of wisdom

Even though wisdom has become a topic of research in empirical psychology since the

last quarter of the 20th century there is still no scientific consensus on the definition of

wisdom (For a review of the definitions of wisdom see Bangen Meeks amp Jeste 2013)

Modern empirical psychologists generally view wisdom as a mature understanding and

conduct of life especially in difficult situations (Staudinger 2008) Two of the most

widely acknowledged definitions are the Berlin Wisdom researcherslsquo definition of

wisdom as expertise knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000) and Ardeltlsquos (2004) defining wisdom as an ideal type of character that

combines cognitive reflective and affective aspects of personality

Regardless of the difficulty in settling on a definition of it wisdom is believed to be an

important resource for a good life Wisdom provides insights and guidance for people to

lead a meaningful and happy life (Ferrari amp Potworowski 2008) In fact it may be

impossible to define wisdom semantically just as many scientific structures that can only

be represented in certain measures (see Giere 2009) a representation of the structure of

wisdom within a proper measurement may be the best a researcher can do Still this kind

of measurement is meaningful for many reasons both theoretical and practical

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm

The well-established Berlin Wisdom model defines wisdom as expertise and judgment

concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life and ―the pinnacle of insight into the

human condition and about the means and ends of a good life (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 122) rather than personality traits or individual abilities Staudinger (1996) has

further defined wisdom as a social interactive product Balteslsquo understanding of wisdom

2

might have been influenced by the Gestalt cognitive theory originating in Germanymdash

especially that of Koumlhler (1924) who believes that insight based on experience and

understanding of the structure of a situation was inherent to wisdom solving the

pragmatics in a creative way

Nevertheless the full model of the Berlin Wisdom paradigm (as shown in Figure 1) is not

simply about wisdom as expertise in life pragmatics but also about the ontogeny and

function of this life expertise (Baltes amp Smith 2008) Three factors are thought to be

associated with development maintenance and application of wisdom general person

factors (eg cognitive mechanics cognitive style mental health creativity and ego

strength) specific expertise-related factors (eg exposure to life scenarios and significant

life events motivation mentorship) and context (eg age cohort historical period

culture) Furthermore excellence in mind and virtue such as exceptionally good

judgment good advice insightful commentary about difficult and uncertain matters of

life and nonverbal behaviors associated with good conduct emotion regulation and

empathy in interpersonal and group contexts are regarded as necessary

manifestationoutcome of wisdom

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

3

Baltes and his colleagues measured wisdom through a think-aloud procedure testing the

participantslsquo responses in some hypothetical life-scenario situations such as the life-

planning life-monitoring and life-review problem for example ―In reflecting over their

lives people sometimes realize that they have not achieved what they had once planned

to achieve What should onethey do and consider (Staudinger amp Baltes 1996 p 762)

Participants reflected on these questions for a while before they responded by thinking

aloud Their thinking-aloud answers were tape recorded During both the reflection time

and the answering time the interviewer left the room so that participants felt less

constrained in talking about private issues The responses were transcribed and then rated

by 10 raters on five criteria (one criterion for each rater two raters per criterion) which

were developed based on Balteslsquo life-span theory and other cognitive psychologistslsquo

conceptions about the nature of cognitive development and problem solving in highly

complicated and ecological tasks (Staudinger Baltes amp Smith 1994)

The criteria of excellence (expertise) in fundamental pragmatics of life are a two-tiered

family the first level is rich factual (declarative) and procedural knowledge about the

fundamental life pragmatics includes life planning life management and life review the

second level is meta-criteria including understandings of lifespan contextualism

relativism of values and life priorities recognition and management of uncertainty

Factual knowledge includes knowledge of ―human nature life-long development

variations in developmental processes and outcomes interpersonal relations social

norms critical events in life and their possible constellations as well as knowledge about

the coordination of the well-being of oneself and that of others (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 125) Procedural knowledge involves ―strategies and heuristics for dealing with

the meaning and conduct of lifemdashfor example heuristics for giving advice and for the

structuring and weighing of life goals ways to handle life conflicts and life decisions and

knowledge about alternative back-up strategies if development were not to proceed as

expected (p 125) Lifespan contextualism refers to knowledge ―that considers the many

themes and contexts of life (eg education family work friends leisure the public good

of society etc) their interrelations and cultural variations and in addition incorporates a

4

lifetime temporal perspective (p 125-126) Relativism of values and life priorities refers

to ―acknowledgment of and tolerance for value differences and the relativity of the values

held by individuals and society (p 126) Finally the recognition of and management of

uncertainty describes an awareness of ―(a) the validity of human information processing

itself is essentially limited (constrained) (b) individuals have access only to select parts

of reality (c) the future cannot be fully known in advance (p 126)

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm

Charlotte Mickler and Ursula M Staudinger (2008) argued that general wisdom

concerning life in general as measured in the traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm was

different from Personal Wisdom which is an individuallsquos insight into his or her own life

In the Personal Wisdom paradigm the participants think aloud about themselves as a

friend such as their typical behaviors as a friend and their actions in difficult situations

The procedure was similar to that in the traditional Berlin wisdom paradigm however

the transcripted responses were rated on the Personal Wisdom criteria developed based on

the Berlin Wisdom criteria and conceptions of personality maturity in psychology

The Personal Wisdom criteria include two basic criteria (p 788) ―Self-knowledge (deep

insight into oneself and onelsquos own life) ―Growth and self-regulation (heuristics that

helps one to cope with various difficult and challenging situations and to learn from

them) and three meta-criteria ―Interrelating the self (an awareness of the contextual

embeddedness of onelsquos behavior feelings or both and onelsquos biographical embeddedness

dependency on others and the interrelatedness of different self-domains) ―Self-

relativism (―critically appraise their own behavior without losing a basic level of self-

esteem) and ―Tolerance of ambiguity (―ability to recognize and manage the

uncertainties in onelsquos own life and onelsquos own development)

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms

The traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm is a 3rd person perspective wisdom measure

which is not relevant to the participantslsquo personal life and thus not emotionally-engaging

In fact wisdom cannot exist independently of individuals (Ardelt 2004) On the other

5

hand the Personal wisdom paradigm is a 1st-person perspective wisdom measure

Therefore it may be vulnerable to the participantslsquo social desirability and inaccuracy in

self-judgment or self-serving bias Furthermore there is no measurement of emotional

components of wisdom in any of these two paradigms

22 Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale

Based on Clayton and Birrenlsquos definition of wisdom Monika Ardelt (2003 2004)

proposed that wisdom was the integration of cognitive reflective and affective

personality traits Ardelt critiqued the Berlin Wisdom paradigmlsquos definition of wisdom as

some kind of expert knowledge she believes that wisdom cannot exist independently of

individuals (Ardelt 2004) In contrary Baltes and his colleagues proposed that wisdom is

about the fundamental truth of life which is very difficult for a person to grasp (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000)

Ardelt developed a self-reportself-assessment scale to measure wisdom The participants

indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or ―strongly agree

to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree There are 39 items in three-

dimensional wisdom scale 14 for the cognitive dimension 12 for the reflective

dimension and 13 for the affective dimension (Ardelt 2003 2004) (see Appendix 1) The

cognitive dimension embodies the desire to know the truth a deep understanding of life

(eg ―Ignorance is bliss (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item and relativistic thinking

(eg ―People are either good or bad (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item) The reflective

dimension includes self-examination self-awareness and self-insight (eg ―Things often

go wrong for me by no fault of my own (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) as well as

the ability to perceive a phenomenon from different perspectives (eg ―Before criticizing

somebody I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place (Ardelt 2003 p

317)) and ―transcendence from self-projections and self-serving bias (eg ―I either get

very angry or depressed if things go wrong (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) Lastly

the affective dimension refers to sympathy and compassion for others (eg ―Sometimes I

feel a real compassion for everyone (Ardelt 2003 p 318))

Below is a detailed list of the sub-dimensions of the three wisdom dimensions (Ardelt

6

unpublished documentation authorized by Ardelt) ―

Cognitive dimension

1 Ability and willingness to understand a situation or phenomenon thoroughly

2 Acknowledgement of ambiguity complexity and uncertainty in life

3 Ability to make important decisions despite lifelsquos unpredictability and uncertainties

Reflective dimension

1 Ability and willingness to look at phenomena and events from different perspectives

2 Absence of subjectivity and projections

Affective dimension

1 Presence of positive and caring emotions toward others

2 Absence of indifferent or negative emotions toward others

3 Motivation to nurture the well-being of others

Ardeltlsquos method is also a 1st person perspective measure while self-report measure of

wisdom may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception

(Staudinger Gluck 2011) In fact a positive association between impression

management and scores on some items in Ardeltlsquos scale was demonstrated in a survey

(Taylor Bates amp Webster 2011)

23 ldquoMORErdquo model

Focused on the development of wisdom Gluumlck and Bluck (2012) proposed the MORE

model of wisdom embodying four resources of wisdom

1 A Sense of Mastery belief in onelsquos ability of handling life challenges

2 Openness awareness of multiple perspectives on a phenomenon interests in ―learning

7

from new perspectives and from other people (p 9)

3 Reflective Attitude ―willingness to look at life issues in a complex way (p 10)

4 Emotion RegulationEmpathy ―ability to deal with otherslsquo feelings effectively and

―reach out to others through empathetic concern (p 12)

The model is still under development Gluumlck and Bluck suggested a longitudinal survey

to explore the developmental dynamics between MORE resources and life experiences

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models

In general Western researchers proposing these models may be implicitly influenced by

Western culture characterized by Greek philosophy and Christian religion Furthermore

these models have been mainly applied to Western participants growing up in a Western

cultural background which has significantly influenced the scientific understanding of

wisdom (for reviews see Bangen et al 2013 Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013 Sternberg amp

Jordan 2005) Little is known about the conception of wisdom in other social-cultural

contexts Therefore we are not sure if these models are relevant for other cultural groups

It could be relevant because wisdom is a universal quality of human life or irrelevant

the structure of wisdom is cultural-specific because culture influences wisdom

conception which further influences wisdom development

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds

Most of the existing studies in non-western cultures have targeted a particular wisdom

tradition such as Levittlsquos (1999) qualitative study of Tibetan Buddhist monks which

found that wisdom was defined as examination of reality understanding of ―true self

and being altruistic to others or focused on a particular explicit theory of wisdom such

as Grossmann and his colleagueslsquo (2012) cross-culture study on Japanese and Americanslsquo

wise decision making which found that American (not Japanese) performed better with

increasing age

8

In general wisdom researchers in Eastern cultures believe that culture significantly

shapes conception of wisdom (Brezina amp Oudenhoven 2012) Ivan Brezina and Jan

Pieter Van Oudenhoven examined the conception of wisdom among five different

nations Ecuador (predominantly Christian) India (predominantly Hindu) and the

predominantly Muslim countries Indonesia Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

They showed the participants different items each of which describes an individual

characteristic and the participants indicated their agreement with its relatedness to

wisdom The factor analysis results revealed three primary factors underlying the concept

of wisdom ―serenity referring to detachment from emotion and material

―determination reflecting reflection upon oneself and persistence in difficulties and

―altruism defined as selflessness Moreover they found that effect of national culture

was more significant than an effect of religion upon the conception of wisdom However

their research method has a shortcoming in that the researchers own conception of

wisdom rather than that of the local population was examined Therefore the

similarities between the wisdom conception among the participants and that identified in

Western studies could be caused by the unconscious impact of the abundant Western

wisdom research literature upon the researchers Moreover the participants were all

immigrants who had already experienced a different social culture that may influence

their conception of wisdom

Nevertheless the idea that the Eastern conception of wisdom differs from the Western

conception was confirmed by other studies exploring implicit theories of wisdom in

Eastern cultures For example a survey in several Asian countries (India Indonesia

Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates) revealed that their conceptions of wisdom were

more related to many aspects of personal characters compared with that in Western

cultures (Ivan amp Alojz 2010) a survey on American Australian Indian and Japanese

revealed that Western conception of wisdom emphasized cognitive dimension while

Eastern conception both cognitive and affective dimensions (Takahashi amp Bordia 2000)

4 Chinese culture

It is not easy to define culture For my thesis culture is defined as beliefs about human

9

life commonly shared by a group of people which are influenced by their philosophy

religion literature history politics economy etc For example Chinese culture is well-

known for its characteristic Confucianism (Winfield Mizuno amp Beaudoin 2000)

However Chinese culture is influenced not only by Confucianism but also by Daoism

Buddhism and other schools of philosophy For example the Legalist School argues that

governments should build on strict and established laws instead of morality proclaimed

by Confucians Mohism advocates indiscriminating love iron will and strict discipline

denounces all kinds of offensive wars admires noble talents worships ghosts and

heaven Mohism agrees with Confucianism upon advocating virtues such as humaneness

and righteousness however Mohism emphasizes simplicity and austerity denouncing the

complicated rituals and rites advocated in Confucianism (Feng 1983)

Nevertheless Confucianism Daoism and Buddhism are usually regarded as the most

important Chinese traditions (Peng 2007) The most important figures for Confucianism

are Confucius (551 - 479BC) and Mencius (372 - 289BC) for Daoism Lao-tzu a

mysterious historic figure (Sima 1939) and Chuang-Tzu (369 - 286 BC) Buddhism was

founded by Buddha Gautama (around 300 BC) in India entered China in the latter part of

the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and gradually merged with the Chinese local culture

(Hardy 2014) There are numerous teachings and endless debates about these three

traditions among the experts in Chinese philosophy however these three traditions

merged into one around the time of Song dynasty (96 - 1279) (Feng 1983) Hence most

Chinese are influenced by all these traditions

Here I have only chosen some basic tenets of these three traditions with which most

Chinese will have an understanding

41 Confucianism

According to Confucianism everybody should be unified in virtue (eg Humaneness amp

Righteousness仁义) for Harmonious interpersonal relationship especially within family

and States For example Confucius said ―Do not impose on others what you yourself do

not desire (chapter 122) ―A benevolent man helps others to take their stand in so far as

he himself wishes to take his stand and gets others there in so far as he himself wishes to

10

get there (chapter 630) (Lau 1979)

Confucians emphasize interpersonal connection For example Mengzi persuaded kings to

unify the turbulent China at that time through compassion and actions to fulfill

compassion (Confucius amp Mencius 2007) Xunzi believes that social cooperation and

rites distinguish man from the animals (Feng 1983) Correspondingly many Chinese

scholars believe that Chinese emphasize on interpersonal-relationship more than

Westerners do (eg Zhu amp Han 2008 Gu amp Guo 2015)

42 Daoism

According to Daoism everything is unified in ―Dao the eternal way of natureuniverse

Daoism teaches man to model on nature For example Lao Tzu said ―Man models

himself on Earth Earth on Heaven Heaven on the Way and the Way on that which is

naturally so (Lau 1963 chapter 25)

In nature cause and effect influence each other cause and effect are connected in one

process the eternal way The founder of Daoism Lao Tzu said ―Being and Non-being

produce each other (Lau 1963 chapter 2) Here ―Being and ―Non-being are cause

and effect of each other in fact Daoism does not distinguish cause from effect

Man is an integral part of universe rather than a Subject independently of observed

Objects The distinction between subject and object in Western philosophy remained

unchallenged until Heidegger argued that there is no such thing as an observing subject

that is unaffected by the external world of observed things (Gu amp Guo 2015)

Correspondingly Daoism proclaims that a person should forget self especially desires of

self so that the person would have pure perception of the world and freedom in this

universe

43 Chinese Buddhism

When Buddhism spread to China there were the Theravada and Mahayana traditions

However due to the influence of the existing Chinese traditions especially Confucianism

and Daoism the Theravada tradition faded away within a short period of time whereas

11

Mahayana tradition gradually merged into Chinese culture and came to dominate Chinese

Buddhism (Group 2003)

According to Chinese Buddhism all the Beings Non-Beings and relationships between

BeingsNon-Beings are unified with the Universal Mind Buddha Buddha says ―Banruo

Boruomi (Buddha 2007) Banruo is wisdom like a hard and pure diamond piercing

through illusions and reach the world of truth namely Boruomi

Everything is transient interdependent and void (no-self) only a manifestation of mind

one needs to realize the original identification with the Universal Mind and replace non-

enlightenment with enlightenment to escape the endless transmigration of cause and

effect This extrication is called nirvana (Feng 1983)

The ―Enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism is different from the ―Cognition framed in

Western culture Because men are already unified with Buddha enlightenment is a

process of self-realization of this fact and the unspeakable wisdom is deep in the mind

whereas in Christianity men are separated from God salvation is from Christ and the

gospel needs to be proclaimed Moreover in Buddhism essence and appearance are one

man should not cling to anything However most Western philosophers (eg Plato)

believe that essence is different from appearance (Gu amp Guo 2015)

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy

In general Chinese philosophies emphasize connections and try to unify everything into

one In space everything is unified in one unit (individuals in society or BeingsNon-

beingsrelationships in universe) in time every event is in one process In contrary

western philosophies concern themselves more with atoms in space or cause and effect

in time (Gu amp Guo 2015) Correspondingly Eastern understandings of wisdom

emphasize both analytical and synthetic domains whereas only analytical domains in

Western understandings (Takahashi 2000)

However most Mainland Chinese nowadays may be unfamiliar or disagree with these

profound Chinese philosophies due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China

12

in modern history

5 Modern history of China

Since the painful collision with Western culture in the First Opium War (1839-42)

Mainland of China has undergone a series of historic events that may seriously affect the

transmission of Chinese traditions In general numerous defeats by foreigners especially

Westerners helped Chinese people to reflect upon their own traditions and begin to

realize that Chinese culture is not superior to other cultures especially Western culture

Thus they began to critique their own culture and learn from people in other cultures

especially the Westerners (science philosophy politics etc) It should be noted that

Communism was also from the West and the Communists have governed Mainland of

China (not Taiwan) since 1949

A brief account of modern history of China is given below It should be noted that the

historical account is inevitably biased due to the authorlsquos education life experience

political beliefs etc Nevertheless I endeavor to present a history that is probably known

by most Mainland Chinese

51 Before the Cultural Revolution

A history textbook in Mainland of China will claim that China was repeatedly invaded by

foreigners at the beginning of the modern period (see Ministry of Education in China

2003) The British navy easily defeated China in the First Opium War of 1839 and in

1860 Beijings Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned to the ground by British

and French troops in 1895 Taiwan was ceded to Japan after Chinalsquos defeat in the Battle

of the Yellow Sea in 1900 European powers along with the United States Russia and

Japan seized Beijing coercing the Qing government into paying them 675 million

pounds in indemnity and signing protocols unfair for China (Weatherley amp Rosen 2013)

Angered by its weakness and corruption the Mainland Chinese populace mdashled by Dr

Sun Yat-sen founder of the Chinese Nationalist Partymdash overthrew the Qing government

in 1911 (Fairbank Twitchett amp Feuerwerker 1986) However Sun Yat-sen was unable to

create a government capable of controlling the political situation in Mainland of China

13

Warlords supported by different foreign powers fought against each other leading

Mainland of China into seemingly endless turbulence Eventually Sun Yat-sen built the

Nationalist Partylsquos own army and allied with the Chinese Communist party and the

USSR was preparing to defeat the warlords and reunify China when Sun Yat-sen died

suddenly in 1925 (about the time the oldest of the older generation participants in study 2

was born)

Fulfilling Sun Yat-senlsquos dream the Northern Expedition began from Guangzhou in 1926

the Nationalist Party established its Capital in Nanjing in April 1927 confronting the

Beiyang Government established by the warlords in Beijing In 1928 the Nationalist

party captured Beijing and the warlord in the Northeast of China subsequently declared

his loyalty to the Nanjing government and the Northern Expedition ended however the

Chinese Nationalist Party and Chinese Communist Party had turned against each other

since 1927 and the war between these two parties went on In 1931 the Communist party

established its capital in Ruijin (a Hakka city in the south of China) defying the Nanjing

government in the same year the Japanese invaded Mainland of China The Japanese

had conquered the whole of Northeast China by 1932

In 1936 the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party decided to end

the civil war and join forces to fight against the Japanese The war against the Japanese

was extremely difficult almost one third of Mainland of Chinalsquos territory had been

invaded by Japan (including Beijing which was captured by the Japanese in 1937 and

was not reclaimed until 1945 by the Nationalist party) After Japan surrendered and

returned Taiwan to China in 1945 civil war in China between the Chinese Nationalist

Party and the Chinese Communist Party resumed almost immediately The Communist

Party captured Beijing from the Nationalist party in January 1949 and on October 1st of

the same year the leader of the Communist Party Mao Zedong announced the foundation

of Peoplelsquos Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing In December 1949 Chiang Kai-shek

with his government fled to Taiwan (Fairbank et al 1986) (This was about the time the

youngest of the older generation participants in study 2 was born) Taiwan has been

separated from the Mainland of China since that time

14

After another difficult war in Korea against the United States and its allies (1950-1953)

(for the details see Blair 1987) the Mainland Chinese Communist Party launched

communist reform throughout Mainland of China Communist ideology was proclaimed

private businesses were appropriated as national assets lands were taken from the

landlords and divided among peasants and collective farms were built (MacFarquhar

1991) Chairman Mao wished to build a socialist country for the proletariat however

after he retired from the position of Chairman in 1959 he was disappointed to find

traditional ideas reappear in contemporary literature and the Communist Party suffered

from corruption and bureaucracy Nevertheless these realities did not diminish Maolsquos

―communist dream instead he launched the Cultural Revolution (MacFarquhar 1991)

52 Cultural Revolution

From its beginning in 1966 to its end ten years later the Cultural Revolution is

considered Mainland of Chinalsquos most turbulent time after the founding of the Peoplelsquos

Republic (MacFarquhar 1991) The reason for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

is still debatable but many historians believe that Mao wanted to prevent bureaucracy

revisionism and capitalism that he thought was developing in Khrushchevlsquos USSR

(MacFarquhar 1991) Mao was especially skeptical of the ―deterioration of the central

communist leaders such as Chairman Liu Shaoqi (whom Mao suspected of revisionism

he was persecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution)

Besides many communist leaders numerous innocent scholars who were (or seemed)

unenthusiastic about Maolsquos communist ideology were persecuted during the Cultural

Revolution by Maolsquos loyal followers the ―Red Guards mostly made up of passionate

youths (MacFarquhar 1991) The Red Guards considered Maolsquos Quotations (―Red

Precious Book 「红宝书」) almost as a sacred text and were strongly against anything

related to traditional ideologies such as Confucianism Daoism or Buddhism They were

responsible for the destruction of many national treasures and historic art

Chinese culture and education suffered most during the Cultural Revolution and its

impact has been believed to be long-lasting (MacFarquhar 1991) The youthful spirit of

the Cultural Revolution differed from Chinese tradition in many ways First it was a

15

dictatorship of the proletariat not the aristocracy Second soldiers were respected while

scholars were belittled Traditional literati were usually peaceful gentle and even soft

(Stokstad 2005) while Mao (although a poet) valued military strategy resorting to

violent revolution to tackle social problems He proclaimed that political power come

from military strength (Mao 1972) In fact popular support from the Peoplelsquos Liberation

Army (PLA) was an important basis for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

Finally Marxist materialism was proclaimed while the traditions such as Confucianism

Daoism and Buddhism were roundly denounced

Unfortunately the Cultural Revolution degenerated into chaos (MacFarquhar 1991) In

1971 Maolsquos long-time comrade and chosen successor Marshal Linmdashwho had

enthusiastically supported the Cultural Revolution (at least on the surface)mdashbetrayed

Mao (MacFarquhar 1991) In 1975 one year before Maolsquos death and the de facto end of

the Cultural Revolution Mao wrote his last poem in which he said ―At that time

anxious about our motherland we comrades were not afraid of being beheaded Now the

whole country is red (communist) but who can guard it The work has not finished yet

my body is tired my hair is white How can you be hardhearted enough to let our life-

long dream be gone with the river (Mao 1996)

53 After the Cultural Revolution

Although repeatedly attacked Deng Xiaoping survived the Cultural Revolution to launch

economic reform his ―Reform and Opening started in 1978 has generated rapid

economic growth in Mainland of China since the 1980s (MacFarquhar 1991) The

Cultural Revolution was officially decried The public image of Mao became much more

realistic especially after Denglsquos compromising comments on Maolsquos life his

achievements before the foundation of Peoplelsquos Republic of China and his mistakes in his

late life especially during the Cultural Revolution Moreover Confucianism Daoism

and Buddhism are increasingly appreciated as demonstrated by the growing popularity of

the books about Chinese traditions such as Confucianism (eg Yu 2006) Meanwhile

religions such as Christianity Buddhism and Taoism are recovering after the loosening of

earlier restrictions put in place by the Communist Party (Yang 2006)

16

There are many fundamental changes in current society of Mainland China

First new social classes such as owners of private companies emerged after the

economic reform changing the previous simply layered social structure made up of

famers workers and scholars Meanwhile cooperation rather than conflict between

different classes is emphasized (Lu 2004) Consistently social interaction and social

relationship (关系) are increasingly appreciated The social ability of modern Mainland

Chinese youths is believed to be higher than that of their parents (Huang Deng Chen amp

Lu 2009) However this 关系 also has negative implications For example people who

have connections with governing officials such as the politicianslsquo relatives usually get

advantages in the competition of the immature markets and occupy most social resources

Corruption among the political officials moreover is commonplace Correspondingly

the current income levels in current China are overwhelmingly imbalanced the managers

form the top class of Mainland Chinese society which according to surveys in Shenzhen

and Hefei (Lu 2004) earn 15 times of the income of the workmen who are at the bottom

of the social hierarchy and are often belittled This situation is totally different from that

in Maolsquos age when workmen formed the upper class and were greatly respected Second

knowledge and techniques especially scientific knowledge and techniques are becoming

more and more important Therefore scholars and scientists are more and more

respected Third with the opening up of Mainland China to the outside world Mainland

Chinese society is becoming more and more international and multi-cultural art

literature and philosophy have been flooding into Mainland of China from Hong Kong

Taiwan Korea Japan the United States etc This trend is intensified by the prevalence of

the internet all over China Fourth the one-child policy was implemented Most youths

are the only child or of just one of two children in a family and thus enjoy a luxury of

resources that had not been available to their parents

With such dramatic changes in society there are tremendous gaps between the mentalities

of current Mainland Chinese youths and their parents they are much more

individualistic open-minded critical adventurist and fact-based (not as interested in

theory and ideology as their parents once were during Maolsquos age) legally conscious

interested in public affairs but not so much in social morality caring about the protection

17

of the environment fond of fun rather than being serious (Huang et al 2009) Western

ideas such as freedom and democracy are much more appreciated meanwhile some

negative values such as worshiping financial power and material consumption are also

more common among current Mainland Chinese youth than among their parents

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture

Wisdom studies in non-Western cultures mostly involve Japan and India Very little has

been done in China The Berlin Wisdom criteria were applied in a study to rate a

Mainland Chinese citylsquos elderly peoplelsquos psychological adaptation level which was

found to be significantly positively correlated with their life satisfaction (Weidong 2006)

An opinion paper discussed differences between Chinese and Western practical wisdom

in management and concluded that both value compassion (Opdebeeck amp Habisch

2011) a survey on the wit and wisdom of Mainland Chinese tour guides merely

illustrated tour guideslsquo practical wisdom which was barely a necessary ingredient of a

good life (Dioko Harrill amp Cardon 2013) Bang and Zhou (2014) studied how Ardeltlsquos

(2003) Three-dimensional wisdom Scale related to development of ego identity among

Mainland Chinese undergraduate university students and identified a positive correlation

None of these studies has been specifically focused on wisdom among Mainland Chinese

Yang (2001 2007 2008a 2008b 2008c 2014a) has studied the conception of wisdom in

Chinese culture in depth Yang chose 智慧 as the corresponding Chinese word for

―wisdom and reviewed the development of the meaning of 智慧 in Chinese history 智

慧 is mostly about personal characters especially about cognitive ability and judgments

With the spread of Buddhism in China 智慧 incorporated the components of wisdom in

Hindu culture ability to transcend laws in universe and pierce through transient

phenomenon in this world in order to realize ultimate truth In modern Chinese language

智 and 慧 are very similar in meaning (see httpwwwzdicnet) 智 emphasizes

more intelligence wisdom and resourcefulness 慧 is closer to wisdom (Banruo) in

Buddhism

In an empirical study Taiwanese Chinese who had been nominated as wise exemplars

18

were asked to describe wise decisions and actions in their own lives (Yang 2008c)

Several common themes emerged 1 ―striving for common good by helping others and

making major contributions to society (n = 79 36) 2 achieving a satisfactory state of

life (n = 55 25) 3 developing and determining life paths (n = 37 17) 4 resolving

difficult problems at work (n = 30 14) and 5 doing the right thing in the face of

adversity (n = 19 9) (p 286) In another study Yang (2014b) measured wisdom

among Taiwanese Chinese by methods of other-rating transcripted interviews and self-

report survey in her model wisdom is a real-life process including three components

connected together cognitive integration amp action embodiment amp positive effects for self

and others Yanglsquos model is featured by Chinese philosophy traditions such as emphasis

on integration in space and connection of events in one process Moreover the

component ―action embodiment is missing in most Western models corresponding to

the difference between Chinese and Western philosophy traditions

Besides Yang Chen and his colleagues (Chen Cheng Wu amp Hsueh 2014) applied the

grounded theory method to study Taiwanese Chinese educatorslsquo interpersonal and

intrapersonal perspectives on wisdom and identified four core components of wisdom

―intrapsychic integration ―actions in service of problem solving and ideal

implementation and ―positive results and feedback and adjustments (p 425)

However these findings may not be generalized to Mainland Chinese due to the

difference of culture between Mainland of China and Taiwan Taiwan was ceded from

China to Japan for 50 years after 1895 and was influenced by Japanese culture (Yang

2008a) Moreover Taiwan was governed by Chinese Nationalist party which revived

Chinese traditions through many political and cultural events after 1949 whereas

Mainland of China was governed by the Chinese Communist party and experienced

communist reforms and the 10-year Cultural Revolution attacking Chinese traditions

(MacFarquhar 1991)

19

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth

1 Introduction

11 Choosing Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese

Due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China through the modern history (see

Chapter 1 Section 6) the culture in Mainland of China could be very different from that

in Taiwan Therefore a prototype of wisdom among Mainland Chinese may be different

from that among Taiwanese Chinese Bang and Zhou (2014) believed that a prototype of

wisdom in Chinese culture was congruent with that in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model thus they

conducted a survey among some Mainland Chinese with the three-dimensional wisdom

scale However factor analysis identified a four dimensional structure (Non-dualistic

thinking ―Perspective-taking ―Non-resentment ―Empathy)

In order to test whether Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model or Bang and Zhoulsquos

four-dimensional wisdom model could represent wisdom among Mainland Chinese a

self-report wisdom measure was conducted among 100 Mainland Chinese youth

12 Validity tests of Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure

In order to test whether a wisdom measure is valid researchers could propose several

correlates of wisdom based on theories If the wisdom correlates measured by some

established measurements are significantly correlated with the wisdom measured then

the wisdom measurelsquos validity is testified For our study we chose four wisdom

correlates cognitive intelligence emotional intelligence empathy and prosocial

personality traits (high extroversion low psychoticism and low neuroticism) for reasons

below

Studies of implicit theories of wisdom in North America (ie the lay peoplelsquos theory of

wisdom) revealed that cognitive ability and reasoning were regarded as the most

important factors underlying wisdom (Sternberg 1990) Cognitive ability was found to

be one of the core themes of Western implicit theories of wisdom (Bluck amp Gluumlck 2005)

20

Besides cognitive ability wise people are thought to be good at understanding otherslsquo

emotions (Stange amp Kunzmann 2009) Adams (1998) simply regarded ―wisdom as the

classical version of ―emotional intelligence In a previous study a positive correlation

between wisdom measured by three-dimensional wisdom scale and emotional

intelligence measured by Wong and Lawlsquos emotional intelligence scale was

demonstrated and the effect of wisdom on happiness was reduced to emotional

intelligence (Zacher McKenna amp Rooney 2013) However wisdom should not be

reduced to emotional intelligence because emotional intelligence does not guarantee pro-

social personality as we see in some highly emotionally-intelligent criminals (Hampson

2012) and sly Nazi politicians (Shirer 2011) Understanding of otherslsquo suffering does not

necessary lead to compassion for others Therefore other-related wisdom defined as

empathic Concern for Others (Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013) is often added as an

important attribute for distinguishing wisdom from individual intelligence

Wisdom is interpreted by many researchers as a combination of intelligence and

character the ability to strive for the welfare of individuals and communities and the

willingness to do it (Pasupathi 2001 Stange amp Kunzmann 2009 Staudinger Doumlrner amp

Mickler 2005) Therefore we hypothesized that wise people not only possessed high

cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence but also empathy toward others and

prosocial personality traits such as low psychoticism low neuroticism and high

extroversion

2 Hypotheses

Reliabilities of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale as well as the subscales of

cognitive reflective and affective dimensions of wisdom should be ideal because

wisdom among Mainland Chinese embodies cognitive reflective and affective

components as hypothesized in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model

If Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional scale were valid for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese the wisdom score should be positively correlated with cognitive intelligence

emotional intelligence empathic concern and prosocial personality traits measured by

scales whose reliability and validity among Mainland Chinese were established in

21

previous studies eg Raven Matrix Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence scale the

Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Mainland Chinese

version of the shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the Ethic Committees at Zhejiang Normal

University and the University of Toronto

31 Participants

Ninety-seven Mainland Chinese undergraduate students (46 males aged from 18 to 23

years M = 1971 SD =119 years) at Zhejiang Normal University Jinhua Chinamdash a city

with a population of 5361600 at the 2010 census (―Jinhua 2014) Twelve were

Buddhists 3 were Christians 1 was Muslim 1 was favorable towards all kinds of

religious belief and the other 79 were atheists

32 Material

321 Visual basic program

All the items and pictures used in the scales and tests were presented on a computer one

by one in a home-made Visual Basic Program This program not only made the

characters easily readable but also prevented potential influence between adjacent scale

items

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS)

All the instructions and items were translated into Chinese and then reverse-translated to

English by native Mainland Chinese speakers and compared for accuracy to the original

English items by native English speakers The discrepancy was then corrected and this

double-reverse translation procedure repeated until the Chinese version scale was

consistent with the English version scale

22

For more details of this scale see Chapter 1 Section 23

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS)

The Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) includes four subscales self-

emotion appraisal other-emotion appraisal utilization of emotion and regulation of

emotion scales (Law Wong amp Song 2004) Each subscale has four items Self-emotion

appraisal and other-emotion appraisal refer to the abilities to understand emotion of self

and others respectively Utilization of emotion refers to utilizing emotion of self to guide

actions Regulation of emotion refers to controlling emotion of self The participants rate

the accordance of the description in the items to themselves on a 5-point scale

A previous study in China has demonstrated that the WLEIS was a better predictor of job

performance than the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test developed in

the US (Law Wong Huang amp Li 2008) Besides the WLEIS was testified as reliable

among 680 Mainland Chinese university students (Li Saklofske Bowden Yan amp Fung

2012)

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)

This scale measures four aspects of empathy perspective taking fantasy empathic

concern and personal distress (Siu amp Shek 2005) There are 28 items altogether seven

items for each subscale The Perspective-Taking scale assesses the liability to

spontaneously adopting perspectives of others the Fantasy scale measures the liability to

transpose self imaginatively into the feelings and actions of fictitious characters The

Empathic Concern scale measures other-oriented feelings of sympathy and care for the

suffering individuals The Personal Distress scale measures self-oriented feelings of

personal anxiety and unease in tense interpersonal situations (Davis 1983) The

participants indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or

―strongly agree to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree

The scale was testified as reliable and valid among 580 Mainland Chinese participants

(Siu amp Shek 2005)

23

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

The Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) has 48 items 12

items for each of the following sub-scales Psychoticism Extroversion

Neuroticismemotional instability and LieSocial desirability scales Psychoticism is

tendency to develop a psychotic symptom or anti-social behaviors Extraversion is

tendency to be active in social activities Neuroticism or emotion stability measures

individualslsquo emotional instability and the tendency to develop negative feelings The Lie

scale contains questions on which individuals tend to lie for social desirability (Eysenck

amp Eysenck 1975) The items are questions about the participants and the participants

respond ―yes or ―no to these questions

This scale was testified as reliable and valid among 8637 Mainland Chinese participants

(Mingyi Guocheng Rongchun amp Shen 2000)

426 Progressive Raven Matrix

There are 35 Progressive Raven Matrix items altogether used in this study In each item

the participants need to identify the missing element that completes a pattern on a 33

matrix Raven Matrix was found to be reliable and valid in measuring cognitive

intelligence among several cultures including Chinese culture (Raven 2000)

33 Procedure

The following procedure was completed individually in the Psychology laboratory at

Zhejiang Normal University The participants were left alone in a quiet room to finish the

scales and tests

All the participants completed the three-dimensional Wisdom Scale and the WLEIS In

addition 31 participants (12 males 18 to 22 years M = 1958 years SD =113 years)

finished Progressive Raven Matrix another 66 participants (34 males 18 to 23 years M

= 1977 years SD =122 years) completed the Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal

Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Mainland Chinese version of the shortened Eysenck

personality scale (EPQ-RS) Considering fatigue effect the participants who finished

24

Raven Matrix were not instructed to finish IRI and EPQ-RS

4 Results

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

A reliability test was conducted for the three-dimensional wisdom scale and its subscales

based on the data from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs

alpha of the whole scale was 070 alpha of the cognitive dimension scale was 065 alpha

of the reflective dimension scale was 049 alpha of the affective dimension scale was

030 Therefore the inter-items reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a

whole was acceptable However inter-items reliability of neither the reflective nor

affective dimensional subscale was acceptable all r lt 060

The final score of the three-dimensional wisdom scale ranged from 245 to 392 (M =

320 SD = 026) cognitive wisdom ranged from 207 to 414 (M = 334 SD = 040)

An inter-item reliability analysis was also conducted to test the four-factor structure

proposed by Bang and Zhou Cronbachs alpha of ―Non-dualistic thinking items was

053 alpha of ―Perspective-taking items was 068 alpha of ―Non-resentment items was

037 alpha of ―Empathy items was 028 Therefore only the ―Perspective-taking

subscale has acceptable inter-items reliability the four-factor structure proposed by Bang

and Zhou was not confirmed

42 Factor analysis

Combining the 3DWS data in this study with another 3DWS data of 50 Mainland

Chinese youths (22 males aged from 20 to 30 M = 2404 SD =242) collected in

another study we got data of 148 Mainland Chinese youthslsquo three-dimensional wisdom

items scores Factor analysis using a principal axis factoring analysis (the same method

used by Bang and Zhou) and an oblique rotation method (Direct Oblimin) was conducted

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was acceptable (060) however the

factor analysis extracted 14 factors explaining only 500 variance Moreover the

25

rotation failed to converge in 25 iterations Therefore we quitted the exploratory factor

analysis

Later we fixed the number of factors at three however the extracted three factors only

explained a 198 variance And then we fixed the number of factors at four but the

extracted four factors only explained a 236 variance Therefore there may be more

than four factors that underlie the participantslsquo performance in Ardeltlsquo self reporting

three-dimensional wisdom scale

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores

The 31 participants who took the Raven Matrix test had solved 7 to 34 matrixes (M =

2126 SD = 671) Bivariate correlation analysis between the Raven Matrix test score and

the three-dimensional wisdom score revealed no significant correlation r = 016 p =

038

We hypothesized that cognitive dimension of wisdom should be positively correlated

with the Raven matrix score even if the total wisdom score was not so however the

correlation of the Raven score with the score on cognitive wisdom was also not

significant r = 022 p = 024

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale

A reliability test was conducted for the WLEIS scale and its subscales based on the data

from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs alpha of the total scale

was 080 alpha of ―self-emotion appraisal was 061 alpha of ―other-emotion appraisal

was 080 alpha of ―use of emotion was 075 alpha of ―regulation of emotion was 082

Therefore inter-items reliability of the whole scale and all the sub-scales were

acceptable

The score of the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale ranged from 238 to 475 (M

= 341 SD =041) the score of ―self-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 475 (M =

355 SD =056) the score of ―other-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 500 (M =

26

352 SD =060) the score of ―use of emotion ranged from 200 to 480 (M = 336 SD

=064) the score of ―regulation of emotion ranged from 100 to 500 (M = 320 SD

=066)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that the wisdom score was significantly positively

correlated with WLEIS score r = 047 p lt 0001 and with all the subscale scores all r gt

024 all p lt 005

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the ―perspective-taking scale was 064 the alpha of the ―fantasy

scale was 069 the alpha of the ―empathic concern scale was 059 and the alpha of the

―personal distress scale was 070 Therefore the ―empathic concern scalelsquos inter-item

reliability was marginally acceptable for calculating the ―empathic concern score and the

other scaleslsquo inter-item reliabilities were acceptable

The score of ―perspective-taking ranged from 229 to 457 (M = 338 SD =051)

―fantasy ranged from 157 to 471 (M = 337 SD =063) ―empathic concern ranged

from 229 to 471 (M = 346 SD =049) ―personal distress ranged from 157 to 457 (M

= 330 SD =053)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that score of ―fantasy and ―perspective taking

were significantly positively correlated with wisdom score r = 026 p = 0039 r = 046

p lt 0001 respectively Other correlations were not significant all p gt 005

46 Eysenck personality scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the Psychoticism scale was 021 the alpha of the Extroversion scale

was 071 the alpha of the Neuroticism scale was 075 the alpha of the LieSocial

desirability scale was 059 Therefore the inter-item reliabilities of the Extroversion and

Neuroticism scales were ideal for calculating the total scores and that of the LieSocial

desirability scale was marginally acceptable

27

The Extroversion score ranged from 0 to 12 (M =663 SD =337) the Neuroticism score

ranged from 1 to 12 (M = 695 SD = 291) the LieSocial desirability score ranged from

0 to 11 (M = 454 SD =224) The LieSocial desirability score was not significantly

positively correlated with the Extroversion or Neuroticism score all r lt 01 all p gt 005

Therefore the Extroversion and Neuroticism scores were not biased by social

desirability

Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that the Extraversion score was significantly

positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 036 p = 0003 whereas the

Neuroticism score was significantly negatively correlated with the wisdom score r = -

032 p = 0008 However it should be noted that the Liesocial desirability score was

significantly positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 026 p = 0037 but not

with any other self-report score (eg emotional intelligence empathy) all r lt 01 all p gt

005

5 Discussion

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model

Although the reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a whole was acceptable

(Cronbachs alpha = 070) the inter-items reliabilities of reflective wisdom and affective

wisdom were quite poor This result revealed that the three-factor structure of wisdom

proposed by Ardelt may not exist among Mainland Chinese Indeed Bang and Zhou

(2014) also failed to find a three-factor structure of wisdom Moreover the four-factor

structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was also not testified in our study Therefore a

different wisdom model may be necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese A qualitative method such as an implicit theory study of wisdom among

Mainland Chinese may be helpful for exploring the structure of wisdom among Mainland

Chinese which was fulfilled in Study 2 of this thesis

52 Validity test results

Our hypothesis about wisdom related to cognitive intelligence was not confirmed by the

correlation result Perhaps wisdom is more about cognition of grand objects (eg

28

meaning of life and human nature) and thus the ability to recognize the pattern of matrix

is not related to the cognitive dimension of wisdom In fact a previous study has shown

that an increase of crystalized intelligence a component of wisdom was not related to

fluid intelligence (Christensen Batterham amp Mackinnon 2013) Wisdom may be more

related to intelligence in the domains about life in general which is essentially different

from intelligence in other domains such as that measured by the Raven matrix

Our hypotheses about positive correlation of wisdom with emotional intelligence

empathy (―perspective taking ―fantasy) and prosocial personality traits

(―extroversion ―emotion stability) were confirmed by the correlation results (Note that

the social desirability score was not correlated with any of these wisdom correlates and

thus these significant correlations can not be accounted for by the effect of social

desirability) Overall our results suggested that wisdom was embodied in reasonably

handling emotion of self and others (appraising otherslsquo emotion utilizing and regulating

emotion emotional stability) and taking care of others taking otherslsquo perspectives

transposing oneself imaginatively into the feelings and actions of others (related to

―fantasy) and being active in social interaction (―extraversion) However no cause-

effect relation can be derived from these correlation results These factors could be either

the outcomes or the sources of wisdom Eg extraversion could be the outcome of

wisdom wiser people are more likely to interact with others because they appreciate

more about the value of social networking On the other hand extraversion could

contribute to wisdom social interaction provides individuals more opportunities for

learning from others Likewise emotional stability may be important for reflective

wisdom while emotional stability could be an outcome of wisdom Individuals of high

neuroticism may be weak at reflecting upon their self-images due to their easily irritable

temperament preventing them from accepting ideas harmful for their self-image while

wise people are not self-centralized and thus emotionally stable Finally all these

potential components of wisdom need to be integrated For example an extravert without

empathy for others may interact with others superficially without being aware of otherslsquo

inner feelings and thoughts and thus wonlsquot accumulate experience of some fundamental

life pragmatics in social life such as painful separation from a beloved person

29

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability

According to Confucianism a Superior Man should examine himself objectively

(Confucius 2009) however the liesocial desirability score was significantly positively

correlated with the score of three-dimensional wisdom This result corresponded to the

proposition of Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) that self-reported measurement of wisdom

may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception wise

individuals are arguably more accurate in self-reflection and thus score lower than those

unwise individuals who have positive bias in their self-reflection In fact a positive

correlation between impression management and scores on some items in the three-

dimensional wisdom scale was demonstrated in a previous study (Taylor Bates amp

Webster 2011) Therefore a method more objective than self-report such as performance

measure is necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland Chinese This problem

is tackled in Study 3 of this thesis

6 Conclusion

Emotional intelligence empathy emotion stability and extraversion were significantly

positively correlated with wisdom measured by Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

For Mainland Chinese wisdom may be embodied in the ability and willingness to

understand and regulate emotion of selves and others in social life However the

structure of wisdom was unclear neither the three-factor structure proposed by Ardelt nor

the four-factor structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was testified Moreover the self-

report wisdom score was significantly positively correlated with social desirability score

Therefore we probably need a different model and a performance measure for wisdom

measurement among Mainland Chinese

30

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

1 Introduction

In order to explore the structure of wisdom ie the potential wisdom components among

Mainland Chinese and build a Mainland Chinese Wisdom model the implicit theory of

wisdom among Mainland Chinese was examined

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners

The implicit theory of wisdom is about the lay peoplelsquos latent understanding of wisdom

or implicit conceptualization of ―wisdom Implicit theory studies typically use one of

two main approaches ―descriptor rating and ―nomination of exemplars (Bluck amp

Gluumlck 2005)

Descriptor rating studies of wisdom The earliest and still most common method of

research on implicit theories of wisdom uses attribute rating (eg Clayton amp Birren

1980 Holliday amp Chandler 1986 Jason et al 2001a Sternberg 1985) Participants first

list attributes they associate with wisdom that are then merged into a master list with

repetitions idiosyncrasies and synonyms removed the master list is then presented to a

second (often larger) sample of participants who rate each attribute for how central it is

to wisdom Multidimensional scaling is then used to extract underlying components from

ratings with dimensions labeled according to their characteristic attributes

Exemplar approaches to implicit theories of wisdom Another way of studying implicit

theories of wisdom is to ask people to nominate individual exemplars of wisdom (eg

Orwoll amp Perlmutter 1990 Takayama 2002) Nomination studies of wisdom ask people

to nominate someone they consider wise from history or from their personal

acquaintance Historical exemplars of wisdom are not universal For example Jewish

Canadians frequently nominated Gandhi as a historical exemplar of wisdom among a

wide range of political and intellectual figuresmdashmany of importance to Judaism like

Moses However Gandhi was nominated only once in Pakistan with 60 of participants

31

choosing the Prophet Mohammed (Ferrari Kahn Benayon amp Nero 2011)

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories

Gluumlck and Bluck (2005 see also Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011) identified five core themes

of Western implicit theories of wisdom in their careful review of all Descriptor rating

studies of wisdom completed to that time

1 Cognitive ability (profound knowledge amp reasoning about novel problems)

2 Insight (willingness and ability to ponder deeply on complex issues)

3 Reflective attitude (do think profoundly about self others and the world from many

different perspectives to be self-critical and not biased by emotion of self)

4 Concern for Others beyond close family and friends (self-transcendent concern and

compassion)

5 Problem-solving skills (applying knowledge to concrete problems)

Later Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) summarized these as core components of wisdom in

subjective theories and then added another three components of wisdom from some

expertslsquo subjective theories especially those for some self-report wisdom scales

Spirituality and connectedness to nature to be spiritual in life and enjoy a connection

with the divine and care for the natural environment (Jason et al 2001b) Emancipatory

nature of wisdom interests in self-critical reflection and autonomy and knowledge that

increases the freedom of the self and provides opportunities for self-development

(Sternberg 1990) Humor the ability to see comical components even in serious

situations (Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011)

13 This study

Given the shortcomings of self-report wisdom measure as demonstrated in study 1 we

conducted another study based on the secondary data from a previous study to explore the

potential factors underlying wisdom in Mainland Chinese culture The conceptions of

32

wisdom among two generations of Mainland Chinese were examined The older

generation had experienced the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when they were

emerging or middle-aged adults (18 to 42 years old in 1966) whereas the younger

generation was born after the Cultural Revolution As far as we know this is the first

study on the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese

As mentioned earlier Mainland China underwent the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-

1976) during which the traditional wisdom ideologies of Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism were fiercely denounced nationwide while Maolsquos Communist ideology was

proclaimed instead (Yang 2006) The Cultural Revolution provides a unique opportunity

to study an event that disrupted transmission of Chinese traditions People who lived

through this time may incorporate elements of communist ideology into their conceptions

of wisdom

2 Hypotheses

We hypothesized that people who had experienced the Cultural Revolution should have

an implicit theory of wisdom different from that among those born after the Cultural

Revolution conceptual wisdom components related to Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism should be less prevalent whereas conceptual wisdom components related to

Communism should be more prevalent among the older generation than among the

younger generation

Parallel hypothesis

Similar to all cross-section studies cohort effect is mixed with age effect and thus not

identifiable People who had experienced the Cultural Revolution may later learn the

revived traditions and become even more affected by these traditions due to their greater

experience of the revived traditions through age Therefore conceptual wisdom

components related to Chinese traditions may be more prevalent among the elders than

among the youths

33

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the ethics committee at the University of

Toronto

31 Participants

One hundred Mainland Chinese adults were interviewed in Beijing in 2008 half were

native-born Mainland Chinese elders living in the Beijing area (28 males aged from 60

to 84 M = 7166 SD =599) They were born between 1924 and 1948 and had

experienced the Cultural Revolution and were living independently or with family around

the time of interview Among them 15 participants had not finished high school 12

participants had high school or equivalent diploma 7 participants had some college

education and 16 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent degree one was Buddhist 1

was Muslim 16 named their religious affiliation as Communism and the other 32 did not

indicate any religious affiliation

The other 50 were students at Beijing Normal University (22 males aged from 20 to 30

M = 2404 SD =242) born between 1978 and 1988 after the Cultural Revolution which

ended in 1976 Among this generation 18 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent

degree 31 participants had a Masterlsquos degree and one participant a doctorate one was

Buddhist 1 was Muslim 2 were Christians and 2 named their religious affiliation as

Communism the other 44 did not indicate any religious affiliation

32 Material

Recorder printed ―Interview guide etc

33 Procedure

Participants were interviewed individually in a quiet room They nominated several

wisdom exemplars from among historic figures and their acquaintances and then

34

explained why they regarded the exemplars as wise how the wisdom exemplars had

become wise and what the definition of wisdom is The Mainland Chinese term used for

wisdom is the same as that in Yangs study with Taiwanese Chinese Zhi Hui (智慧)

(Yang 2008)

More specifically it included the following questions

(1) Please take a moment to think of the wisest person you know of in history among

your acquaintances Who is this person and what makes them so wise What is one story

you know about this person or one thing they said or did that shows them to be wise

We included the following probes ―What was wise about that What might some other

person have said or done We also asked ―Has this person affected or inspired you in

your own life Is it possible for you to become more like them Are there any wise

moments in your life

(2) Finally we asked about the participantslsquo own definition of wisdom ―Now that we

have had a chance to talk about it what is wisdom What does wisdom mean to you

The interviews were recorded and transcribed

The nomination of wisdom exemplars may reveal who had influenced the participantslsquo

conceptualization of wisdom The reasons for the participantslsquo nomination were arguably

determined by their conceptualization of wisdom We made this arrangement because the

conceptualization of wisdom is not easy for lay people to articulate and asking questions

relevant to wisdom before addressing their definition of wisdom could activate the

neural-network carrying information related to wisdom conceptualization However the

participants sometimes talked about something unrelated to their definitions of wisdom

which is inevitable because it is very difficult for common people to focus on the topic

―wisdom throughout the whole conversation Nevertheless when the participants

responded to our last question ie the definition of wisdom they were mostly focused

on their conceptualizations of wisdom Therefore we chose to code their responses to the

last question

In total 92 Mainland Chinese participants (47 male aged from 20 to 84 M = 4722 SD

35

=2408) reported their definition of wisdom including 47 youths (27 males 20 to 30

years M = 2409 years SD =246years) and 45 elders (20 males 60 to 84 years M =

7138 years SD =607years) Thematic analysis using a grounded theory method

allowed us to code these participantslsquo answers and discover common themes of the

Mainland Chinese participantslsquo definition of wisdom After these common themes were

found 2 Taiwanese Chinese research assistants coded the transcripts again and identified

all the common themes we found without discovering any new theme Finally a

codebook was developed based on these common themes and then two trained Mainland

Chinese coders coded the transcripts again according to this codebook Coder agreement

and Kappa values on each category of this codebook were analyzed just as in a previous

study (Gluumlck et al 2005) Disagreements were later resolved by discussion between

these coders and then the frequency of each category coded was calculated

4 Results

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants

Participants made a total of 180 nominations of historical wise exemplars nominating 64

historic figures The mostly frequently nominated historic wisdom exemplars were

political or military leaders (ie emperors presidents premiers civil officials and

generals) nominated by 74 participants The second most frequently nominated group of

historic wisdom exemplars were scholars (ie philosophers literary authors poets and

historians) nominated by 21 participants Following these two groups of historic wisdom

exemplars were scientists nominated by four participants and then religious leaders

nominated by three participants Buddha nominated by a Christian Jesus nominated by a

Buddhist Muhammad nominated by an atheist

The leaders were regarded by the participants as wise mostly for their personal abilities

and contribution to their society The leaderslsquo personal abilities included leadership in

military or political events talents in ruling organizations and states social interaction

organizational and leadership skills such as understanding otherslsquo mentality and

managing the talented persons The leaderslsquo contribution to their society included

36

recovering the order of the society and showing compassion for the poor The scholars

were regarded as wise mostly for their mentality cognitive ability cognitive traits

cognitive outcome (eg works of literature) and virtue teaching wisdom to the public

self-transformation and transcendent personalities The wisdom of leaders emphasized

more on changing the external world ie society whereas the wisdom of scholars on

transforming the internal world ie mind

Table 1 shows a chronological ranked ordering of the 24 historic figures who received at

least 2 nominations as wise exemplars (All other figures received only a single

nomination and thus was not reported here) It should be noted that 19 of these 24

nominees were Chinese 15 of the 24 were political or military leadersmdashsome dating

back over 2000 years to the unification of China as a centralized country by Qin Shi

Huang (260ndash210 BC) the first emperor of China mdash through to the 17th

c but then we

found a gap of almost 200 years until 6 leaders within living memory of the older

generation In addition to these political or military leaders 8 were scholars and only 1

was a religious figure (Muhammad)

37

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Wisdom Exemplarparticipants Youth Elder Total

Lao-tzu Legendary founder of Daoism Zhou dynasty (6th c BC) 2 0 2

Confucius (551ndash479 BC) Ancient educator and political advisor

founder of Confucianism

9 1 10

Plato (429ndash347 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Aristotle (384ndash322 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Emperor Qin [Shi Huang] (260ndash210 BC) First emperor Qin dynasty 3 4 7

Emperor Gaozu (256 or 247-195 BC) First emperor Han dynasty 1 1 2

Emperor Wu (156 ndash 87 BC) Seventh emperor Han dynasty 2 0 2

Sima Qian (145 or 135-86 BC) Ancient historian in Han dynasty 2 0 2

Cao Cao (155-220) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

1 2 3

Zhu Geliang (181-234) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

6 6 12

Muhammad (570 - 632) Prophet and founder of Islam 2 0 2

Emperor Taizong (598-649) Emperor Tang dynasty 3 3 6

Emperor Wu Zetian (624-705) A female emperor in Tang dynasty 1 1 2

Su Shi (1037-1101) Song Dynasty writer poet painter calligrapher

pharmacologist and statesman

4 0 4

Empress Xiao Chuang (1613-1688) Concubine of the Qing Dynasty

ruler Hong Taiji grandmother of Emperor Kangxi

2 0 2

Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) Fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty 3 3 6

Karl Marx (1818-1883) Philosopher 2 0 2

Marie Curie (1867-1934) Scientist 2 0 2

vi

5 Modern history of China middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 12

51 Before the Cultural Revolution 12

52 Cultural Revolution 14

53 After the Cultural Revolution 15

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 17

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 19

11 Choosing Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese 19

12 Validity tests of Ardeltlsquos wisdom measure 19

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 20

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 21

31 Participants 21

32 Material 21

321 Visual basic program 21

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS) 21

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) 22

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) 22

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) 23

426 Progressive Raven Matrix 23

33 Procedure 23

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 24

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom

scale 24

42 Factor analysis 24

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores 25

vii

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale 25

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale 26

46 Eysenck personality scale 26

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 27

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model 27

52 Validity test results 27

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability 29

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 29

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners 30

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories 31

13 This study 31

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 32

Parallel hypothesis 32

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 33

31 Participants 33

32 Material 33

33 Procedure 33

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 35

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 35

42 Generation difference in nomination 38

43 Acquaintance wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 41

44 Mainland Chinese implicit theory of wisdom 42

viii

441 ―Ability in Cognition related to the Western theme ―Cognitive Ability 42

442 ―Ability in Practice an extension of the Western theme ―Problem Solving

Skills 43

443 ―Concern for Others related to the Western theme ―Concern for Others

relevant to Confucianism 43

444 ―Eschewing-world Spirituality similar to the Western theme ―Insight but

framed in Chinese traditions 44

445 ―Positive Mindset missing in the Western implicit theory of wisdom

relevant to the historic turbulence 44

Others 45

45 Conceptual wisdom components and group difference 45

46 Relationship between wisdom exemplar nomination and conceptual wisdom

component 46

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 47

51 Personally known and historical exemplars of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

the generation difference 47

52 The implicit theory of wisdom among our Mainland Chinese participants and the

generation difference 48

53 Effects of Communist ideology on Wisdom conceptualization and Exemplars 53

54 Comparing the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese participants to

that among Westerners 54

55 Comparison between the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

that among Taiwanese Chinese 55

56 Comparing the Mainland Chinese wisdom model with Western wisdom models 56

561 Traditional Berlin Wisdom and Personal wisdom model 56

562 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model 57

563 ―MORE model 58

564 Brief Summary of these comparisons 58

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 59

ix

Chapter 4 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm a performance-based wisdom measure middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

11 Lack of emotional components in previous Berlin Paradigms 61

12 Innovative 2nd person wisdom measurement 63

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

31 Participants 65

32 Material 65

321 Berlin Wisdom paradigm vignettes 65

322 Berlin Wisdom manual (adapted) 65

323 Mainland Chinese wisdom manual 66

324 iMotions - Attention Tool FACET module (version 21) 67

325 Others 68

33 Procedure 68

34 Data analyses 69

341 Wisdom ratings 69

342 Facial expression analysis 69

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 72

41 Reliability of the Berlin and Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 72

42 Correlation between Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings

74

43 Correlation between performance-based and self-report wisdom measures 75

44 Validity test of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 75

441 Correlations with previous scores on wisdom correlates 75

442 Correlations with life satisfaction the following year 77

x

443 Conclusion 77

45 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 77

46 Thematic contents in participantslsquo responses 80

461 Life plan problem ―a friendlsquos unrealizable dream 80

462 Life review problem ―a teacherlsquos unrealized dream 81

463 Responses in the life plan problem rated highestlowest on BerlinMainland

Chinese wisdom rating 82

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 84

51 The role of experience in performance measure of wisdom 84

52 Berlin Wisdom rating was highly consistent with Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating

84

53 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 85

531 Measurement of emotional components of wisdom 85

532 Surprise and wisdom 86

533 Expression of negativepositive emotion may influence ratings on ―Ability in

PracticePositive Mindset 87

Chapter 5 General Discussion and Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

1 Concept of wisdom in a culture lay people VS philosophers middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

2 Universal Wisdom and cultural variation middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

3 Advantages of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 90

4 Limitation of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigmmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 91

5 Potential impacts on Western wisdom studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 92

51 Culture difference and universal wisdom model 92

52 Advantages of performance-based wisdom measure 93

53 The 2nd-person wisdom measure 94

6 General Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 95

xi

References middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 96

Appendicesmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 107

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items 107

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items 111

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm 113

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria 113

41 Criterion 1 Ability in Cognition认知能力 113

42 Criterion 2 Ability in Practice 实践能力 114

43 Criterion 3 Concern for Others 关心他人 115

44 Criterion 4 Eschewing-world Spirituality出世精神 116

45 Criterion 5 Positive Mindset 积极心态 118

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year 119

Copyright Acknowledgements middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 120

xii

List of Tables

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Table 2 Number of the participants mentioned each wisdom component in their definitions of

wisdom

Table 3 Rating of the participantslsquo performance in the life plan problem on each criterion

Table 4 Correlations between the ratings on Berlin and Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

Table 5 Correlations of the ratings on Chinese wisdom criteria with wisdom correlates

Table 6 Proportional time of each category of emotion in each scenario

xiii

List of Figures

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

Figure 2 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

Figure 3 A segment of a participantlsquos evidence value of surprise

xiv

List of Appendices

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year

1

Chapter 1 General introduction

1 Definitions of wisdom

Even though wisdom has become a topic of research in empirical psychology since the

last quarter of the 20th century there is still no scientific consensus on the definition of

wisdom (For a review of the definitions of wisdom see Bangen Meeks amp Jeste 2013)

Modern empirical psychologists generally view wisdom as a mature understanding and

conduct of life especially in difficult situations (Staudinger 2008) Two of the most

widely acknowledged definitions are the Berlin Wisdom researcherslsquo definition of

wisdom as expertise knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000) and Ardeltlsquos (2004) defining wisdom as an ideal type of character that

combines cognitive reflective and affective aspects of personality

Regardless of the difficulty in settling on a definition of it wisdom is believed to be an

important resource for a good life Wisdom provides insights and guidance for people to

lead a meaningful and happy life (Ferrari amp Potworowski 2008) In fact it may be

impossible to define wisdom semantically just as many scientific structures that can only

be represented in certain measures (see Giere 2009) a representation of the structure of

wisdom within a proper measurement may be the best a researcher can do Still this kind

of measurement is meaningful for many reasons both theoretical and practical

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm

The well-established Berlin Wisdom model defines wisdom as expertise and judgment

concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life and ―the pinnacle of insight into the

human condition and about the means and ends of a good life (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 122) rather than personality traits or individual abilities Staudinger (1996) has

further defined wisdom as a social interactive product Balteslsquo understanding of wisdom

2

might have been influenced by the Gestalt cognitive theory originating in Germanymdash

especially that of Koumlhler (1924) who believes that insight based on experience and

understanding of the structure of a situation was inherent to wisdom solving the

pragmatics in a creative way

Nevertheless the full model of the Berlin Wisdom paradigm (as shown in Figure 1) is not

simply about wisdom as expertise in life pragmatics but also about the ontogeny and

function of this life expertise (Baltes amp Smith 2008) Three factors are thought to be

associated with development maintenance and application of wisdom general person

factors (eg cognitive mechanics cognitive style mental health creativity and ego

strength) specific expertise-related factors (eg exposure to life scenarios and significant

life events motivation mentorship) and context (eg age cohort historical period

culture) Furthermore excellence in mind and virtue such as exceptionally good

judgment good advice insightful commentary about difficult and uncertain matters of

life and nonverbal behaviors associated with good conduct emotion regulation and

empathy in interpersonal and group contexts are regarded as necessary

manifestationoutcome of wisdom

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

3

Baltes and his colleagues measured wisdom through a think-aloud procedure testing the

participantslsquo responses in some hypothetical life-scenario situations such as the life-

planning life-monitoring and life-review problem for example ―In reflecting over their

lives people sometimes realize that they have not achieved what they had once planned

to achieve What should onethey do and consider (Staudinger amp Baltes 1996 p 762)

Participants reflected on these questions for a while before they responded by thinking

aloud Their thinking-aloud answers were tape recorded During both the reflection time

and the answering time the interviewer left the room so that participants felt less

constrained in talking about private issues The responses were transcribed and then rated

by 10 raters on five criteria (one criterion for each rater two raters per criterion) which

were developed based on Balteslsquo life-span theory and other cognitive psychologistslsquo

conceptions about the nature of cognitive development and problem solving in highly

complicated and ecological tasks (Staudinger Baltes amp Smith 1994)

The criteria of excellence (expertise) in fundamental pragmatics of life are a two-tiered

family the first level is rich factual (declarative) and procedural knowledge about the

fundamental life pragmatics includes life planning life management and life review the

second level is meta-criteria including understandings of lifespan contextualism

relativism of values and life priorities recognition and management of uncertainty

Factual knowledge includes knowledge of ―human nature life-long development

variations in developmental processes and outcomes interpersonal relations social

norms critical events in life and their possible constellations as well as knowledge about

the coordination of the well-being of oneself and that of others (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 125) Procedural knowledge involves ―strategies and heuristics for dealing with

the meaning and conduct of lifemdashfor example heuristics for giving advice and for the

structuring and weighing of life goals ways to handle life conflicts and life decisions and

knowledge about alternative back-up strategies if development were not to proceed as

expected (p 125) Lifespan contextualism refers to knowledge ―that considers the many

themes and contexts of life (eg education family work friends leisure the public good

of society etc) their interrelations and cultural variations and in addition incorporates a

4

lifetime temporal perspective (p 125-126) Relativism of values and life priorities refers

to ―acknowledgment of and tolerance for value differences and the relativity of the values

held by individuals and society (p 126) Finally the recognition of and management of

uncertainty describes an awareness of ―(a) the validity of human information processing

itself is essentially limited (constrained) (b) individuals have access only to select parts

of reality (c) the future cannot be fully known in advance (p 126)

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm

Charlotte Mickler and Ursula M Staudinger (2008) argued that general wisdom

concerning life in general as measured in the traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm was

different from Personal Wisdom which is an individuallsquos insight into his or her own life

In the Personal Wisdom paradigm the participants think aloud about themselves as a

friend such as their typical behaviors as a friend and their actions in difficult situations

The procedure was similar to that in the traditional Berlin wisdom paradigm however

the transcripted responses were rated on the Personal Wisdom criteria developed based on

the Berlin Wisdom criteria and conceptions of personality maturity in psychology

The Personal Wisdom criteria include two basic criteria (p 788) ―Self-knowledge (deep

insight into oneself and onelsquos own life) ―Growth and self-regulation (heuristics that

helps one to cope with various difficult and challenging situations and to learn from

them) and three meta-criteria ―Interrelating the self (an awareness of the contextual

embeddedness of onelsquos behavior feelings or both and onelsquos biographical embeddedness

dependency on others and the interrelatedness of different self-domains) ―Self-

relativism (―critically appraise their own behavior without losing a basic level of self-

esteem) and ―Tolerance of ambiguity (―ability to recognize and manage the

uncertainties in onelsquos own life and onelsquos own development)

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms

The traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm is a 3rd person perspective wisdom measure

which is not relevant to the participantslsquo personal life and thus not emotionally-engaging

In fact wisdom cannot exist independently of individuals (Ardelt 2004) On the other

5

hand the Personal wisdom paradigm is a 1st-person perspective wisdom measure

Therefore it may be vulnerable to the participantslsquo social desirability and inaccuracy in

self-judgment or self-serving bias Furthermore there is no measurement of emotional

components of wisdom in any of these two paradigms

22 Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale

Based on Clayton and Birrenlsquos definition of wisdom Monika Ardelt (2003 2004)

proposed that wisdom was the integration of cognitive reflective and affective

personality traits Ardelt critiqued the Berlin Wisdom paradigmlsquos definition of wisdom as

some kind of expert knowledge she believes that wisdom cannot exist independently of

individuals (Ardelt 2004) In contrary Baltes and his colleagues proposed that wisdom is

about the fundamental truth of life which is very difficult for a person to grasp (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000)

Ardelt developed a self-reportself-assessment scale to measure wisdom The participants

indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or ―strongly agree

to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree There are 39 items in three-

dimensional wisdom scale 14 for the cognitive dimension 12 for the reflective

dimension and 13 for the affective dimension (Ardelt 2003 2004) (see Appendix 1) The

cognitive dimension embodies the desire to know the truth a deep understanding of life

(eg ―Ignorance is bliss (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item and relativistic thinking

(eg ―People are either good or bad (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item) The reflective

dimension includes self-examination self-awareness and self-insight (eg ―Things often

go wrong for me by no fault of my own (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) as well as

the ability to perceive a phenomenon from different perspectives (eg ―Before criticizing

somebody I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place (Ardelt 2003 p

317)) and ―transcendence from self-projections and self-serving bias (eg ―I either get

very angry or depressed if things go wrong (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) Lastly

the affective dimension refers to sympathy and compassion for others (eg ―Sometimes I

feel a real compassion for everyone (Ardelt 2003 p 318))

Below is a detailed list of the sub-dimensions of the three wisdom dimensions (Ardelt

6

unpublished documentation authorized by Ardelt) ―

Cognitive dimension

1 Ability and willingness to understand a situation or phenomenon thoroughly

2 Acknowledgement of ambiguity complexity and uncertainty in life

3 Ability to make important decisions despite lifelsquos unpredictability and uncertainties

Reflective dimension

1 Ability and willingness to look at phenomena and events from different perspectives

2 Absence of subjectivity and projections

Affective dimension

1 Presence of positive and caring emotions toward others

2 Absence of indifferent or negative emotions toward others

3 Motivation to nurture the well-being of others

Ardeltlsquos method is also a 1st person perspective measure while self-report measure of

wisdom may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception

(Staudinger Gluck 2011) In fact a positive association between impression

management and scores on some items in Ardeltlsquos scale was demonstrated in a survey

(Taylor Bates amp Webster 2011)

23 ldquoMORErdquo model

Focused on the development of wisdom Gluumlck and Bluck (2012) proposed the MORE

model of wisdom embodying four resources of wisdom

1 A Sense of Mastery belief in onelsquos ability of handling life challenges

2 Openness awareness of multiple perspectives on a phenomenon interests in ―learning

7

from new perspectives and from other people (p 9)

3 Reflective Attitude ―willingness to look at life issues in a complex way (p 10)

4 Emotion RegulationEmpathy ―ability to deal with otherslsquo feelings effectively and

―reach out to others through empathetic concern (p 12)

The model is still under development Gluumlck and Bluck suggested a longitudinal survey

to explore the developmental dynamics between MORE resources and life experiences

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models

In general Western researchers proposing these models may be implicitly influenced by

Western culture characterized by Greek philosophy and Christian religion Furthermore

these models have been mainly applied to Western participants growing up in a Western

cultural background which has significantly influenced the scientific understanding of

wisdom (for reviews see Bangen et al 2013 Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013 Sternberg amp

Jordan 2005) Little is known about the conception of wisdom in other social-cultural

contexts Therefore we are not sure if these models are relevant for other cultural groups

It could be relevant because wisdom is a universal quality of human life or irrelevant

the structure of wisdom is cultural-specific because culture influences wisdom

conception which further influences wisdom development

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds

Most of the existing studies in non-western cultures have targeted a particular wisdom

tradition such as Levittlsquos (1999) qualitative study of Tibetan Buddhist monks which

found that wisdom was defined as examination of reality understanding of ―true self

and being altruistic to others or focused on a particular explicit theory of wisdom such

as Grossmann and his colleagueslsquo (2012) cross-culture study on Japanese and Americanslsquo

wise decision making which found that American (not Japanese) performed better with

increasing age

8

In general wisdom researchers in Eastern cultures believe that culture significantly

shapes conception of wisdom (Brezina amp Oudenhoven 2012) Ivan Brezina and Jan

Pieter Van Oudenhoven examined the conception of wisdom among five different

nations Ecuador (predominantly Christian) India (predominantly Hindu) and the

predominantly Muslim countries Indonesia Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

They showed the participants different items each of which describes an individual

characteristic and the participants indicated their agreement with its relatedness to

wisdom The factor analysis results revealed three primary factors underlying the concept

of wisdom ―serenity referring to detachment from emotion and material

―determination reflecting reflection upon oneself and persistence in difficulties and

―altruism defined as selflessness Moreover they found that effect of national culture

was more significant than an effect of religion upon the conception of wisdom However

their research method has a shortcoming in that the researchers own conception of

wisdom rather than that of the local population was examined Therefore the

similarities between the wisdom conception among the participants and that identified in

Western studies could be caused by the unconscious impact of the abundant Western

wisdom research literature upon the researchers Moreover the participants were all

immigrants who had already experienced a different social culture that may influence

their conception of wisdom

Nevertheless the idea that the Eastern conception of wisdom differs from the Western

conception was confirmed by other studies exploring implicit theories of wisdom in

Eastern cultures For example a survey in several Asian countries (India Indonesia

Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates) revealed that their conceptions of wisdom were

more related to many aspects of personal characters compared with that in Western

cultures (Ivan amp Alojz 2010) a survey on American Australian Indian and Japanese

revealed that Western conception of wisdom emphasized cognitive dimension while

Eastern conception both cognitive and affective dimensions (Takahashi amp Bordia 2000)

4 Chinese culture

It is not easy to define culture For my thesis culture is defined as beliefs about human

9

life commonly shared by a group of people which are influenced by their philosophy

religion literature history politics economy etc For example Chinese culture is well-

known for its characteristic Confucianism (Winfield Mizuno amp Beaudoin 2000)

However Chinese culture is influenced not only by Confucianism but also by Daoism

Buddhism and other schools of philosophy For example the Legalist School argues that

governments should build on strict and established laws instead of morality proclaimed

by Confucians Mohism advocates indiscriminating love iron will and strict discipline

denounces all kinds of offensive wars admires noble talents worships ghosts and

heaven Mohism agrees with Confucianism upon advocating virtues such as humaneness

and righteousness however Mohism emphasizes simplicity and austerity denouncing the

complicated rituals and rites advocated in Confucianism (Feng 1983)

Nevertheless Confucianism Daoism and Buddhism are usually regarded as the most

important Chinese traditions (Peng 2007) The most important figures for Confucianism

are Confucius (551 - 479BC) and Mencius (372 - 289BC) for Daoism Lao-tzu a

mysterious historic figure (Sima 1939) and Chuang-Tzu (369 - 286 BC) Buddhism was

founded by Buddha Gautama (around 300 BC) in India entered China in the latter part of

the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and gradually merged with the Chinese local culture

(Hardy 2014) There are numerous teachings and endless debates about these three

traditions among the experts in Chinese philosophy however these three traditions

merged into one around the time of Song dynasty (96 - 1279) (Feng 1983) Hence most

Chinese are influenced by all these traditions

Here I have only chosen some basic tenets of these three traditions with which most

Chinese will have an understanding

41 Confucianism

According to Confucianism everybody should be unified in virtue (eg Humaneness amp

Righteousness仁义) for Harmonious interpersonal relationship especially within family

and States For example Confucius said ―Do not impose on others what you yourself do

not desire (chapter 122) ―A benevolent man helps others to take their stand in so far as

he himself wishes to take his stand and gets others there in so far as he himself wishes to

10

get there (chapter 630) (Lau 1979)

Confucians emphasize interpersonal connection For example Mengzi persuaded kings to

unify the turbulent China at that time through compassion and actions to fulfill

compassion (Confucius amp Mencius 2007) Xunzi believes that social cooperation and

rites distinguish man from the animals (Feng 1983) Correspondingly many Chinese

scholars believe that Chinese emphasize on interpersonal-relationship more than

Westerners do (eg Zhu amp Han 2008 Gu amp Guo 2015)

42 Daoism

According to Daoism everything is unified in ―Dao the eternal way of natureuniverse

Daoism teaches man to model on nature For example Lao Tzu said ―Man models

himself on Earth Earth on Heaven Heaven on the Way and the Way on that which is

naturally so (Lau 1963 chapter 25)

In nature cause and effect influence each other cause and effect are connected in one

process the eternal way The founder of Daoism Lao Tzu said ―Being and Non-being

produce each other (Lau 1963 chapter 2) Here ―Being and ―Non-being are cause

and effect of each other in fact Daoism does not distinguish cause from effect

Man is an integral part of universe rather than a Subject independently of observed

Objects The distinction between subject and object in Western philosophy remained

unchallenged until Heidegger argued that there is no such thing as an observing subject

that is unaffected by the external world of observed things (Gu amp Guo 2015)

Correspondingly Daoism proclaims that a person should forget self especially desires of

self so that the person would have pure perception of the world and freedom in this

universe

43 Chinese Buddhism

When Buddhism spread to China there were the Theravada and Mahayana traditions

However due to the influence of the existing Chinese traditions especially Confucianism

and Daoism the Theravada tradition faded away within a short period of time whereas

11

Mahayana tradition gradually merged into Chinese culture and came to dominate Chinese

Buddhism (Group 2003)

According to Chinese Buddhism all the Beings Non-Beings and relationships between

BeingsNon-Beings are unified with the Universal Mind Buddha Buddha says ―Banruo

Boruomi (Buddha 2007) Banruo is wisdom like a hard and pure diamond piercing

through illusions and reach the world of truth namely Boruomi

Everything is transient interdependent and void (no-self) only a manifestation of mind

one needs to realize the original identification with the Universal Mind and replace non-

enlightenment with enlightenment to escape the endless transmigration of cause and

effect This extrication is called nirvana (Feng 1983)

The ―Enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism is different from the ―Cognition framed in

Western culture Because men are already unified with Buddha enlightenment is a

process of self-realization of this fact and the unspeakable wisdom is deep in the mind

whereas in Christianity men are separated from God salvation is from Christ and the

gospel needs to be proclaimed Moreover in Buddhism essence and appearance are one

man should not cling to anything However most Western philosophers (eg Plato)

believe that essence is different from appearance (Gu amp Guo 2015)

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy

In general Chinese philosophies emphasize connections and try to unify everything into

one In space everything is unified in one unit (individuals in society or BeingsNon-

beingsrelationships in universe) in time every event is in one process In contrary

western philosophies concern themselves more with atoms in space or cause and effect

in time (Gu amp Guo 2015) Correspondingly Eastern understandings of wisdom

emphasize both analytical and synthetic domains whereas only analytical domains in

Western understandings (Takahashi 2000)

However most Mainland Chinese nowadays may be unfamiliar or disagree with these

profound Chinese philosophies due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China

12

in modern history

5 Modern history of China

Since the painful collision with Western culture in the First Opium War (1839-42)

Mainland of China has undergone a series of historic events that may seriously affect the

transmission of Chinese traditions In general numerous defeats by foreigners especially

Westerners helped Chinese people to reflect upon their own traditions and begin to

realize that Chinese culture is not superior to other cultures especially Western culture

Thus they began to critique their own culture and learn from people in other cultures

especially the Westerners (science philosophy politics etc) It should be noted that

Communism was also from the West and the Communists have governed Mainland of

China (not Taiwan) since 1949

A brief account of modern history of China is given below It should be noted that the

historical account is inevitably biased due to the authorlsquos education life experience

political beliefs etc Nevertheless I endeavor to present a history that is probably known

by most Mainland Chinese

51 Before the Cultural Revolution

A history textbook in Mainland of China will claim that China was repeatedly invaded by

foreigners at the beginning of the modern period (see Ministry of Education in China

2003) The British navy easily defeated China in the First Opium War of 1839 and in

1860 Beijings Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned to the ground by British

and French troops in 1895 Taiwan was ceded to Japan after Chinalsquos defeat in the Battle

of the Yellow Sea in 1900 European powers along with the United States Russia and

Japan seized Beijing coercing the Qing government into paying them 675 million

pounds in indemnity and signing protocols unfair for China (Weatherley amp Rosen 2013)

Angered by its weakness and corruption the Mainland Chinese populace mdashled by Dr

Sun Yat-sen founder of the Chinese Nationalist Partymdash overthrew the Qing government

in 1911 (Fairbank Twitchett amp Feuerwerker 1986) However Sun Yat-sen was unable to

create a government capable of controlling the political situation in Mainland of China

13

Warlords supported by different foreign powers fought against each other leading

Mainland of China into seemingly endless turbulence Eventually Sun Yat-sen built the

Nationalist Partylsquos own army and allied with the Chinese Communist party and the

USSR was preparing to defeat the warlords and reunify China when Sun Yat-sen died

suddenly in 1925 (about the time the oldest of the older generation participants in study 2

was born)

Fulfilling Sun Yat-senlsquos dream the Northern Expedition began from Guangzhou in 1926

the Nationalist Party established its Capital in Nanjing in April 1927 confronting the

Beiyang Government established by the warlords in Beijing In 1928 the Nationalist

party captured Beijing and the warlord in the Northeast of China subsequently declared

his loyalty to the Nanjing government and the Northern Expedition ended however the

Chinese Nationalist Party and Chinese Communist Party had turned against each other

since 1927 and the war between these two parties went on In 1931 the Communist party

established its capital in Ruijin (a Hakka city in the south of China) defying the Nanjing

government in the same year the Japanese invaded Mainland of China The Japanese

had conquered the whole of Northeast China by 1932

In 1936 the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party decided to end

the civil war and join forces to fight against the Japanese The war against the Japanese

was extremely difficult almost one third of Mainland of Chinalsquos territory had been

invaded by Japan (including Beijing which was captured by the Japanese in 1937 and

was not reclaimed until 1945 by the Nationalist party) After Japan surrendered and

returned Taiwan to China in 1945 civil war in China between the Chinese Nationalist

Party and the Chinese Communist Party resumed almost immediately The Communist

Party captured Beijing from the Nationalist party in January 1949 and on October 1st of

the same year the leader of the Communist Party Mao Zedong announced the foundation

of Peoplelsquos Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing In December 1949 Chiang Kai-shek

with his government fled to Taiwan (Fairbank et al 1986) (This was about the time the

youngest of the older generation participants in study 2 was born) Taiwan has been

separated from the Mainland of China since that time

14

After another difficult war in Korea against the United States and its allies (1950-1953)

(for the details see Blair 1987) the Mainland Chinese Communist Party launched

communist reform throughout Mainland of China Communist ideology was proclaimed

private businesses were appropriated as national assets lands were taken from the

landlords and divided among peasants and collective farms were built (MacFarquhar

1991) Chairman Mao wished to build a socialist country for the proletariat however

after he retired from the position of Chairman in 1959 he was disappointed to find

traditional ideas reappear in contemporary literature and the Communist Party suffered

from corruption and bureaucracy Nevertheless these realities did not diminish Maolsquos

―communist dream instead he launched the Cultural Revolution (MacFarquhar 1991)

52 Cultural Revolution

From its beginning in 1966 to its end ten years later the Cultural Revolution is

considered Mainland of Chinalsquos most turbulent time after the founding of the Peoplelsquos

Republic (MacFarquhar 1991) The reason for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

is still debatable but many historians believe that Mao wanted to prevent bureaucracy

revisionism and capitalism that he thought was developing in Khrushchevlsquos USSR

(MacFarquhar 1991) Mao was especially skeptical of the ―deterioration of the central

communist leaders such as Chairman Liu Shaoqi (whom Mao suspected of revisionism

he was persecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution)

Besides many communist leaders numerous innocent scholars who were (or seemed)

unenthusiastic about Maolsquos communist ideology were persecuted during the Cultural

Revolution by Maolsquos loyal followers the ―Red Guards mostly made up of passionate

youths (MacFarquhar 1991) The Red Guards considered Maolsquos Quotations (―Red

Precious Book 「红宝书」) almost as a sacred text and were strongly against anything

related to traditional ideologies such as Confucianism Daoism or Buddhism They were

responsible for the destruction of many national treasures and historic art

Chinese culture and education suffered most during the Cultural Revolution and its

impact has been believed to be long-lasting (MacFarquhar 1991) The youthful spirit of

the Cultural Revolution differed from Chinese tradition in many ways First it was a

15

dictatorship of the proletariat not the aristocracy Second soldiers were respected while

scholars were belittled Traditional literati were usually peaceful gentle and even soft

(Stokstad 2005) while Mao (although a poet) valued military strategy resorting to

violent revolution to tackle social problems He proclaimed that political power come

from military strength (Mao 1972) In fact popular support from the Peoplelsquos Liberation

Army (PLA) was an important basis for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

Finally Marxist materialism was proclaimed while the traditions such as Confucianism

Daoism and Buddhism were roundly denounced

Unfortunately the Cultural Revolution degenerated into chaos (MacFarquhar 1991) In

1971 Maolsquos long-time comrade and chosen successor Marshal Linmdashwho had

enthusiastically supported the Cultural Revolution (at least on the surface)mdashbetrayed

Mao (MacFarquhar 1991) In 1975 one year before Maolsquos death and the de facto end of

the Cultural Revolution Mao wrote his last poem in which he said ―At that time

anxious about our motherland we comrades were not afraid of being beheaded Now the

whole country is red (communist) but who can guard it The work has not finished yet

my body is tired my hair is white How can you be hardhearted enough to let our life-

long dream be gone with the river (Mao 1996)

53 After the Cultural Revolution

Although repeatedly attacked Deng Xiaoping survived the Cultural Revolution to launch

economic reform his ―Reform and Opening started in 1978 has generated rapid

economic growth in Mainland of China since the 1980s (MacFarquhar 1991) The

Cultural Revolution was officially decried The public image of Mao became much more

realistic especially after Denglsquos compromising comments on Maolsquos life his

achievements before the foundation of Peoplelsquos Republic of China and his mistakes in his

late life especially during the Cultural Revolution Moreover Confucianism Daoism

and Buddhism are increasingly appreciated as demonstrated by the growing popularity of

the books about Chinese traditions such as Confucianism (eg Yu 2006) Meanwhile

religions such as Christianity Buddhism and Taoism are recovering after the loosening of

earlier restrictions put in place by the Communist Party (Yang 2006)

16

There are many fundamental changes in current society of Mainland China

First new social classes such as owners of private companies emerged after the

economic reform changing the previous simply layered social structure made up of

famers workers and scholars Meanwhile cooperation rather than conflict between

different classes is emphasized (Lu 2004) Consistently social interaction and social

relationship (关系) are increasingly appreciated The social ability of modern Mainland

Chinese youths is believed to be higher than that of their parents (Huang Deng Chen amp

Lu 2009) However this 关系 also has negative implications For example people who

have connections with governing officials such as the politicianslsquo relatives usually get

advantages in the competition of the immature markets and occupy most social resources

Corruption among the political officials moreover is commonplace Correspondingly

the current income levels in current China are overwhelmingly imbalanced the managers

form the top class of Mainland Chinese society which according to surveys in Shenzhen

and Hefei (Lu 2004) earn 15 times of the income of the workmen who are at the bottom

of the social hierarchy and are often belittled This situation is totally different from that

in Maolsquos age when workmen formed the upper class and were greatly respected Second

knowledge and techniques especially scientific knowledge and techniques are becoming

more and more important Therefore scholars and scientists are more and more

respected Third with the opening up of Mainland China to the outside world Mainland

Chinese society is becoming more and more international and multi-cultural art

literature and philosophy have been flooding into Mainland of China from Hong Kong

Taiwan Korea Japan the United States etc This trend is intensified by the prevalence of

the internet all over China Fourth the one-child policy was implemented Most youths

are the only child or of just one of two children in a family and thus enjoy a luxury of

resources that had not been available to their parents

With such dramatic changes in society there are tremendous gaps between the mentalities

of current Mainland Chinese youths and their parents they are much more

individualistic open-minded critical adventurist and fact-based (not as interested in

theory and ideology as their parents once were during Maolsquos age) legally conscious

interested in public affairs but not so much in social morality caring about the protection

17

of the environment fond of fun rather than being serious (Huang et al 2009) Western

ideas such as freedom and democracy are much more appreciated meanwhile some

negative values such as worshiping financial power and material consumption are also

more common among current Mainland Chinese youth than among their parents

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture

Wisdom studies in non-Western cultures mostly involve Japan and India Very little has

been done in China The Berlin Wisdom criteria were applied in a study to rate a

Mainland Chinese citylsquos elderly peoplelsquos psychological adaptation level which was

found to be significantly positively correlated with their life satisfaction (Weidong 2006)

An opinion paper discussed differences between Chinese and Western practical wisdom

in management and concluded that both value compassion (Opdebeeck amp Habisch

2011) a survey on the wit and wisdom of Mainland Chinese tour guides merely

illustrated tour guideslsquo practical wisdom which was barely a necessary ingredient of a

good life (Dioko Harrill amp Cardon 2013) Bang and Zhou (2014) studied how Ardeltlsquos

(2003) Three-dimensional wisdom Scale related to development of ego identity among

Mainland Chinese undergraduate university students and identified a positive correlation

None of these studies has been specifically focused on wisdom among Mainland Chinese

Yang (2001 2007 2008a 2008b 2008c 2014a) has studied the conception of wisdom in

Chinese culture in depth Yang chose 智慧 as the corresponding Chinese word for

―wisdom and reviewed the development of the meaning of 智慧 in Chinese history 智

慧 is mostly about personal characters especially about cognitive ability and judgments

With the spread of Buddhism in China 智慧 incorporated the components of wisdom in

Hindu culture ability to transcend laws in universe and pierce through transient

phenomenon in this world in order to realize ultimate truth In modern Chinese language

智 and 慧 are very similar in meaning (see httpwwwzdicnet) 智 emphasizes

more intelligence wisdom and resourcefulness 慧 is closer to wisdom (Banruo) in

Buddhism

In an empirical study Taiwanese Chinese who had been nominated as wise exemplars

18

were asked to describe wise decisions and actions in their own lives (Yang 2008c)

Several common themes emerged 1 ―striving for common good by helping others and

making major contributions to society (n = 79 36) 2 achieving a satisfactory state of

life (n = 55 25) 3 developing and determining life paths (n = 37 17) 4 resolving

difficult problems at work (n = 30 14) and 5 doing the right thing in the face of

adversity (n = 19 9) (p 286) In another study Yang (2014b) measured wisdom

among Taiwanese Chinese by methods of other-rating transcripted interviews and self-

report survey in her model wisdom is a real-life process including three components

connected together cognitive integration amp action embodiment amp positive effects for self

and others Yanglsquos model is featured by Chinese philosophy traditions such as emphasis

on integration in space and connection of events in one process Moreover the

component ―action embodiment is missing in most Western models corresponding to

the difference between Chinese and Western philosophy traditions

Besides Yang Chen and his colleagues (Chen Cheng Wu amp Hsueh 2014) applied the

grounded theory method to study Taiwanese Chinese educatorslsquo interpersonal and

intrapersonal perspectives on wisdom and identified four core components of wisdom

―intrapsychic integration ―actions in service of problem solving and ideal

implementation and ―positive results and feedback and adjustments (p 425)

However these findings may not be generalized to Mainland Chinese due to the

difference of culture between Mainland of China and Taiwan Taiwan was ceded from

China to Japan for 50 years after 1895 and was influenced by Japanese culture (Yang

2008a) Moreover Taiwan was governed by Chinese Nationalist party which revived

Chinese traditions through many political and cultural events after 1949 whereas

Mainland of China was governed by the Chinese Communist party and experienced

communist reforms and the 10-year Cultural Revolution attacking Chinese traditions

(MacFarquhar 1991)

19

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth

1 Introduction

11 Choosing Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese

Due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China through the modern history (see

Chapter 1 Section 6) the culture in Mainland of China could be very different from that

in Taiwan Therefore a prototype of wisdom among Mainland Chinese may be different

from that among Taiwanese Chinese Bang and Zhou (2014) believed that a prototype of

wisdom in Chinese culture was congruent with that in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model thus they

conducted a survey among some Mainland Chinese with the three-dimensional wisdom

scale However factor analysis identified a four dimensional structure (Non-dualistic

thinking ―Perspective-taking ―Non-resentment ―Empathy)

In order to test whether Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model or Bang and Zhoulsquos

four-dimensional wisdom model could represent wisdom among Mainland Chinese a

self-report wisdom measure was conducted among 100 Mainland Chinese youth

12 Validity tests of Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure

In order to test whether a wisdom measure is valid researchers could propose several

correlates of wisdom based on theories If the wisdom correlates measured by some

established measurements are significantly correlated with the wisdom measured then

the wisdom measurelsquos validity is testified For our study we chose four wisdom

correlates cognitive intelligence emotional intelligence empathy and prosocial

personality traits (high extroversion low psychoticism and low neuroticism) for reasons

below

Studies of implicit theories of wisdom in North America (ie the lay peoplelsquos theory of

wisdom) revealed that cognitive ability and reasoning were regarded as the most

important factors underlying wisdom (Sternberg 1990) Cognitive ability was found to

be one of the core themes of Western implicit theories of wisdom (Bluck amp Gluumlck 2005)

20

Besides cognitive ability wise people are thought to be good at understanding otherslsquo

emotions (Stange amp Kunzmann 2009) Adams (1998) simply regarded ―wisdom as the

classical version of ―emotional intelligence In a previous study a positive correlation

between wisdom measured by three-dimensional wisdom scale and emotional

intelligence measured by Wong and Lawlsquos emotional intelligence scale was

demonstrated and the effect of wisdom on happiness was reduced to emotional

intelligence (Zacher McKenna amp Rooney 2013) However wisdom should not be

reduced to emotional intelligence because emotional intelligence does not guarantee pro-

social personality as we see in some highly emotionally-intelligent criminals (Hampson

2012) and sly Nazi politicians (Shirer 2011) Understanding of otherslsquo suffering does not

necessary lead to compassion for others Therefore other-related wisdom defined as

empathic Concern for Others (Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013) is often added as an

important attribute for distinguishing wisdom from individual intelligence

Wisdom is interpreted by many researchers as a combination of intelligence and

character the ability to strive for the welfare of individuals and communities and the

willingness to do it (Pasupathi 2001 Stange amp Kunzmann 2009 Staudinger Doumlrner amp

Mickler 2005) Therefore we hypothesized that wise people not only possessed high

cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence but also empathy toward others and

prosocial personality traits such as low psychoticism low neuroticism and high

extroversion

2 Hypotheses

Reliabilities of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale as well as the subscales of

cognitive reflective and affective dimensions of wisdom should be ideal because

wisdom among Mainland Chinese embodies cognitive reflective and affective

components as hypothesized in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model

If Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional scale were valid for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese the wisdom score should be positively correlated with cognitive intelligence

emotional intelligence empathic concern and prosocial personality traits measured by

scales whose reliability and validity among Mainland Chinese were established in

21

previous studies eg Raven Matrix Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence scale the

Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Mainland Chinese

version of the shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the Ethic Committees at Zhejiang Normal

University and the University of Toronto

31 Participants

Ninety-seven Mainland Chinese undergraduate students (46 males aged from 18 to 23

years M = 1971 SD =119 years) at Zhejiang Normal University Jinhua Chinamdash a city

with a population of 5361600 at the 2010 census (―Jinhua 2014) Twelve were

Buddhists 3 were Christians 1 was Muslim 1 was favorable towards all kinds of

religious belief and the other 79 were atheists

32 Material

321 Visual basic program

All the items and pictures used in the scales and tests were presented on a computer one

by one in a home-made Visual Basic Program This program not only made the

characters easily readable but also prevented potential influence between adjacent scale

items

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS)

All the instructions and items were translated into Chinese and then reverse-translated to

English by native Mainland Chinese speakers and compared for accuracy to the original

English items by native English speakers The discrepancy was then corrected and this

double-reverse translation procedure repeated until the Chinese version scale was

consistent with the English version scale

22

For more details of this scale see Chapter 1 Section 23

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS)

The Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) includes four subscales self-

emotion appraisal other-emotion appraisal utilization of emotion and regulation of

emotion scales (Law Wong amp Song 2004) Each subscale has four items Self-emotion

appraisal and other-emotion appraisal refer to the abilities to understand emotion of self

and others respectively Utilization of emotion refers to utilizing emotion of self to guide

actions Regulation of emotion refers to controlling emotion of self The participants rate

the accordance of the description in the items to themselves on a 5-point scale

A previous study in China has demonstrated that the WLEIS was a better predictor of job

performance than the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test developed in

the US (Law Wong Huang amp Li 2008) Besides the WLEIS was testified as reliable

among 680 Mainland Chinese university students (Li Saklofske Bowden Yan amp Fung

2012)

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)

This scale measures four aspects of empathy perspective taking fantasy empathic

concern and personal distress (Siu amp Shek 2005) There are 28 items altogether seven

items for each subscale The Perspective-Taking scale assesses the liability to

spontaneously adopting perspectives of others the Fantasy scale measures the liability to

transpose self imaginatively into the feelings and actions of fictitious characters The

Empathic Concern scale measures other-oriented feelings of sympathy and care for the

suffering individuals The Personal Distress scale measures self-oriented feelings of

personal anxiety and unease in tense interpersonal situations (Davis 1983) The

participants indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or

―strongly agree to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree

The scale was testified as reliable and valid among 580 Mainland Chinese participants

(Siu amp Shek 2005)

23

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

The Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) has 48 items 12

items for each of the following sub-scales Psychoticism Extroversion

Neuroticismemotional instability and LieSocial desirability scales Psychoticism is

tendency to develop a psychotic symptom or anti-social behaviors Extraversion is

tendency to be active in social activities Neuroticism or emotion stability measures

individualslsquo emotional instability and the tendency to develop negative feelings The Lie

scale contains questions on which individuals tend to lie for social desirability (Eysenck

amp Eysenck 1975) The items are questions about the participants and the participants

respond ―yes or ―no to these questions

This scale was testified as reliable and valid among 8637 Mainland Chinese participants

(Mingyi Guocheng Rongchun amp Shen 2000)

426 Progressive Raven Matrix

There are 35 Progressive Raven Matrix items altogether used in this study In each item

the participants need to identify the missing element that completes a pattern on a 33

matrix Raven Matrix was found to be reliable and valid in measuring cognitive

intelligence among several cultures including Chinese culture (Raven 2000)

33 Procedure

The following procedure was completed individually in the Psychology laboratory at

Zhejiang Normal University The participants were left alone in a quiet room to finish the

scales and tests

All the participants completed the three-dimensional Wisdom Scale and the WLEIS In

addition 31 participants (12 males 18 to 22 years M = 1958 years SD =113 years)

finished Progressive Raven Matrix another 66 participants (34 males 18 to 23 years M

= 1977 years SD =122 years) completed the Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal

Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Mainland Chinese version of the shortened Eysenck

personality scale (EPQ-RS) Considering fatigue effect the participants who finished

24

Raven Matrix were not instructed to finish IRI and EPQ-RS

4 Results

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

A reliability test was conducted for the three-dimensional wisdom scale and its subscales

based on the data from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs

alpha of the whole scale was 070 alpha of the cognitive dimension scale was 065 alpha

of the reflective dimension scale was 049 alpha of the affective dimension scale was

030 Therefore the inter-items reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a

whole was acceptable However inter-items reliability of neither the reflective nor

affective dimensional subscale was acceptable all r lt 060

The final score of the three-dimensional wisdom scale ranged from 245 to 392 (M =

320 SD = 026) cognitive wisdom ranged from 207 to 414 (M = 334 SD = 040)

An inter-item reliability analysis was also conducted to test the four-factor structure

proposed by Bang and Zhou Cronbachs alpha of ―Non-dualistic thinking items was

053 alpha of ―Perspective-taking items was 068 alpha of ―Non-resentment items was

037 alpha of ―Empathy items was 028 Therefore only the ―Perspective-taking

subscale has acceptable inter-items reliability the four-factor structure proposed by Bang

and Zhou was not confirmed

42 Factor analysis

Combining the 3DWS data in this study with another 3DWS data of 50 Mainland

Chinese youths (22 males aged from 20 to 30 M = 2404 SD =242) collected in

another study we got data of 148 Mainland Chinese youthslsquo three-dimensional wisdom

items scores Factor analysis using a principal axis factoring analysis (the same method

used by Bang and Zhou) and an oblique rotation method (Direct Oblimin) was conducted

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was acceptable (060) however the

factor analysis extracted 14 factors explaining only 500 variance Moreover the

25

rotation failed to converge in 25 iterations Therefore we quitted the exploratory factor

analysis

Later we fixed the number of factors at three however the extracted three factors only

explained a 198 variance And then we fixed the number of factors at four but the

extracted four factors only explained a 236 variance Therefore there may be more

than four factors that underlie the participantslsquo performance in Ardeltlsquo self reporting

three-dimensional wisdom scale

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores

The 31 participants who took the Raven Matrix test had solved 7 to 34 matrixes (M =

2126 SD = 671) Bivariate correlation analysis between the Raven Matrix test score and

the three-dimensional wisdom score revealed no significant correlation r = 016 p =

038

We hypothesized that cognitive dimension of wisdom should be positively correlated

with the Raven matrix score even if the total wisdom score was not so however the

correlation of the Raven score with the score on cognitive wisdom was also not

significant r = 022 p = 024

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale

A reliability test was conducted for the WLEIS scale and its subscales based on the data

from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs alpha of the total scale

was 080 alpha of ―self-emotion appraisal was 061 alpha of ―other-emotion appraisal

was 080 alpha of ―use of emotion was 075 alpha of ―regulation of emotion was 082

Therefore inter-items reliability of the whole scale and all the sub-scales were

acceptable

The score of the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale ranged from 238 to 475 (M

= 341 SD =041) the score of ―self-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 475 (M =

355 SD =056) the score of ―other-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 500 (M =

26

352 SD =060) the score of ―use of emotion ranged from 200 to 480 (M = 336 SD

=064) the score of ―regulation of emotion ranged from 100 to 500 (M = 320 SD

=066)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that the wisdom score was significantly positively

correlated with WLEIS score r = 047 p lt 0001 and with all the subscale scores all r gt

024 all p lt 005

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the ―perspective-taking scale was 064 the alpha of the ―fantasy

scale was 069 the alpha of the ―empathic concern scale was 059 and the alpha of the

―personal distress scale was 070 Therefore the ―empathic concern scalelsquos inter-item

reliability was marginally acceptable for calculating the ―empathic concern score and the

other scaleslsquo inter-item reliabilities were acceptable

The score of ―perspective-taking ranged from 229 to 457 (M = 338 SD =051)

―fantasy ranged from 157 to 471 (M = 337 SD =063) ―empathic concern ranged

from 229 to 471 (M = 346 SD =049) ―personal distress ranged from 157 to 457 (M

= 330 SD =053)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that score of ―fantasy and ―perspective taking

were significantly positively correlated with wisdom score r = 026 p = 0039 r = 046

p lt 0001 respectively Other correlations were not significant all p gt 005

46 Eysenck personality scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the Psychoticism scale was 021 the alpha of the Extroversion scale

was 071 the alpha of the Neuroticism scale was 075 the alpha of the LieSocial

desirability scale was 059 Therefore the inter-item reliabilities of the Extroversion and

Neuroticism scales were ideal for calculating the total scores and that of the LieSocial

desirability scale was marginally acceptable

27

The Extroversion score ranged from 0 to 12 (M =663 SD =337) the Neuroticism score

ranged from 1 to 12 (M = 695 SD = 291) the LieSocial desirability score ranged from

0 to 11 (M = 454 SD =224) The LieSocial desirability score was not significantly

positively correlated with the Extroversion or Neuroticism score all r lt 01 all p gt 005

Therefore the Extroversion and Neuroticism scores were not biased by social

desirability

Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that the Extraversion score was significantly

positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 036 p = 0003 whereas the

Neuroticism score was significantly negatively correlated with the wisdom score r = -

032 p = 0008 However it should be noted that the Liesocial desirability score was

significantly positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 026 p = 0037 but not

with any other self-report score (eg emotional intelligence empathy) all r lt 01 all p gt

005

5 Discussion

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model

Although the reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a whole was acceptable

(Cronbachs alpha = 070) the inter-items reliabilities of reflective wisdom and affective

wisdom were quite poor This result revealed that the three-factor structure of wisdom

proposed by Ardelt may not exist among Mainland Chinese Indeed Bang and Zhou

(2014) also failed to find a three-factor structure of wisdom Moreover the four-factor

structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was also not testified in our study Therefore a

different wisdom model may be necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese A qualitative method such as an implicit theory study of wisdom among

Mainland Chinese may be helpful for exploring the structure of wisdom among Mainland

Chinese which was fulfilled in Study 2 of this thesis

52 Validity test results

Our hypothesis about wisdom related to cognitive intelligence was not confirmed by the

correlation result Perhaps wisdom is more about cognition of grand objects (eg

28

meaning of life and human nature) and thus the ability to recognize the pattern of matrix

is not related to the cognitive dimension of wisdom In fact a previous study has shown

that an increase of crystalized intelligence a component of wisdom was not related to

fluid intelligence (Christensen Batterham amp Mackinnon 2013) Wisdom may be more

related to intelligence in the domains about life in general which is essentially different

from intelligence in other domains such as that measured by the Raven matrix

Our hypotheses about positive correlation of wisdom with emotional intelligence

empathy (―perspective taking ―fantasy) and prosocial personality traits

(―extroversion ―emotion stability) were confirmed by the correlation results (Note that

the social desirability score was not correlated with any of these wisdom correlates and

thus these significant correlations can not be accounted for by the effect of social

desirability) Overall our results suggested that wisdom was embodied in reasonably

handling emotion of self and others (appraising otherslsquo emotion utilizing and regulating

emotion emotional stability) and taking care of others taking otherslsquo perspectives

transposing oneself imaginatively into the feelings and actions of others (related to

―fantasy) and being active in social interaction (―extraversion) However no cause-

effect relation can be derived from these correlation results These factors could be either

the outcomes or the sources of wisdom Eg extraversion could be the outcome of

wisdom wiser people are more likely to interact with others because they appreciate

more about the value of social networking On the other hand extraversion could

contribute to wisdom social interaction provides individuals more opportunities for

learning from others Likewise emotional stability may be important for reflective

wisdom while emotional stability could be an outcome of wisdom Individuals of high

neuroticism may be weak at reflecting upon their self-images due to their easily irritable

temperament preventing them from accepting ideas harmful for their self-image while

wise people are not self-centralized and thus emotionally stable Finally all these

potential components of wisdom need to be integrated For example an extravert without

empathy for others may interact with others superficially without being aware of otherslsquo

inner feelings and thoughts and thus wonlsquot accumulate experience of some fundamental

life pragmatics in social life such as painful separation from a beloved person

29

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability

According to Confucianism a Superior Man should examine himself objectively

(Confucius 2009) however the liesocial desirability score was significantly positively

correlated with the score of three-dimensional wisdom This result corresponded to the

proposition of Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) that self-reported measurement of wisdom

may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception wise

individuals are arguably more accurate in self-reflection and thus score lower than those

unwise individuals who have positive bias in their self-reflection In fact a positive

correlation between impression management and scores on some items in the three-

dimensional wisdom scale was demonstrated in a previous study (Taylor Bates amp

Webster 2011) Therefore a method more objective than self-report such as performance

measure is necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland Chinese This problem

is tackled in Study 3 of this thesis

6 Conclusion

Emotional intelligence empathy emotion stability and extraversion were significantly

positively correlated with wisdom measured by Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

For Mainland Chinese wisdom may be embodied in the ability and willingness to

understand and regulate emotion of selves and others in social life However the

structure of wisdom was unclear neither the three-factor structure proposed by Ardelt nor

the four-factor structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was testified Moreover the self-

report wisdom score was significantly positively correlated with social desirability score

Therefore we probably need a different model and a performance measure for wisdom

measurement among Mainland Chinese

30

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

1 Introduction

In order to explore the structure of wisdom ie the potential wisdom components among

Mainland Chinese and build a Mainland Chinese Wisdom model the implicit theory of

wisdom among Mainland Chinese was examined

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners

The implicit theory of wisdom is about the lay peoplelsquos latent understanding of wisdom

or implicit conceptualization of ―wisdom Implicit theory studies typically use one of

two main approaches ―descriptor rating and ―nomination of exemplars (Bluck amp

Gluumlck 2005)

Descriptor rating studies of wisdom The earliest and still most common method of

research on implicit theories of wisdom uses attribute rating (eg Clayton amp Birren

1980 Holliday amp Chandler 1986 Jason et al 2001a Sternberg 1985) Participants first

list attributes they associate with wisdom that are then merged into a master list with

repetitions idiosyncrasies and synonyms removed the master list is then presented to a

second (often larger) sample of participants who rate each attribute for how central it is

to wisdom Multidimensional scaling is then used to extract underlying components from

ratings with dimensions labeled according to their characteristic attributes

Exemplar approaches to implicit theories of wisdom Another way of studying implicit

theories of wisdom is to ask people to nominate individual exemplars of wisdom (eg

Orwoll amp Perlmutter 1990 Takayama 2002) Nomination studies of wisdom ask people

to nominate someone they consider wise from history or from their personal

acquaintance Historical exemplars of wisdom are not universal For example Jewish

Canadians frequently nominated Gandhi as a historical exemplar of wisdom among a

wide range of political and intellectual figuresmdashmany of importance to Judaism like

Moses However Gandhi was nominated only once in Pakistan with 60 of participants

31

choosing the Prophet Mohammed (Ferrari Kahn Benayon amp Nero 2011)

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories

Gluumlck and Bluck (2005 see also Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011) identified five core themes

of Western implicit theories of wisdom in their careful review of all Descriptor rating

studies of wisdom completed to that time

1 Cognitive ability (profound knowledge amp reasoning about novel problems)

2 Insight (willingness and ability to ponder deeply on complex issues)

3 Reflective attitude (do think profoundly about self others and the world from many

different perspectives to be self-critical and not biased by emotion of self)

4 Concern for Others beyond close family and friends (self-transcendent concern and

compassion)

5 Problem-solving skills (applying knowledge to concrete problems)

Later Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) summarized these as core components of wisdom in

subjective theories and then added another three components of wisdom from some

expertslsquo subjective theories especially those for some self-report wisdom scales

Spirituality and connectedness to nature to be spiritual in life and enjoy a connection

with the divine and care for the natural environment (Jason et al 2001b) Emancipatory

nature of wisdom interests in self-critical reflection and autonomy and knowledge that

increases the freedom of the self and provides opportunities for self-development

(Sternberg 1990) Humor the ability to see comical components even in serious

situations (Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011)

13 This study

Given the shortcomings of self-report wisdom measure as demonstrated in study 1 we

conducted another study based on the secondary data from a previous study to explore the

potential factors underlying wisdom in Mainland Chinese culture The conceptions of

32

wisdom among two generations of Mainland Chinese were examined The older

generation had experienced the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when they were

emerging or middle-aged adults (18 to 42 years old in 1966) whereas the younger

generation was born after the Cultural Revolution As far as we know this is the first

study on the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese

As mentioned earlier Mainland China underwent the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-

1976) during which the traditional wisdom ideologies of Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism were fiercely denounced nationwide while Maolsquos Communist ideology was

proclaimed instead (Yang 2006) The Cultural Revolution provides a unique opportunity

to study an event that disrupted transmission of Chinese traditions People who lived

through this time may incorporate elements of communist ideology into their conceptions

of wisdom

2 Hypotheses

We hypothesized that people who had experienced the Cultural Revolution should have

an implicit theory of wisdom different from that among those born after the Cultural

Revolution conceptual wisdom components related to Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism should be less prevalent whereas conceptual wisdom components related to

Communism should be more prevalent among the older generation than among the

younger generation

Parallel hypothesis

Similar to all cross-section studies cohort effect is mixed with age effect and thus not

identifiable People who had experienced the Cultural Revolution may later learn the

revived traditions and become even more affected by these traditions due to their greater

experience of the revived traditions through age Therefore conceptual wisdom

components related to Chinese traditions may be more prevalent among the elders than

among the youths

33

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the ethics committee at the University of

Toronto

31 Participants

One hundred Mainland Chinese adults were interviewed in Beijing in 2008 half were

native-born Mainland Chinese elders living in the Beijing area (28 males aged from 60

to 84 M = 7166 SD =599) They were born between 1924 and 1948 and had

experienced the Cultural Revolution and were living independently or with family around

the time of interview Among them 15 participants had not finished high school 12

participants had high school or equivalent diploma 7 participants had some college

education and 16 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent degree one was Buddhist 1

was Muslim 16 named their religious affiliation as Communism and the other 32 did not

indicate any religious affiliation

The other 50 were students at Beijing Normal University (22 males aged from 20 to 30

M = 2404 SD =242) born between 1978 and 1988 after the Cultural Revolution which

ended in 1976 Among this generation 18 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent

degree 31 participants had a Masterlsquos degree and one participant a doctorate one was

Buddhist 1 was Muslim 2 were Christians and 2 named their religious affiliation as

Communism the other 44 did not indicate any religious affiliation

32 Material

Recorder printed ―Interview guide etc

33 Procedure

Participants were interviewed individually in a quiet room They nominated several

wisdom exemplars from among historic figures and their acquaintances and then

34

explained why they regarded the exemplars as wise how the wisdom exemplars had

become wise and what the definition of wisdom is The Mainland Chinese term used for

wisdom is the same as that in Yangs study with Taiwanese Chinese Zhi Hui (智慧)

(Yang 2008)

More specifically it included the following questions

(1) Please take a moment to think of the wisest person you know of in history among

your acquaintances Who is this person and what makes them so wise What is one story

you know about this person or one thing they said or did that shows them to be wise

We included the following probes ―What was wise about that What might some other

person have said or done We also asked ―Has this person affected or inspired you in

your own life Is it possible for you to become more like them Are there any wise

moments in your life

(2) Finally we asked about the participantslsquo own definition of wisdom ―Now that we

have had a chance to talk about it what is wisdom What does wisdom mean to you

The interviews were recorded and transcribed

The nomination of wisdom exemplars may reveal who had influenced the participantslsquo

conceptualization of wisdom The reasons for the participantslsquo nomination were arguably

determined by their conceptualization of wisdom We made this arrangement because the

conceptualization of wisdom is not easy for lay people to articulate and asking questions

relevant to wisdom before addressing their definition of wisdom could activate the

neural-network carrying information related to wisdom conceptualization However the

participants sometimes talked about something unrelated to their definitions of wisdom

which is inevitable because it is very difficult for common people to focus on the topic

―wisdom throughout the whole conversation Nevertheless when the participants

responded to our last question ie the definition of wisdom they were mostly focused

on their conceptualizations of wisdom Therefore we chose to code their responses to the

last question

In total 92 Mainland Chinese participants (47 male aged from 20 to 84 M = 4722 SD

35

=2408) reported their definition of wisdom including 47 youths (27 males 20 to 30

years M = 2409 years SD =246years) and 45 elders (20 males 60 to 84 years M =

7138 years SD =607years) Thematic analysis using a grounded theory method

allowed us to code these participantslsquo answers and discover common themes of the

Mainland Chinese participantslsquo definition of wisdom After these common themes were

found 2 Taiwanese Chinese research assistants coded the transcripts again and identified

all the common themes we found without discovering any new theme Finally a

codebook was developed based on these common themes and then two trained Mainland

Chinese coders coded the transcripts again according to this codebook Coder agreement

and Kappa values on each category of this codebook were analyzed just as in a previous

study (Gluumlck et al 2005) Disagreements were later resolved by discussion between

these coders and then the frequency of each category coded was calculated

4 Results

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants

Participants made a total of 180 nominations of historical wise exemplars nominating 64

historic figures The mostly frequently nominated historic wisdom exemplars were

political or military leaders (ie emperors presidents premiers civil officials and

generals) nominated by 74 participants The second most frequently nominated group of

historic wisdom exemplars were scholars (ie philosophers literary authors poets and

historians) nominated by 21 participants Following these two groups of historic wisdom

exemplars were scientists nominated by four participants and then religious leaders

nominated by three participants Buddha nominated by a Christian Jesus nominated by a

Buddhist Muhammad nominated by an atheist

The leaders were regarded by the participants as wise mostly for their personal abilities

and contribution to their society The leaderslsquo personal abilities included leadership in

military or political events talents in ruling organizations and states social interaction

organizational and leadership skills such as understanding otherslsquo mentality and

managing the talented persons The leaderslsquo contribution to their society included

36

recovering the order of the society and showing compassion for the poor The scholars

were regarded as wise mostly for their mentality cognitive ability cognitive traits

cognitive outcome (eg works of literature) and virtue teaching wisdom to the public

self-transformation and transcendent personalities The wisdom of leaders emphasized

more on changing the external world ie society whereas the wisdom of scholars on

transforming the internal world ie mind

Table 1 shows a chronological ranked ordering of the 24 historic figures who received at

least 2 nominations as wise exemplars (All other figures received only a single

nomination and thus was not reported here) It should be noted that 19 of these 24

nominees were Chinese 15 of the 24 were political or military leadersmdashsome dating

back over 2000 years to the unification of China as a centralized country by Qin Shi

Huang (260ndash210 BC) the first emperor of China mdash through to the 17th

c but then we

found a gap of almost 200 years until 6 leaders within living memory of the older

generation In addition to these political or military leaders 8 were scholars and only 1

was a religious figure (Muhammad)

37

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Wisdom Exemplarparticipants Youth Elder Total

Lao-tzu Legendary founder of Daoism Zhou dynasty (6th c BC) 2 0 2

Confucius (551ndash479 BC) Ancient educator and political advisor

founder of Confucianism

9 1 10

Plato (429ndash347 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Aristotle (384ndash322 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Emperor Qin [Shi Huang] (260ndash210 BC) First emperor Qin dynasty 3 4 7

Emperor Gaozu (256 or 247-195 BC) First emperor Han dynasty 1 1 2

Emperor Wu (156 ndash 87 BC) Seventh emperor Han dynasty 2 0 2

Sima Qian (145 or 135-86 BC) Ancient historian in Han dynasty 2 0 2

Cao Cao (155-220) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

1 2 3

Zhu Geliang (181-234) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

6 6 12

Muhammad (570 - 632) Prophet and founder of Islam 2 0 2

Emperor Taizong (598-649) Emperor Tang dynasty 3 3 6

Emperor Wu Zetian (624-705) A female emperor in Tang dynasty 1 1 2

Su Shi (1037-1101) Song Dynasty writer poet painter calligrapher

pharmacologist and statesman

4 0 4

Empress Xiao Chuang (1613-1688) Concubine of the Qing Dynasty

ruler Hong Taiji grandmother of Emperor Kangxi

2 0 2

Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) Fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty 3 3 6

Karl Marx (1818-1883) Philosopher 2 0 2

Marie Curie (1867-1934) Scientist 2 0 2

vii

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale 25

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale 26

46 Eysenck personality scale 26

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 27

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model 27

52 Validity test results 27

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability 29

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 29

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 30

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners 30

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories 31

13 This study 31

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 32

Parallel hypothesis 32

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 33

31 Participants 33

32 Material 33

33 Procedure 33

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 35

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 35

42 Generation difference in nomination 38

43 Acquaintance wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants 41

44 Mainland Chinese implicit theory of wisdom 42

viii

441 ―Ability in Cognition related to the Western theme ―Cognitive Ability 42

442 ―Ability in Practice an extension of the Western theme ―Problem Solving

Skills 43

443 ―Concern for Others related to the Western theme ―Concern for Others

relevant to Confucianism 43

444 ―Eschewing-world Spirituality similar to the Western theme ―Insight but

framed in Chinese traditions 44

445 ―Positive Mindset missing in the Western implicit theory of wisdom

relevant to the historic turbulence 44

Others 45

45 Conceptual wisdom components and group difference 45

46 Relationship between wisdom exemplar nomination and conceptual wisdom

component 46

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 47

51 Personally known and historical exemplars of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

the generation difference 47

52 The implicit theory of wisdom among our Mainland Chinese participants and the

generation difference 48

53 Effects of Communist ideology on Wisdom conceptualization and Exemplars 53

54 Comparing the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese participants to

that among Westerners 54

55 Comparison between the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

that among Taiwanese Chinese 55

56 Comparing the Mainland Chinese wisdom model with Western wisdom models 56

561 Traditional Berlin Wisdom and Personal wisdom model 56

562 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model 57

563 ―MORE model 58

564 Brief Summary of these comparisons 58

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 59

ix

Chapter 4 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm a performance-based wisdom measure middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

11 Lack of emotional components in previous Berlin Paradigms 61

12 Innovative 2nd person wisdom measurement 63

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

31 Participants 65

32 Material 65

321 Berlin Wisdom paradigm vignettes 65

322 Berlin Wisdom manual (adapted) 65

323 Mainland Chinese wisdom manual 66

324 iMotions - Attention Tool FACET module (version 21) 67

325 Others 68

33 Procedure 68

34 Data analyses 69

341 Wisdom ratings 69

342 Facial expression analysis 69

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 72

41 Reliability of the Berlin and Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 72

42 Correlation between Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings

74

43 Correlation between performance-based and self-report wisdom measures 75

44 Validity test of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 75

441 Correlations with previous scores on wisdom correlates 75

442 Correlations with life satisfaction the following year 77

x

443 Conclusion 77

45 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 77

46 Thematic contents in participantslsquo responses 80

461 Life plan problem ―a friendlsquos unrealizable dream 80

462 Life review problem ―a teacherlsquos unrealized dream 81

463 Responses in the life plan problem rated highestlowest on BerlinMainland

Chinese wisdom rating 82

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 84

51 The role of experience in performance measure of wisdom 84

52 Berlin Wisdom rating was highly consistent with Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating

84

53 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 85

531 Measurement of emotional components of wisdom 85

532 Surprise and wisdom 86

533 Expression of negativepositive emotion may influence ratings on ―Ability in

PracticePositive Mindset 87

Chapter 5 General Discussion and Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

1 Concept of wisdom in a culture lay people VS philosophers middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

2 Universal Wisdom and cultural variation middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

3 Advantages of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 90

4 Limitation of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigmmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 91

5 Potential impacts on Western wisdom studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 92

51 Culture difference and universal wisdom model 92

52 Advantages of performance-based wisdom measure 93

53 The 2nd-person wisdom measure 94

6 General Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 95

xi

References middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 96

Appendicesmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 107

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items 107

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items 111

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm 113

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria 113

41 Criterion 1 Ability in Cognition认知能力 113

42 Criterion 2 Ability in Practice 实践能力 114

43 Criterion 3 Concern for Others 关心他人 115

44 Criterion 4 Eschewing-world Spirituality出世精神 116

45 Criterion 5 Positive Mindset 积极心态 118

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year 119

Copyright Acknowledgements middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 120

xii

List of Tables

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Table 2 Number of the participants mentioned each wisdom component in their definitions of

wisdom

Table 3 Rating of the participantslsquo performance in the life plan problem on each criterion

Table 4 Correlations between the ratings on Berlin and Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

Table 5 Correlations of the ratings on Chinese wisdom criteria with wisdom correlates

Table 6 Proportional time of each category of emotion in each scenario

xiii

List of Figures

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

Figure 2 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

Figure 3 A segment of a participantlsquos evidence value of surprise

xiv

List of Appendices

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year

1

Chapter 1 General introduction

1 Definitions of wisdom

Even though wisdom has become a topic of research in empirical psychology since the

last quarter of the 20th century there is still no scientific consensus on the definition of

wisdom (For a review of the definitions of wisdom see Bangen Meeks amp Jeste 2013)

Modern empirical psychologists generally view wisdom as a mature understanding and

conduct of life especially in difficult situations (Staudinger 2008) Two of the most

widely acknowledged definitions are the Berlin Wisdom researcherslsquo definition of

wisdom as expertise knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000) and Ardeltlsquos (2004) defining wisdom as an ideal type of character that

combines cognitive reflective and affective aspects of personality

Regardless of the difficulty in settling on a definition of it wisdom is believed to be an

important resource for a good life Wisdom provides insights and guidance for people to

lead a meaningful and happy life (Ferrari amp Potworowski 2008) In fact it may be

impossible to define wisdom semantically just as many scientific structures that can only

be represented in certain measures (see Giere 2009) a representation of the structure of

wisdom within a proper measurement may be the best a researcher can do Still this kind

of measurement is meaningful for many reasons both theoretical and practical

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm

The well-established Berlin Wisdom model defines wisdom as expertise and judgment

concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life and ―the pinnacle of insight into the

human condition and about the means and ends of a good life (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 122) rather than personality traits or individual abilities Staudinger (1996) has

further defined wisdom as a social interactive product Balteslsquo understanding of wisdom

2

might have been influenced by the Gestalt cognitive theory originating in Germanymdash

especially that of Koumlhler (1924) who believes that insight based on experience and

understanding of the structure of a situation was inherent to wisdom solving the

pragmatics in a creative way

Nevertheless the full model of the Berlin Wisdom paradigm (as shown in Figure 1) is not

simply about wisdom as expertise in life pragmatics but also about the ontogeny and

function of this life expertise (Baltes amp Smith 2008) Three factors are thought to be

associated with development maintenance and application of wisdom general person

factors (eg cognitive mechanics cognitive style mental health creativity and ego

strength) specific expertise-related factors (eg exposure to life scenarios and significant

life events motivation mentorship) and context (eg age cohort historical period

culture) Furthermore excellence in mind and virtue such as exceptionally good

judgment good advice insightful commentary about difficult and uncertain matters of

life and nonverbal behaviors associated with good conduct emotion regulation and

empathy in interpersonal and group contexts are regarded as necessary

manifestationoutcome of wisdom

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

3

Baltes and his colleagues measured wisdom through a think-aloud procedure testing the

participantslsquo responses in some hypothetical life-scenario situations such as the life-

planning life-monitoring and life-review problem for example ―In reflecting over their

lives people sometimes realize that they have not achieved what they had once planned

to achieve What should onethey do and consider (Staudinger amp Baltes 1996 p 762)

Participants reflected on these questions for a while before they responded by thinking

aloud Their thinking-aloud answers were tape recorded During both the reflection time

and the answering time the interviewer left the room so that participants felt less

constrained in talking about private issues The responses were transcribed and then rated

by 10 raters on five criteria (one criterion for each rater two raters per criterion) which

were developed based on Balteslsquo life-span theory and other cognitive psychologistslsquo

conceptions about the nature of cognitive development and problem solving in highly

complicated and ecological tasks (Staudinger Baltes amp Smith 1994)

The criteria of excellence (expertise) in fundamental pragmatics of life are a two-tiered

family the first level is rich factual (declarative) and procedural knowledge about the

fundamental life pragmatics includes life planning life management and life review the

second level is meta-criteria including understandings of lifespan contextualism

relativism of values and life priorities recognition and management of uncertainty

Factual knowledge includes knowledge of ―human nature life-long development

variations in developmental processes and outcomes interpersonal relations social

norms critical events in life and their possible constellations as well as knowledge about

the coordination of the well-being of oneself and that of others (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 125) Procedural knowledge involves ―strategies and heuristics for dealing with

the meaning and conduct of lifemdashfor example heuristics for giving advice and for the

structuring and weighing of life goals ways to handle life conflicts and life decisions and

knowledge about alternative back-up strategies if development were not to proceed as

expected (p 125) Lifespan contextualism refers to knowledge ―that considers the many

themes and contexts of life (eg education family work friends leisure the public good

of society etc) their interrelations and cultural variations and in addition incorporates a

4

lifetime temporal perspective (p 125-126) Relativism of values and life priorities refers

to ―acknowledgment of and tolerance for value differences and the relativity of the values

held by individuals and society (p 126) Finally the recognition of and management of

uncertainty describes an awareness of ―(a) the validity of human information processing

itself is essentially limited (constrained) (b) individuals have access only to select parts

of reality (c) the future cannot be fully known in advance (p 126)

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm

Charlotte Mickler and Ursula M Staudinger (2008) argued that general wisdom

concerning life in general as measured in the traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm was

different from Personal Wisdom which is an individuallsquos insight into his or her own life

In the Personal Wisdom paradigm the participants think aloud about themselves as a

friend such as their typical behaviors as a friend and their actions in difficult situations

The procedure was similar to that in the traditional Berlin wisdom paradigm however

the transcripted responses were rated on the Personal Wisdom criteria developed based on

the Berlin Wisdom criteria and conceptions of personality maturity in psychology

The Personal Wisdom criteria include two basic criteria (p 788) ―Self-knowledge (deep

insight into oneself and onelsquos own life) ―Growth and self-regulation (heuristics that

helps one to cope with various difficult and challenging situations and to learn from

them) and three meta-criteria ―Interrelating the self (an awareness of the contextual

embeddedness of onelsquos behavior feelings or both and onelsquos biographical embeddedness

dependency on others and the interrelatedness of different self-domains) ―Self-

relativism (―critically appraise their own behavior without losing a basic level of self-

esteem) and ―Tolerance of ambiguity (―ability to recognize and manage the

uncertainties in onelsquos own life and onelsquos own development)

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms

The traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm is a 3rd person perspective wisdom measure

which is not relevant to the participantslsquo personal life and thus not emotionally-engaging

In fact wisdom cannot exist independently of individuals (Ardelt 2004) On the other

5

hand the Personal wisdom paradigm is a 1st-person perspective wisdom measure

Therefore it may be vulnerable to the participantslsquo social desirability and inaccuracy in

self-judgment or self-serving bias Furthermore there is no measurement of emotional

components of wisdom in any of these two paradigms

22 Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale

Based on Clayton and Birrenlsquos definition of wisdom Monika Ardelt (2003 2004)

proposed that wisdom was the integration of cognitive reflective and affective

personality traits Ardelt critiqued the Berlin Wisdom paradigmlsquos definition of wisdom as

some kind of expert knowledge she believes that wisdom cannot exist independently of

individuals (Ardelt 2004) In contrary Baltes and his colleagues proposed that wisdom is

about the fundamental truth of life which is very difficult for a person to grasp (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000)

Ardelt developed a self-reportself-assessment scale to measure wisdom The participants

indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or ―strongly agree

to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree There are 39 items in three-

dimensional wisdom scale 14 for the cognitive dimension 12 for the reflective

dimension and 13 for the affective dimension (Ardelt 2003 2004) (see Appendix 1) The

cognitive dimension embodies the desire to know the truth a deep understanding of life

(eg ―Ignorance is bliss (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item and relativistic thinking

(eg ―People are either good or bad (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item) The reflective

dimension includes self-examination self-awareness and self-insight (eg ―Things often

go wrong for me by no fault of my own (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) as well as

the ability to perceive a phenomenon from different perspectives (eg ―Before criticizing

somebody I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place (Ardelt 2003 p

317)) and ―transcendence from self-projections and self-serving bias (eg ―I either get

very angry or depressed if things go wrong (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) Lastly

the affective dimension refers to sympathy and compassion for others (eg ―Sometimes I

feel a real compassion for everyone (Ardelt 2003 p 318))

Below is a detailed list of the sub-dimensions of the three wisdom dimensions (Ardelt

6

unpublished documentation authorized by Ardelt) ―

Cognitive dimension

1 Ability and willingness to understand a situation or phenomenon thoroughly

2 Acknowledgement of ambiguity complexity and uncertainty in life

3 Ability to make important decisions despite lifelsquos unpredictability and uncertainties

Reflective dimension

1 Ability and willingness to look at phenomena and events from different perspectives

2 Absence of subjectivity and projections

Affective dimension

1 Presence of positive and caring emotions toward others

2 Absence of indifferent or negative emotions toward others

3 Motivation to nurture the well-being of others

Ardeltlsquos method is also a 1st person perspective measure while self-report measure of

wisdom may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception

(Staudinger Gluck 2011) In fact a positive association between impression

management and scores on some items in Ardeltlsquos scale was demonstrated in a survey

(Taylor Bates amp Webster 2011)

23 ldquoMORErdquo model

Focused on the development of wisdom Gluumlck and Bluck (2012) proposed the MORE

model of wisdom embodying four resources of wisdom

1 A Sense of Mastery belief in onelsquos ability of handling life challenges

2 Openness awareness of multiple perspectives on a phenomenon interests in ―learning

7

from new perspectives and from other people (p 9)

3 Reflective Attitude ―willingness to look at life issues in a complex way (p 10)

4 Emotion RegulationEmpathy ―ability to deal with otherslsquo feelings effectively and

―reach out to others through empathetic concern (p 12)

The model is still under development Gluumlck and Bluck suggested a longitudinal survey

to explore the developmental dynamics between MORE resources and life experiences

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models

In general Western researchers proposing these models may be implicitly influenced by

Western culture characterized by Greek philosophy and Christian religion Furthermore

these models have been mainly applied to Western participants growing up in a Western

cultural background which has significantly influenced the scientific understanding of

wisdom (for reviews see Bangen et al 2013 Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013 Sternberg amp

Jordan 2005) Little is known about the conception of wisdom in other social-cultural

contexts Therefore we are not sure if these models are relevant for other cultural groups

It could be relevant because wisdom is a universal quality of human life or irrelevant

the structure of wisdom is cultural-specific because culture influences wisdom

conception which further influences wisdom development

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds

Most of the existing studies in non-western cultures have targeted a particular wisdom

tradition such as Levittlsquos (1999) qualitative study of Tibetan Buddhist monks which

found that wisdom was defined as examination of reality understanding of ―true self

and being altruistic to others or focused on a particular explicit theory of wisdom such

as Grossmann and his colleagueslsquo (2012) cross-culture study on Japanese and Americanslsquo

wise decision making which found that American (not Japanese) performed better with

increasing age

8

In general wisdom researchers in Eastern cultures believe that culture significantly

shapes conception of wisdom (Brezina amp Oudenhoven 2012) Ivan Brezina and Jan

Pieter Van Oudenhoven examined the conception of wisdom among five different

nations Ecuador (predominantly Christian) India (predominantly Hindu) and the

predominantly Muslim countries Indonesia Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

They showed the participants different items each of which describes an individual

characteristic and the participants indicated their agreement with its relatedness to

wisdom The factor analysis results revealed three primary factors underlying the concept

of wisdom ―serenity referring to detachment from emotion and material

―determination reflecting reflection upon oneself and persistence in difficulties and

―altruism defined as selflessness Moreover they found that effect of national culture

was more significant than an effect of religion upon the conception of wisdom However

their research method has a shortcoming in that the researchers own conception of

wisdom rather than that of the local population was examined Therefore the

similarities between the wisdom conception among the participants and that identified in

Western studies could be caused by the unconscious impact of the abundant Western

wisdom research literature upon the researchers Moreover the participants were all

immigrants who had already experienced a different social culture that may influence

their conception of wisdom

Nevertheless the idea that the Eastern conception of wisdom differs from the Western

conception was confirmed by other studies exploring implicit theories of wisdom in

Eastern cultures For example a survey in several Asian countries (India Indonesia

Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates) revealed that their conceptions of wisdom were

more related to many aspects of personal characters compared with that in Western

cultures (Ivan amp Alojz 2010) a survey on American Australian Indian and Japanese

revealed that Western conception of wisdom emphasized cognitive dimension while

Eastern conception both cognitive and affective dimensions (Takahashi amp Bordia 2000)

4 Chinese culture

It is not easy to define culture For my thesis culture is defined as beliefs about human

9

life commonly shared by a group of people which are influenced by their philosophy

religion literature history politics economy etc For example Chinese culture is well-

known for its characteristic Confucianism (Winfield Mizuno amp Beaudoin 2000)

However Chinese culture is influenced not only by Confucianism but also by Daoism

Buddhism and other schools of philosophy For example the Legalist School argues that

governments should build on strict and established laws instead of morality proclaimed

by Confucians Mohism advocates indiscriminating love iron will and strict discipline

denounces all kinds of offensive wars admires noble talents worships ghosts and

heaven Mohism agrees with Confucianism upon advocating virtues such as humaneness

and righteousness however Mohism emphasizes simplicity and austerity denouncing the

complicated rituals and rites advocated in Confucianism (Feng 1983)

Nevertheless Confucianism Daoism and Buddhism are usually regarded as the most

important Chinese traditions (Peng 2007) The most important figures for Confucianism

are Confucius (551 - 479BC) and Mencius (372 - 289BC) for Daoism Lao-tzu a

mysterious historic figure (Sima 1939) and Chuang-Tzu (369 - 286 BC) Buddhism was

founded by Buddha Gautama (around 300 BC) in India entered China in the latter part of

the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and gradually merged with the Chinese local culture

(Hardy 2014) There are numerous teachings and endless debates about these three

traditions among the experts in Chinese philosophy however these three traditions

merged into one around the time of Song dynasty (96 - 1279) (Feng 1983) Hence most

Chinese are influenced by all these traditions

Here I have only chosen some basic tenets of these three traditions with which most

Chinese will have an understanding

41 Confucianism

According to Confucianism everybody should be unified in virtue (eg Humaneness amp

Righteousness仁义) for Harmonious interpersonal relationship especially within family

and States For example Confucius said ―Do not impose on others what you yourself do

not desire (chapter 122) ―A benevolent man helps others to take their stand in so far as

he himself wishes to take his stand and gets others there in so far as he himself wishes to

10

get there (chapter 630) (Lau 1979)

Confucians emphasize interpersonal connection For example Mengzi persuaded kings to

unify the turbulent China at that time through compassion and actions to fulfill

compassion (Confucius amp Mencius 2007) Xunzi believes that social cooperation and

rites distinguish man from the animals (Feng 1983) Correspondingly many Chinese

scholars believe that Chinese emphasize on interpersonal-relationship more than

Westerners do (eg Zhu amp Han 2008 Gu amp Guo 2015)

42 Daoism

According to Daoism everything is unified in ―Dao the eternal way of natureuniverse

Daoism teaches man to model on nature For example Lao Tzu said ―Man models

himself on Earth Earth on Heaven Heaven on the Way and the Way on that which is

naturally so (Lau 1963 chapter 25)

In nature cause and effect influence each other cause and effect are connected in one

process the eternal way The founder of Daoism Lao Tzu said ―Being and Non-being

produce each other (Lau 1963 chapter 2) Here ―Being and ―Non-being are cause

and effect of each other in fact Daoism does not distinguish cause from effect

Man is an integral part of universe rather than a Subject independently of observed

Objects The distinction between subject and object in Western philosophy remained

unchallenged until Heidegger argued that there is no such thing as an observing subject

that is unaffected by the external world of observed things (Gu amp Guo 2015)

Correspondingly Daoism proclaims that a person should forget self especially desires of

self so that the person would have pure perception of the world and freedom in this

universe

43 Chinese Buddhism

When Buddhism spread to China there were the Theravada and Mahayana traditions

However due to the influence of the existing Chinese traditions especially Confucianism

and Daoism the Theravada tradition faded away within a short period of time whereas

11

Mahayana tradition gradually merged into Chinese culture and came to dominate Chinese

Buddhism (Group 2003)

According to Chinese Buddhism all the Beings Non-Beings and relationships between

BeingsNon-Beings are unified with the Universal Mind Buddha Buddha says ―Banruo

Boruomi (Buddha 2007) Banruo is wisdom like a hard and pure diamond piercing

through illusions and reach the world of truth namely Boruomi

Everything is transient interdependent and void (no-self) only a manifestation of mind

one needs to realize the original identification with the Universal Mind and replace non-

enlightenment with enlightenment to escape the endless transmigration of cause and

effect This extrication is called nirvana (Feng 1983)

The ―Enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism is different from the ―Cognition framed in

Western culture Because men are already unified with Buddha enlightenment is a

process of self-realization of this fact and the unspeakable wisdom is deep in the mind

whereas in Christianity men are separated from God salvation is from Christ and the

gospel needs to be proclaimed Moreover in Buddhism essence and appearance are one

man should not cling to anything However most Western philosophers (eg Plato)

believe that essence is different from appearance (Gu amp Guo 2015)

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy

In general Chinese philosophies emphasize connections and try to unify everything into

one In space everything is unified in one unit (individuals in society or BeingsNon-

beingsrelationships in universe) in time every event is in one process In contrary

western philosophies concern themselves more with atoms in space or cause and effect

in time (Gu amp Guo 2015) Correspondingly Eastern understandings of wisdom

emphasize both analytical and synthetic domains whereas only analytical domains in

Western understandings (Takahashi 2000)

However most Mainland Chinese nowadays may be unfamiliar or disagree with these

profound Chinese philosophies due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China

12

in modern history

5 Modern history of China

Since the painful collision with Western culture in the First Opium War (1839-42)

Mainland of China has undergone a series of historic events that may seriously affect the

transmission of Chinese traditions In general numerous defeats by foreigners especially

Westerners helped Chinese people to reflect upon their own traditions and begin to

realize that Chinese culture is not superior to other cultures especially Western culture

Thus they began to critique their own culture and learn from people in other cultures

especially the Westerners (science philosophy politics etc) It should be noted that

Communism was also from the West and the Communists have governed Mainland of

China (not Taiwan) since 1949

A brief account of modern history of China is given below It should be noted that the

historical account is inevitably biased due to the authorlsquos education life experience

political beliefs etc Nevertheless I endeavor to present a history that is probably known

by most Mainland Chinese

51 Before the Cultural Revolution

A history textbook in Mainland of China will claim that China was repeatedly invaded by

foreigners at the beginning of the modern period (see Ministry of Education in China

2003) The British navy easily defeated China in the First Opium War of 1839 and in

1860 Beijings Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned to the ground by British

and French troops in 1895 Taiwan was ceded to Japan after Chinalsquos defeat in the Battle

of the Yellow Sea in 1900 European powers along with the United States Russia and

Japan seized Beijing coercing the Qing government into paying them 675 million

pounds in indemnity and signing protocols unfair for China (Weatherley amp Rosen 2013)

Angered by its weakness and corruption the Mainland Chinese populace mdashled by Dr

Sun Yat-sen founder of the Chinese Nationalist Partymdash overthrew the Qing government

in 1911 (Fairbank Twitchett amp Feuerwerker 1986) However Sun Yat-sen was unable to

create a government capable of controlling the political situation in Mainland of China

13

Warlords supported by different foreign powers fought against each other leading

Mainland of China into seemingly endless turbulence Eventually Sun Yat-sen built the

Nationalist Partylsquos own army and allied with the Chinese Communist party and the

USSR was preparing to defeat the warlords and reunify China when Sun Yat-sen died

suddenly in 1925 (about the time the oldest of the older generation participants in study 2

was born)

Fulfilling Sun Yat-senlsquos dream the Northern Expedition began from Guangzhou in 1926

the Nationalist Party established its Capital in Nanjing in April 1927 confronting the

Beiyang Government established by the warlords in Beijing In 1928 the Nationalist

party captured Beijing and the warlord in the Northeast of China subsequently declared

his loyalty to the Nanjing government and the Northern Expedition ended however the

Chinese Nationalist Party and Chinese Communist Party had turned against each other

since 1927 and the war between these two parties went on In 1931 the Communist party

established its capital in Ruijin (a Hakka city in the south of China) defying the Nanjing

government in the same year the Japanese invaded Mainland of China The Japanese

had conquered the whole of Northeast China by 1932

In 1936 the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party decided to end

the civil war and join forces to fight against the Japanese The war against the Japanese

was extremely difficult almost one third of Mainland of Chinalsquos territory had been

invaded by Japan (including Beijing which was captured by the Japanese in 1937 and

was not reclaimed until 1945 by the Nationalist party) After Japan surrendered and

returned Taiwan to China in 1945 civil war in China between the Chinese Nationalist

Party and the Chinese Communist Party resumed almost immediately The Communist

Party captured Beijing from the Nationalist party in January 1949 and on October 1st of

the same year the leader of the Communist Party Mao Zedong announced the foundation

of Peoplelsquos Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing In December 1949 Chiang Kai-shek

with his government fled to Taiwan (Fairbank et al 1986) (This was about the time the

youngest of the older generation participants in study 2 was born) Taiwan has been

separated from the Mainland of China since that time

14

After another difficult war in Korea against the United States and its allies (1950-1953)

(for the details see Blair 1987) the Mainland Chinese Communist Party launched

communist reform throughout Mainland of China Communist ideology was proclaimed

private businesses were appropriated as national assets lands were taken from the

landlords and divided among peasants and collective farms were built (MacFarquhar

1991) Chairman Mao wished to build a socialist country for the proletariat however

after he retired from the position of Chairman in 1959 he was disappointed to find

traditional ideas reappear in contemporary literature and the Communist Party suffered

from corruption and bureaucracy Nevertheless these realities did not diminish Maolsquos

―communist dream instead he launched the Cultural Revolution (MacFarquhar 1991)

52 Cultural Revolution

From its beginning in 1966 to its end ten years later the Cultural Revolution is

considered Mainland of Chinalsquos most turbulent time after the founding of the Peoplelsquos

Republic (MacFarquhar 1991) The reason for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

is still debatable but many historians believe that Mao wanted to prevent bureaucracy

revisionism and capitalism that he thought was developing in Khrushchevlsquos USSR

(MacFarquhar 1991) Mao was especially skeptical of the ―deterioration of the central

communist leaders such as Chairman Liu Shaoqi (whom Mao suspected of revisionism

he was persecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution)

Besides many communist leaders numerous innocent scholars who were (or seemed)

unenthusiastic about Maolsquos communist ideology were persecuted during the Cultural

Revolution by Maolsquos loyal followers the ―Red Guards mostly made up of passionate

youths (MacFarquhar 1991) The Red Guards considered Maolsquos Quotations (―Red

Precious Book 「红宝书」) almost as a sacred text and were strongly against anything

related to traditional ideologies such as Confucianism Daoism or Buddhism They were

responsible for the destruction of many national treasures and historic art

Chinese culture and education suffered most during the Cultural Revolution and its

impact has been believed to be long-lasting (MacFarquhar 1991) The youthful spirit of

the Cultural Revolution differed from Chinese tradition in many ways First it was a

15

dictatorship of the proletariat not the aristocracy Second soldiers were respected while

scholars were belittled Traditional literati were usually peaceful gentle and even soft

(Stokstad 2005) while Mao (although a poet) valued military strategy resorting to

violent revolution to tackle social problems He proclaimed that political power come

from military strength (Mao 1972) In fact popular support from the Peoplelsquos Liberation

Army (PLA) was an important basis for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

Finally Marxist materialism was proclaimed while the traditions such as Confucianism

Daoism and Buddhism were roundly denounced

Unfortunately the Cultural Revolution degenerated into chaos (MacFarquhar 1991) In

1971 Maolsquos long-time comrade and chosen successor Marshal Linmdashwho had

enthusiastically supported the Cultural Revolution (at least on the surface)mdashbetrayed

Mao (MacFarquhar 1991) In 1975 one year before Maolsquos death and the de facto end of

the Cultural Revolution Mao wrote his last poem in which he said ―At that time

anxious about our motherland we comrades were not afraid of being beheaded Now the

whole country is red (communist) but who can guard it The work has not finished yet

my body is tired my hair is white How can you be hardhearted enough to let our life-

long dream be gone with the river (Mao 1996)

53 After the Cultural Revolution

Although repeatedly attacked Deng Xiaoping survived the Cultural Revolution to launch

economic reform his ―Reform and Opening started in 1978 has generated rapid

economic growth in Mainland of China since the 1980s (MacFarquhar 1991) The

Cultural Revolution was officially decried The public image of Mao became much more

realistic especially after Denglsquos compromising comments on Maolsquos life his

achievements before the foundation of Peoplelsquos Republic of China and his mistakes in his

late life especially during the Cultural Revolution Moreover Confucianism Daoism

and Buddhism are increasingly appreciated as demonstrated by the growing popularity of

the books about Chinese traditions such as Confucianism (eg Yu 2006) Meanwhile

religions such as Christianity Buddhism and Taoism are recovering after the loosening of

earlier restrictions put in place by the Communist Party (Yang 2006)

16

There are many fundamental changes in current society of Mainland China

First new social classes such as owners of private companies emerged after the

economic reform changing the previous simply layered social structure made up of

famers workers and scholars Meanwhile cooperation rather than conflict between

different classes is emphasized (Lu 2004) Consistently social interaction and social

relationship (关系) are increasingly appreciated The social ability of modern Mainland

Chinese youths is believed to be higher than that of their parents (Huang Deng Chen amp

Lu 2009) However this 关系 also has negative implications For example people who

have connections with governing officials such as the politicianslsquo relatives usually get

advantages in the competition of the immature markets and occupy most social resources

Corruption among the political officials moreover is commonplace Correspondingly

the current income levels in current China are overwhelmingly imbalanced the managers

form the top class of Mainland Chinese society which according to surveys in Shenzhen

and Hefei (Lu 2004) earn 15 times of the income of the workmen who are at the bottom

of the social hierarchy and are often belittled This situation is totally different from that

in Maolsquos age when workmen formed the upper class and were greatly respected Second

knowledge and techniques especially scientific knowledge and techniques are becoming

more and more important Therefore scholars and scientists are more and more

respected Third with the opening up of Mainland China to the outside world Mainland

Chinese society is becoming more and more international and multi-cultural art

literature and philosophy have been flooding into Mainland of China from Hong Kong

Taiwan Korea Japan the United States etc This trend is intensified by the prevalence of

the internet all over China Fourth the one-child policy was implemented Most youths

are the only child or of just one of two children in a family and thus enjoy a luxury of

resources that had not been available to their parents

With such dramatic changes in society there are tremendous gaps between the mentalities

of current Mainland Chinese youths and their parents they are much more

individualistic open-minded critical adventurist and fact-based (not as interested in

theory and ideology as their parents once were during Maolsquos age) legally conscious

interested in public affairs but not so much in social morality caring about the protection

17

of the environment fond of fun rather than being serious (Huang et al 2009) Western

ideas such as freedom and democracy are much more appreciated meanwhile some

negative values such as worshiping financial power and material consumption are also

more common among current Mainland Chinese youth than among their parents

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture

Wisdom studies in non-Western cultures mostly involve Japan and India Very little has

been done in China The Berlin Wisdom criteria were applied in a study to rate a

Mainland Chinese citylsquos elderly peoplelsquos psychological adaptation level which was

found to be significantly positively correlated with their life satisfaction (Weidong 2006)

An opinion paper discussed differences between Chinese and Western practical wisdom

in management and concluded that both value compassion (Opdebeeck amp Habisch

2011) a survey on the wit and wisdom of Mainland Chinese tour guides merely

illustrated tour guideslsquo practical wisdom which was barely a necessary ingredient of a

good life (Dioko Harrill amp Cardon 2013) Bang and Zhou (2014) studied how Ardeltlsquos

(2003) Three-dimensional wisdom Scale related to development of ego identity among

Mainland Chinese undergraduate university students and identified a positive correlation

None of these studies has been specifically focused on wisdom among Mainland Chinese

Yang (2001 2007 2008a 2008b 2008c 2014a) has studied the conception of wisdom in

Chinese culture in depth Yang chose 智慧 as the corresponding Chinese word for

―wisdom and reviewed the development of the meaning of 智慧 in Chinese history 智

慧 is mostly about personal characters especially about cognitive ability and judgments

With the spread of Buddhism in China 智慧 incorporated the components of wisdom in

Hindu culture ability to transcend laws in universe and pierce through transient

phenomenon in this world in order to realize ultimate truth In modern Chinese language

智 and 慧 are very similar in meaning (see httpwwwzdicnet) 智 emphasizes

more intelligence wisdom and resourcefulness 慧 is closer to wisdom (Banruo) in

Buddhism

In an empirical study Taiwanese Chinese who had been nominated as wise exemplars

18

were asked to describe wise decisions and actions in their own lives (Yang 2008c)

Several common themes emerged 1 ―striving for common good by helping others and

making major contributions to society (n = 79 36) 2 achieving a satisfactory state of

life (n = 55 25) 3 developing and determining life paths (n = 37 17) 4 resolving

difficult problems at work (n = 30 14) and 5 doing the right thing in the face of

adversity (n = 19 9) (p 286) In another study Yang (2014b) measured wisdom

among Taiwanese Chinese by methods of other-rating transcripted interviews and self-

report survey in her model wisdom is a real-life process including three components

connected together cognitive integration amp action embodiment amp positive effects for self

and others Yanglsquos model is featured by Chinese philosophy traditions such as emphasis

on integration in space and connection of events in one process Moreover the

component ―action embodiment is missing in most Western models corresponding to

the difference between Chinese and Western philosophy traditions

Besides Yang Chen and his colleagues (Chen Cheng Wu amp Hsueh 2014) applied the

grounded theory method to study Taiwanese Chinese educatorslsquo interpersonal and

intrapersonal perspectives on wisdom and identified four core components of wisdom

―intrapsychic integration ―actions in service of problem solving and ideal

implementation and ―positive results and feedback and adjustments (p 425)

However these findings may not be generalized to Mainland Chinese due to the

difference of culture between Mainland of China and Taiwan Taiwan was ceded from

China to Japan for 50 years after 1895 and was influenced by Japanese culture (Yang

2008a) Moreover Taiwan was governed by Chinese Nationalist party which revived

Chinese traditions through many political and cultural events after 1949 whereas

Mainland of China was governed by the Chinese Communist party and experienced

communist reforms and the 10-year Cultural Revolution attacking Chinese traditions

(MacFarquhar 1991)

19

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth

1 Introduction

11 Choosing Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese

Due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China through the modern history (see

Chapter 1 Section 6) the culture in Mainland of China could be very different from that

in Taiwan Therefore a prototype of wisdom among Mainland Chinese may be different

from that among Taiwanese Chinese Bang and Zhou (2014) believed that a prototype of

wisdom in Chinese culture was congruent with that in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model thus they

conducted a survey among some Mainland Chinese with the three-dimensional wisdom

scale However factor analysis identified a four dimensional structure (Non-dualistic

thinking ―Perspective-taking ―Non-resentment ―Empathy)

In order to test whether Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model or Bang and Zhoulsquos

four-dimensional wisdom model could represent wisdom among Mainland Chinese a

self-report wisdom measure was conducted among 100 Mainland Chinese youth

12 Validity tests of Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure

In order to test whether a wisdom measure is valid researchers could propose several

correlates of wisdom based on theories If the wisdom correlates measured by some

established measurements are significantly correlated with the wisdom measured then

the wisdom measurelsquos validity is testified For our study we chose four wisdom

correlates cognitive intelligence emotional intelligence empathy and prosocial

personality traits (high extroversion low psychoticism and low neuroticism) for reasons

below

Studies of implicit theories of wisdom in North America (ie the lay peoplelsquos theory of

wisdom) revealed that cognitive ability and reasoning were regarded as the most

important factors underlying wisdom (Sternberg 1990) Cognitive ability was found to

be one of the core themes of Western implicit theories of wisdom (Bluck amp Gluumlck 2005)

20

Besides cognitive ability wise people are thought to be good at understanding otherslsquo

emotions (Stange amp Kunzmann 2009) Adams (1998) simply regarded ―wisdom as the

classical version of ―emotional intelligence In a previous study a positive correlation

between wisdom measured by three-dimensional wisdom scale and emotional

intelligence measured by Wong and Lawlsquos emotional intelligence scale was

demonstrated and the effect of wisdom on happiness was reduced to emotional

intelligence (Zacher McKenna amp Rooney 2013) However wisdom should not be

reduced to emotional intelligence because emotional intelligence does not guarantee pro-

social personality as we see in some highly emotionally-intelligent criminals (Hampson

2012) and sly Nazi politicians (Shirer 2011) Understanding of otherslsquo suffering does not

necessary lead to compassion for others Therefore other-related wisdom defined as

empathic Concern for Others (Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013) is often added as an

important attribute for distinguishing wisdom from individual intelligence

Wisdom is interpreted by many researchers as a combination of intelligence and

character the ability to strive for the welfare of individuals and communities and the

willingness to do it (Pasupathi 2001 Stange amp Kunzmann 2009 Staudinger Doumlrner amp

Mickler 2005) Therefore we hypothesized that wise people not only possessed high

cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence but also empathy toward others and

prosocial personality traits such as low psychoticism low neuroticism and high

extroversion

2 Hypotheses

Reliabilities of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale as well as the subscales of

cognitive reflective and affective dimensions of wisdom should be ideal because

wisdom among Mainland Chinese embodies cognitive reflective and affective

components as hypothesized in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model

If Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional scale were valid for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese the wisdom score should be positively correlated with cognitive intelligence

emotional intelligence empathic concern and prosocial personality traits measured by

scales whose reliability and validity among Mainland Chinese were established in

21

previous studies eg Raven Matrix Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence scale the

Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Mainland Chinese

version of the shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the Ethic Committees at Zhejiang Normal

University and the University of Toronto

31 Participants

Ninety-seven Mainland Chinese undergraduate students (46 males aged from 18 to 23

years M = 1971 SD =119 years) at Zhejiang Normal University Jinhua Chinamdash a city

with a population of 5361600 at the 2010 census (―Jinhua 2014) Twelve were

Buddhists 3 were Christians 1 was Muslim 1 was favorable towards all kinds of

religious belief and the other 79 were atheists

32 Material

321 Visual basic program

All the items and pictures used in the scales and tests were presented on a computer one

by one in a home-made Visual Basic Program This program not only made the

characters easily readable but also prevented potential influence between adjacent scale

items

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS)

All the instructions and items were translated into Chinese and then reverse-translated to

English by native Mainland Chinese speakers and compared for accuracy to the original

English items by native English speakers The discrepancy was then corrected and this

double-reverse translation procedure repeated until the Chinese version scale was

consistent with the English version scale

22

For more details of this scale see Chapter 1 Section 23

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS)

The Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) includes four subscales self-

emotion appraisal other-emotion appraisal utilization of emotion and regulation of

emotion scales (Law Wong amp Song 2004) Each subscale has four items Self-emotion

appraisal and other-emotion appraisal refer to the abilities to understand emotion of self

and others respectively Utilization of emotion refers to utilizing emotion of self to guide

actions Regulation of emotion refers to controlling emotion of self The participants rate

the accordance of the description in the items to themselves on a 5-point scale

A previous study in China has demonstrated that the WLEIS was a better predictor of job

performance than the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test developed in

the US (Law Wong Huang amp Li 2008) Besides the WLEIS was testified as reliable

among 680 Mainland Chinese university students (Li Saklofske Bowden Yan amp Fung

2012)

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)

This scale measures four aspects of empathy perspective taking fantasy empathic

concern and personal distress (Siu amp Shek 2005) There are 28 items altogether seven

items for each subscale The Perspective-Taking scale assesses the liability to

spontaneously adopting perspectives of others the Fantasy scale measures the liability to

transpose self imaginatively into the feelings and actions of fictitious characters The

Empathic Concern scale measures other-oriented feelings of sympathy and care for the

suffering individuals The Personal Distress scale measures self-oriented feelings of

personal anxiety and unease in tense interpersonal situations (Davis 1983) The

participants indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or

―strongly agree to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree

The scale was testified as reliable and valid among 580 Mainland Chinese participants

(Siu amp Shek 2005)

23

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

The Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) has 48 items 12

items for each of the following sub-scales Psychoticism Extroversion

Neuroticismemotional instability and LieSocial desirability scales Psychoticism is

tendency to develop a psychotic symptom or anti-social behaviors Extraversion is

tendency to be active in social activities Neuroticism or emotion stability measures

individualslsquo emotional instability and the tendency to develop negative feelings The Lie

scale contains questions on which individuals tend to lie for social desirability (Eysenck

amp Eysenck 1975) The items are questions about the participants and the participants

respond ―yes or ―no to these questions

This scale was testified as reliable and valid among 8637 Mainland Chinese participants

(Mingyi Guocheng Rongchun amp Shen 2000)

426 Progressive Raven Matrix

There are 35 Progressive Raven Matrix items altogether used in this study In each item

the participants need to identify the missing element that completes a pattern on a 33

matrix Raven Matrix was found to be reliable and valid in measuring cognitive

intelligence among several cultures including Chinese culture (Raven 2000)

33 Procedure

The following procedure was completed individually in the Psychology laboratory at

Zhejiang Normal University The participants were left alone in a quiet room to finish the

scales and tests

All the participants completed the three-dimensional Wisdom Scale and the WLEIS In

addition 31 participants (12 males 18 to 22 years M = 1958 years SD =113 years)

finished Progressive Raven Matrix another 66 participants (34 males 18 to 23 years M

= 1977 years SD =122 years) completed the Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal

Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Mainland Chinese version of the shortened Eysenck

personality scale (EPQ-RS) Considering fatigue effect the participants who finished

24

Raven Matrix were not instructed to finish IRI and EPQ-RS

4 Results

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

A reliability test was conducted for the three-dimensional wisdom scale and its subscales

based on the data from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs

alpha of the whole scale was 070 alpha of the cognitive dimension scale was 065 alpha

of the reflective dimension scale was 049 alpha of the affective dimension scale was

030 Therefore the inter-items reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a

whole was acceptable However inter-items reliability of neither the reflective nor

affective dimensional subscale was acceptable all r lt 060

The final score of the three-dimensional wisdom scale ranged from 245 to 392 (M =

320 SD = 026) cognitive wisdom ranged from 207 to 414 (M = 334 SD = 040)

An inter-item reliability analysis was also conducted to test the four-factor structure

proposed by Bang and Zhou Cronbachs alpha of ―Non-dualistic thinking items was

053 alpha of ―Perspective-taking items was 068 alpha of ―Non-resentment items was

037 alpha of ―Empathy items was 028 Therefore only the ―Perspective-taking

subscale has acceptable inter-items reliability the four-factor structure proposed by Bang

and Zhou was not confirmed

42 Factor analysis

Combining the 3DWS data in this study with another 3DWS data of 50 Mainland

Chinese youths (22 males aged from 20 to 30 M = 2404 SD =242) collected in

another study we got data of 148 Mainland Chinese youthslsquo three-dimensional wisdom

items scores Factor analysis using a principal axis factoring analysis (the same method

used by Bang and Zhou) and an oblique rotation method (Direct Oblimin) was conducted

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was acceptable (060) however the

factor analysis extracted 14 factors explaining only 500 variance Moreover the

25

rotation failed to converge in 25 iterations Therefore we quitted the exploratory factor

analysis

Later we fixed the number of factors at three however the extracted three factors only

explained a 198 variance And then we fixed the number of factors at four but the

extracted four factors only explained a 236 variance Therefore there may be more

than four factors that underlie the participantslsquo performance in Ardeltlsquo self reporting

three-dimensional wisdom scale

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores

The 31 participants who took the Raven Matrix test had solved 7 to 34 matrixes (M =

2126 SD = 671) Bivariate correlation analysis between the Raven Matrix test score and

the three-dimensional wisdom score revealed no significant correlation r = 016 p =

038

We hypothesized that cognitive dimension of wisdom should be positively correlated

with the Raven matrix score even if the total wisdom score was not so however the

correlation of the Raven score with the score on cognitive wisdom was also not

significant r = 022 p = 024

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale

A reliability test was conducted for the WLEIS scale and its subscales based on the data

from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs alpha of the total scale

was 080 alpha of ―self-emotion appraisal was 061 alpha of ―other-emotion appraisal

was 080 alpha of ―use of emotion was 075 alpha of ―regulation of emotion was 082

Therefore inter-items reliability of the whole scale and all the sub-scales were

acceptable

The score of the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale ranged from 238 to 475 (M

= 341 SD =041) the score of ―self-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 475 (M =

355 SD =056) the score of ―other-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 500 (M =

26

352 SD =060) the score of ―use of emotion ranged from 200 to 480 (M = 336 SD

=064) the score of ―regulation of emotion ranged from 100 to 500 (M = 320 SD

=066)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that the wisdom score was significantly positively

correlated with WLEIS score r = 047 p lt 0001 and with all the subscale scores all r gt

024 all p lt 005

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the ―perspective-taking scale was 064 the alpha of the ―fantasy

scale was 069 the alpha of the ―empathic concern scale was 059 and the alpha of the

―personal distress scale was 070 Therefore the ―empathic concern scalelsquos inter-item

reliability was marginally acceptable for calculating the ―empathic concern score and the

other scaleslsquo inter-item reliabilities were acceptable

The score of ―perspective-taking ranged from 229 to 457 (M = 338 SD =051)

―fantasy ranged from 157 to 471 (M = 337 SD =063) ―empathic concern ranged

from 229 to 471 (M = 346 SD =049) ―personal distress ranged from 157 to 457 (M

= 330 SD =053)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that score of ―fantasy and ―perspective taking

were significantly positively correlated with wisdom score r = 026 p = 0039 r = 046

p lt 0001 respectively Other correlations were not significant all p gt 005

46 Eysenck personality scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the Psychoticism scale was 021 the alpha of the Extroversion scale

was 071 the alpha of the Neuroticism scale was 075 the alpha of the LieSocial

desirability scale was 059 Therefore the inter-item reliabilities of the Extroversion and

Neuroticism scales were ideal for calculating the total scores and that of the LieSocial

desirability scale was marginally acceptable

27

The Extroversion score ranged from 0 to 12 (M =663 SD =337) the Neuroticism score

ranged from 1 to 12 (M = 695 SD = 291) the LieSocial desirability score ranged from

0 to 11 (M = 454 SD =224) The LieSocial desirability score was not significantly

positively correlated with the Extroversion or Neuroticism score all r lt 01 all p gt 005

Therefore the Extroversion and Neuroticism scores were not biased by social

desirability

Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that the Extraversion score was significantly

positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 036 p = 0003 whereas the

Neuroticism score was significantly negatively correlated with the wisdom score r = -

032 p = 0008 However it should be noted that the Liesocial desirability score was

significantly positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 026 p = 0037 but not

with any other self-report score (eg emotional intelligence empathy) all r lt 01 all p gt

005

5 Discussion

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model

Although the reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a whole was acceptable

(Cronbachs alpha = 070) the inter-items reliabilities of reflective wisdom and affective

wisdom were quite poor This result revealed that the three-factor structure of wisdom

proposed by Ardelt may not exist among Mainland Chinese Indeed Bang and Zhou

(2014) also failed to find a three-factor structure of wisdom Moreover the four-factor

structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was also not testified in our study Therefore a

different wisdom model may be necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese A qualitative method such as an implicit theory study of wisdom among

Mainland Chinese may be helpful for exploring the structure of wisdom among Mainland

Chinese which was fulfilled in Study 2 of this thesis

52 Validity test results

Our hypothesis about wisdom related to cognitive intelligence was not confirmed by the

correlation result Perhaps wisdom is more about cognition of grand objects (eg

28

meaning of life and human nature) and thus the ability to recognize the pattern of matrix

is not related to the cognitive dimension of wisdom In fact a previous study has shown

that an increase of crystalized intelligence a component of wisdom was not related to

fluid intelligence (Christensen Batterham amp Mackinnon 2013) Wisdom may be more

related to intelligence in the domains about life in general which is essentially different

from intelligence in other domains such as that measured by the Raven matrix

Our hypotheses about positive correlation of wisdom with emotional intelligence

empathy (―perspective taking ―fantasy) and prosocial personality traits

(―extroversion ―emotion stability) were confirmed by the correlation results (Note that

the social desirability score was not correlated with any of these wisdom correlates and

thus these significant correlations can not be accounted for by the effect of social

desirability) Overall our results suggested that wisdom was embodied in reasonably

handling emotion of self and others (appraising otherslsquo emotion utilizing and regulating

emotion emotional stability) and taking care of others taking otherslsquo perspectives

transposing oneself imaginatively into the feelings and actions of others (related to

―fantasy) and being active in social interaction (―extraversion) However no cause-

effect relation can be derived from these correlation results These factors could be either

the outcomes or the sources of wisdom Eg extraversion could be the outcome of

wisdom wiser people are more likely to interact with others because they appreciate

more about the value of social networking On the other hand extraversion could

contribute to wisdom social interaction provides individuals more opportunities for

learning from others Likewise emotional stability may be important for reflective

wisdom while emotional stability could be an outcome of wisdom Individuals of high

neuroticism may be weak at reflecting upon their self-images due to their easily irritable

temperament preventing them from accepting ideas harmful for their self-image while

wise people are not self-centralized and thus emotionally stable Finally all these

potential components of wisdom need to be integrated For example an extravert without

empathy for others may interact with others superficially without being aware of otherslsquo

inner feelings and thoughts and thus wonlsquot accumulate experience of some fundamental

life pragmatics in social life such as painful separation from a beloved person

29

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability

According to Confucianism a Superior Man should examine himself objectively

(Confucius 2009) however the liesocial desirability score was significantly positively

correlated with the score of three-dimensional wisdom This result corresponded to the

proposition of Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) that self-reported measurement of wisdom

may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception wise

individuals are arguably more accurate in self-reflection and thus score lower than those

unwise individuals who have positive bias in their self-reflection In fact a positive

correlation between impression management and scores on some items in the three-

dimensional wisdom scale was demonstrated in a previous study (Taylor Bates amp

Webster 2011) Therefore a method more objective than self-report such as performance

measure is necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland Chinese This problem

is tackled in Study 3 of this thesis

6 Conclusion

Emotional intelligence empathy emotion stability and extraversion were significantly

positively correlated with wisdom measured by Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

For Mainland Chinese wisdom may be embodied in the ability and willingness to

understand and regulate emotion of selves and others in social life However the

structure of wisdom was unclear neither the three-factor structure proposed by Ardelt nor

the four-factor structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was testified Moreover the self-

report wisdom score was significantly positively correlated with social desirability score

Therefore we probably need a different model and a performance measure for wisdom

measurement among Mainland Chinese

30

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

1 Introduction

In order to explore the structure of wisdom ie the potential wisdom components among

Mainland Chinese and build a Mainland Chinese Wisdom model the implicit theory of

wisdom among Mainland Chinese was examined

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners

The implicit theory of wisdom is about the lay peoplelsquos latent understanding of wisdom

or implicit conceptualization of ―wisdom Implicit theory studies typically use one of

two main approaches ―descriptor rating and ―nomination of exemplars (Bluck amp

Gluumlck 2005)

Descriptor rating studies of wisdom The earliest and still most common method of

research on implicit theories of wisdom uses attribute rating (eg Clayton amp Birren

1980 Holliday amp Chandler 1986 Jason et al 2001a Sternberg 1985) Participants first

list attributes they associate with wisdom that are then merged into a master list with

repetitions idiosyncrasies and synonyms removed the master list is then presented to a

second (often larger) sample of participants who rate each attribute for how central it is

to wisdom Multidimensional scaling is then used to extract underlying components from

ratings with dimensions labeled according to their characteristic attributes

Exemplar approaches to implicit theories of wisdom Another way of studying implicit

theories of wisdom is to ask people to nominate individual exemplars of wisdom (eg

Orwoll amp Perlmutter 1990 Takayama 2002) Nomination studies of wisdom ask people

to nominate someone they consider wise from history or from their personal

acquaintance Historical exemplars of wisdom are not universal For example Jewish

Canadians frequently nominated Gandhi as a historical exemplar of wisdom among a

wide range of political and intellectual figuresmdashmany of importance to Judaism like

Moses However Gandhi was nominated only once in Pakistan with 60 of participants

31

choosing the Prophet Mohammed (Ferrari Kahn Benayon amp Nero 2011)

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories

Gluumlck and Bluck (2005 see also Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011) identified five core themes

of Western implicit theories of wisdom in their careful review of all Descriptor rating

studies of wisdom completed to that time

1 Cognitive ability (profound knowledge amp reasoning about novel problems)

2 Insight (willingness and ability to ponder deeply on complex issues)

3 Reflective attitude (do think profoundly about self others and the world from many

different perspectives to be self-critical and not biased by emotion of self)

4 Concern for Others beyond close family and friends (self-transcendent concern and

compassion)

5 Problem-solving skills (applying knowledge to concrete problems)

Later Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) summarized these as core components of wisdom in

subjective theories and then added another three components of wisdom from some

expertslsquo subjective theories especially those for some self-report wisdom scales

Spirituality and connectedness to nature to be spiritual in life and enjoy a connection

with the divine and care for the natural environment (Jason et al 2001b) Emancipatory

nature of wisdom interests in self-critical reflection and autonomy and knowledge that

increases the freedom of the self and provides opportunities for self-development

(Sternberg 1990) Humor the ability to see comical components even in serious

situations (Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011)

13 This study

Given the shortcomings of self-report wisdom measure as demonstrated in study 1 we

conducted another study based on the secondary data from a previous study to explore the

potential factors underlying wisdom in Mainland Chinese culture The conceptions of

32

wisdom among two generations of Mainland Chinese were examined The older

generation had experienced the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when they were

emerging or middle-aged adults (18 to 42 years old in 1966) whereas the younger

generation was born after the Cultural Revolution As far as we know this is the first

study on the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese

As mentioned earlier Mainland China underwent the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-

1976) during which the traditional wisdom ideologies of Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism were fiercely denounced nationwide while Maolsquos Communist ideology was

proclaimed instead (Yang 2006) The Cultural Revolution provides a unique opportunity

to study an event that disrupted transmission of Chinese traditions People who lived

through this time may incorporate elements of communist ideology into their conceptions

of wisdom

2 Hypotheses

We hypothesized that people who had experienced the Cultural Revolution should have

an implicit theory of wisdom different from that among those born after the Cultural

Revolution conceptual wisdom components related to Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism should be less prevalent whereas conceptual wisdom components related to

Communism should be more prevalent among the older generation than among the

younger generation

Parallel hypothesis

Similar to all cross-section studies cohort effect is mixed with age effect and thus not

identifiable People who had experienced the Cultural Revolution may later learn the

revived traditions and become even more affected by these traditions due to their greater

experience of the revived traditions through age Therefore conceptual wisdom

components related to Chinese traditions may be more prevalent among the elders than

among the youths

33

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the ethics committee at the University of

Toronto

31 Participants

One hundred Mainland Chinese adults were interviewed in Beijing in 2008 half were

native-born Mainland Chinese elders living in the Beijing area (28 males aged from 60

to 84 M = 7166 SD =599) They were born between 1924 and 1948 and had

experienced the Cultural Revolution and were living independently or with family around

the time of interview Among them 15 participants had not finished high school 12

participants had high school or equivalent diploma 7 participants had some college

education and 16 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent degree one was Buddhist 1

was Muslim 16 named their religious affiliation as Communism and the other 32 did not

indicate any religious affiliation

The other 50 were students at Beijing Normal University (22 males aged from 20 to 30

M = 2404 SD =242) born between 1978 and 1988 after the Cultural Revolution which

ended in 1976 Among this generation 18 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent

degree 31 participants had a Masterlsquos degree and one participant a doctorate one was

Buddhist 1 was Muslim 2 were Christians and 2 named their religious affiliation as

Communism the other 44 did not indicate any religious affiliation

32 Material

Recorder printed ―Interview guide etc

33 Procedure

Participants were interviewed individually in a quiet room They nominated several

wisdom exemplars from among historic figures and their acquaintances and then

34

explained why they regarded the exemplars as wise how the wisdom exemplars had

become wise and what the definition of wisdom is The Mainland Chinese term used for

wisdom is the same as that in Yangs study with Taiwanese Chinese Zhi Hui (智慧)

(Yang 2008)

More specifically it included the following questions

(1) Please take a moment to think of the wisest person you know of in history among

your acquaintances Who is this person and what makes them so wise What is one story

you know about this person or one thing they said or did that shows them to be wise

We included the following probes ―What was wise about that What might some other

person have said or done We also asked ―Has this person affected or inspired you in

your own life Is it possible for you to become more like them Are there any wise

moments in your life

(2) Finally we asked about the participantslsquo own definition of wisdom ―Now that we

have had a chance to talk about it what is wisdom What does wisdom mean to you

The interviews were recorded and transcribed

The nomination of wisdom exemplars may reveal who had influenced the participantslsquo

conceptualization of wisdom The reasons for the participantslsquo nomination were arguably

determined by their conceptualization of wisdom We made this arrangement because the

conceptualization of wisdom is not easy for lay people to articulate and asking questions

relevant to wisdom before addressing their definition of wisdom could activate the

neural-network carrying information related to wisdom conceptualization However the

participants sometimes talked about something unrelated to their definitions of wisdom

which is inevitable because it is very difficult for common people to focus on the topic

―wisdom throughout the whole conversation Nevertheless when the participants

responded to our last question ie the definition of wisdom they were mostly focused

on their conceptualizations of wisdom Therefore we chose to code their responses to the

last question

In total 92 Mainland Chinese participants (47 male aged from 20 to 84 M = 4722 SD

35

=2408) reported their definition of wisdom including 47 youths (27 males 20 to 30

years M = 2409 years SD =246years) and 45 elders (20 males 60 to 84 years M =

7138 years SD =607years) Thematic analysis using a grounded theory method

allowed us to code these participantslsquo answers and discover common themes of the

Mainland Chinese participantslsquo definition of wisdom After these common themes were

found 2 Taiwanese Chinese research assistants coded the transcripts again and identified

all the common themes we found without discovering any new theme Finally a

codebook was developed based on these common themes and then two trained Mainland

Chinese coders coded the transcripts again according to this codebook Coder agreement

and Kappa values on each category of this codebook were analyzed just as in a previous

study (Gluumlck et al 2005) Disagreements were later resolved by discussion between

these coders and then the frequency of each category coded was calculated

4 Results

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants

Participants made a total of 180 nominations of historical wise exemplars nominating 64

historic figures The mostly frequently nominated historic wisdom exemplars were

political or military leaders (ie emperors presidents premiers civil officials and

generals) nominated by 74 participants The second most frequently nominated group of

historic wisdom exemplars were scholars (ie philosophers literary authors poets and

historians) nominated by 21 participants Following these two groups of historic wisdom

exemplars were scientists nominated by four participants and then religious leaders

nominated by three participants Buddha nominated by a Christian Jesus nominated by a

Buddhist Muhammad nominated by an atheist

The leaders were regarded by the participants as wise mostly for their personal abilities

and contribution to their society The leaderslsquo personal abilities included leadership in

military or political events talents in ruling organizations and states social interaction

organizational and leadership skills such as understanding otherslsquo mentality and

managing the talented persons The leaderslsquo contribution to their society included

36

recovering the order of the society and showing compassion for the poor The scholars

were regarded as wise mostly for their mentality cognitive ability cognitive traits

cognitive outcome (eg works of literature) and virtue teaching wisdom to the public

self-transformation and transcendent personalities The wisdom of leaders emphasized

more on changing the external world ie society whereas the wisdom of scholars on

transforming the internal world ie mind

Table 1 shows a chronological ranked ordering of the 24 historic figures who received at

least 2 nominations as wise exemplars (All other figures received only a single

nomination and thus was not reported here) It should be noted that 19 of these 24

nominees were Chinese 15 of the 24 were political or military leadersmdashsome dating

back over 2000 years to the unification of China as a centralized country by Qin Shi

Huang (260ndash210 BC) the first emperor of China mdash through to the 17th

c but then we

found a gap of almost 200 years until 6 leaders within living memory of the older

generation In addition to these political or military leaders 8 were scholars and only 1

was a religious figure (Muhammad)

37

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Wisdom Exemplarparticipants Youth Elder Total

Lao-tzu Legendary founder of Daoism Zhou dynasty (6th c BC) 2 0 2

Confucius (551ndash479 BC) Ancient educator and political advisor

founder of Confucianism

9 1 10

Plato (429ndash347 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Aristotle (384ndash322 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Emperor Qin [Shi Huang] (260ndash210 BC) First emperor Qin dynasty 3 4 7

Emperor Gaozu (256 or 247-195 BC) First emperor Han dynasty 1 1 2

Emperor Wu (156 ndash 87 BC) Seventh emperor Han dynasty 2 0 2

Sima Qian (145 or 135-86 BC) Ancient historian in Han dynasty 2 0 2

Cao Cao (155-220) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

1 2 3

Zhu Geliang (181-234) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

6 6 12

Muhammad (570 - 632) Prophet and founder of Islam 2 0 2

Emperor Taizong (598-649) Emperor Tang dynasty 3 3 6

Emperor Wu Zetian (624-705) A female emperor in Tang dynasty 1 1 2

Su Shi (1037-1101) Song Dynasty writer poet painter calligrapher

pharmacologist and statesman

4 0 4

Empress Xiao Chuang (1613-1688) Concubine of the Qing Dynasty

ruler Hong Taiji grandmother of Emperor Kangxi

2 0 2

Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) Fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty 3 3 6

Karl Marx (1818-1883) Philosopher 2 0 2

Marie Curie (1867-1934) Scientist 2 0 2

viii

441 ―Ability in Cognition related to the Western theme ―Cognitive Ability 42

442 ―Ability in Practice an extension of the Western theme ―Problem Solving

Skills 43

443 ―Concern for Others related to the Western theme ―Concern for Others

relevant to Confucianism 43

444 ―Eschewing-world Spirituality similar to the Western theme ―Insight but

framed in Chinese traditions 44

445 ―Positive Mindset missing in the Western implicit theory of wisdom

relevant to the historic turbulence 44

Others 45

45 Conceptual wisdom components and group difference 45

46 Relationship between wisdom exemplar nomination and conceptual wisdom

component 46

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 47

51 Personally known and historical exemplars of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

the generation difference 47

52 The implicit theory of wisdom among our Mainland Chinese participants and the

generation difference 48

53 Effects of Communist ideology on Wisdom conceptualization and Exemplars 53

54 Comparing the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese participants to

that among Westerners 54

55 Comparison between the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese and

that among Taiwanese Chinese 55

56 Comparing the Mainland Chinese wisdom model with Western wisdom models 56

561 Traditional Berlin Wisdom and Personal wisdom model 56

562 Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model 57

563 ―MORE model 58

564 Brief Summary of these comparisons 58

6 Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 59

ix

Chapter 4 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm a performance-based wisdom measure middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

1 Introduction middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 61

11 Lack of emotional components in previous Berlin Paradigms 61

12 Innovative 2nd person wisdom measurement 63

2 Hypotheses middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

3 Method middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 64

31 Participants 65

32 Material 65

321 Berlin Wisdom paradigm vignettes 65

322 Berlin Wisdom manual (adapted) 65

323 Mainland Chinese wisdom manual 66

324 iMotions - Attention Tool FACET module (version 21) 67

325 Others 68

33 Procedure 68

34 Data analyses 69

341 Wisdom ratings 69

342 Facial expression analysis 69

4 Results middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 72

41 Reliability of the Berlin and Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 72

42 Correlation between Berlin Wisdom rating and the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings

74

43 Correlation between performance-based and self-report wisdom measures 75

44 Validity test of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom ratings 75

441 Correlations with previous scores on wisdom correlates 75

442 Correlations with life satisfaction the following year 77

x

443 Conclusion 77

45 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 77

46 Thematic contents in participantslsquo responses 80

461 Life plan problem ―a friendlsquos unrealizable dream 80

462 Life review problem ―a teacherlsquos unrealized dream 81

463 Responses in the life plan problem rated highestlowest on BerlinMainland

Chinese wisdom rating 82

5 Discussion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 84

51 The role of experience in performance measure of wisdom 84

52 Berlin Wisdom rating was highly consistent with Mainland Chinese Wisdom rating

84

53 Relationship between emotion reactivity and wisdom performance 85

531 Measurement of emotional components of wisdom 85

532 Surprise and wisdom 86

533 Expression of negativepositive emotion may influence ratings on ―Ability in

PracticePositive Mindset 87

Chapter 5 General Discussion and Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

1 Concept of wisdom in a culture lay people VS philosophers middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

2 Universal Wisdom and cultural variation middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 88

3 Advantages of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 90

4 Limitation of the Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigmmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 91

5 Potential impacts on Western wisdom studies middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 92

51 Culture difference and universal wisdom model 92

52 Advantages of performance-based wisdom measure 93

53 The 2nd-person wisdom measure 94

6 General Conclusion middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 95

xi

References middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 96

Appendicesmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 107

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items 107

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items 111

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm 113

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria 113

41 Criterion 1 Ability in Cognition认知能力 113

42 Criterion 2 Ability in Practice 实践能力 114

43 Criterion 3 Concern for Others 关心他人 115

44 Criterion 4 Eschewing-world Spirituality出世精神 116

45 Criterion 5 Positive Mindset 积极心态 118

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year 119

Copyright Acknowledgements middotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddotmiddot 120

xii

List of Tables

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Table 2 Number of the participants mentioned each wisdom component in their definitions of

wisdom

Table 3 Rating of the participantslsquo performance in the life plan problem on each criterion

Table 4 Correlations between the ratings on Berlin and Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

Table 5 Correlations of the ratings on Chinese wisdom criteria with wisdom correlates

Table 6 Proportional time of each category of emotion in each scenario

xiii

List of Figures

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

Figure 2 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

Figure 3 A segment of a participantlsquos evidence value of surprise

xiv

List of Appendices

1 Three-dimensional wisdom scale items

2 Wong and Law Emotional intelligence scale items

3 Scenarios in Mainland Chinese Wisdom Paradigm

4 Mainland Chinese wisdom criteria

5 Items in the scale of life satisfaction with the past year

1

Chapter 1 General introduction

1 Definitions of wisdom

Even though wisdom has become a topic of research in empirical psychology since the

last quarter of the 20th century there is still no scientific consensus on the definition of

wisdom (For a review of the definitions of wisdom see Bangen Meeks amp Jeste 2013)

Modern empirical psychologists generally view wisdom as a mature understanding and

conduct of life especially in difficult situations (Staudinger 2008) Two of the most

widely acknowledged definitions are the Berlin Wisdom researcherslsquo definition of

wisdom as expertise knowledge in the fundamental pragmatics of life (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000) and Ardeltlsquos (2004) defining wisdom as an ideal type of character that

combines cognitive reflective and affective aspects of personality

Regardless of the difficulty in settling on a definition of it wisdom is believed to be an

important resource for a good life Wisdom provides insights and guidance for people to

lead a meaningful and happy life (Ferrari amp Potworowski 2008) In fact it may be

impossible to define wisdom semantically just as many scientific structures that can only

be represented in certain measures (see Giere 2009) a representation of the structure of

wisdom within a proper measurement may be the best a researcher can do Still this kind

of measurement is meaningful for many reasons both theoretical and practical

2 Wisdom Models in the Western studies

21 Berlin Wisdom and personal wisdom modelparadigm

211 Traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm

The well-established Berlin Wisdom model defines wisdom as expertise and judgment

concerning the fundamental pragmatics of life and ―the pinnacle of insight into the

human condition and about the means and ends of a good life (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 122) rather than personality traits or individual abilities Staudinger (1996) has

further defined wisdom as a social interactive product Balteslsquo understanding of wisdom

2

might have been influenced by the Gestalt cognitive theory originating in Germanymdash

especially that of Koumlhler (1924) who believes that insight based on experience and

understanding of the structure of a situation was inherent to wisdom solving the

pragmatics in a creative way

Nevertheless the full model of the Berlin Wisdom paradigm (as shown in Figure 1) is not

simply about wisdom as expertise in life pragmatics but also about the ontogeny and

function of this life expertise (Baltes amp Smith 2008) Three factors are thought to be

associated with development maintenance and application of wisdom general person

factors (eg cognitive mechanics cognitive style mental health creativity and ego

strength) specific expertise-related factors (eg exposure to life scenarios and significant

life events motivation mentorship) and context (eg age cohort historical period

culture) Furthermore excellence in mind and virtue such as exceptionally good

judgment good advice insightful commentary about difficult and uncertain matters of

life and nonverbal behaviors associated with good conduct emotion regulation and

empathy in interpersonal and group contexts are regarded as necessary

manifestationoutcome of wisdom

Figure 1 The Berlin Wisdom model (Baltes amp Smith 2008)

3

Baltes and his colleagues measured wisdom through a think-aloud procedure testing the

participantslsquo responses in some hypothetical life-scenario situations such as the life-

planning life-monitoring and life-review problem for example ―In reflecting over their

lives people sometimes realize that they have not achieved what they had once planned

to achieve What should onethey do and consider (Staudinger amp Baltes 1996 p 762)

Participants reflected on these questions for a while before they responded by thinking

aloud Their thinking-aloud answers were tape recorded During both the reflection time

and the answering time the interviewer left the room so that participants felt less

constrained in talking about private issues The responses were transcribed and then rated

by 10 raters on five criteria (one criterion for each rater two raters per criterion) which

were developed based on Balteslsquo life-span theory and other cognitive psychologistslsquo

conceptions about the nature of cognitive development and problem solving in highly

complicated and ecological tasks (Staudinger Baltes amp Smith 1994)

The criteria of excellence (expertise) in fundamental pragmatics of life are a two-tiered

family the first level is rich factual (declarative) and procedural knowledge about the

fundamental life pragmatics includes life planning life management and life review the

second level is meta-criteria including understandings of lifespan contextualism

relativism of values and life priorities recognition and management of uncertainty

Factual knowledge includes knowledge of ―human nature life-long development

variations in developmental processes and outcomes interpersonal relations social

norms critical events in life and their possible constellations as well as knowledge about

the coordination of the well-being of oneself and that of others (Baltes amp Staudinger

2000 p 125) Procedural knowledge involves ―strategies and heuristics for dealing with

the meaning and conduct of lifemdashfor example heuristics for giving advice and for the

structuring and weighing of life goals ways to handle life conflicts and life decisions and

knowledge about alternative back-up strategies if development were not to proceed as

expected (p 125) Lifespan contextualism refers to knowledge ―that considers the many

themes and contexts of life (eg education family work friends leisure the public good

of society etc) their interrelations and cultural variations and in addition incorporates a

4

lifetime temporal perspective (p 125-126) Relativism of values and life priorities refers

to ―acknowledgment of and tolerance for value differences and the relativity of the values

held by individuals and society (p 126) Finally the recognition of and management of

uncertainty describes an awareness of ―(a) the validity of human information processing

itself is essentially limited (constrained) (b) individuals have access only to select parts

of reality (c) the future cannot be fully known in advance (p 126)

212 Personal Wisdom paradigm

Charlotte Mickler and Ursula M Staudinger (2008) argued that general wisdom

concerning life in general as measured in the traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm was

different from Personal Wisdom which is an individuallsquos insight into his or her own life

In the Personal Wisdom paradigm the participants think aloud about themselves as a

friend such as their typical behaviors as a friend and their actions in difficult situations

The procedure was similar to that in the traditional Berlin wisdom paradigm however

the transcripted responses were rated on the Personal Wisdom criteria developed based on

the Berlin Wisdom criteria and conceptions of personality maturity in psychology

The Personal Wisdom criteria include two basic criteria (p 788) ―Self-knowledge (deep

insight into oneself and onelsquos own life) ―Growth and self-regulation (heuristics that

helps one to cope with various difficult and challenging situations and to learn from

them) and three meta-criteria ―Interrelating the self (an awareness of the contextual

embeddedness of onelsquos behavior feelings or both and onelsquos biographical embeddedness

dependency on others and the interrelatedness of different self-domains) ―Self-

relativism (―critically appraise their own behavior without losing a basic level of self-

esteem) and ―Tolerance of ambiguity (―ability to recognize and manage the

uncertainties in onelsquos own life and onelsquos own development)

213 Critiques on the Berlin paradigms

The traditional Berlin Wisdom paradigm is a 3rd person perspective wisdom measure

which is not relevant to the participantslsquo personal life and thus not emotionally-engaging

In fact wisdom cannot exist independently of individuals (Ardelt 2004) On the other

5

hand the Personal wisdom paradigm is a 1st-person perspective wisdom measure

Therefore it may be vulnerable to the participantslsquo social desirability and inaccuracy in

self-judgment or self-serving bias Furthermore there is no measurement of emotional

components of wisdom in any of these two paradigms

22 Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom modelscale

Based on Clayton and Birrenlsquos definition of wisdom Monika Ardelt (2003 2004)

proposed that wisdom was the integration of cognitive reflective and affective

personality traits Ardelt critiqued the Berlin Wisdom paradigmlsquos definition of wisdom as

some kind of expert knowledge she believes that wisdom cannot exist independently of

individuals (Ardelt 2004) In contrary Baltes and his colleagues proposed that wisdom is

about the fundamental truth of life which is very difficult for a person to grasp (Baltes amp

Staudinger 2000)

Ardelt developed a self-reportself-assessment scale to measure wisdom The participants

indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or ―strongly agree

to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree There are 39 items in three-

dimensional wisdom scale 14 for the cognitive dimension 12 for the reflective

dimension and 13 for the affective dimension (Ardelt 2003 2004) (see Appendix 1) The

cognitive dimension embodies the desire to know the truth a deep understanding of life

(eg ―Ignorance is bliss (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item and relativistic thinking

(eg ―People are either good or bad (Ardelt 2003 p 316) reverse item) The reflective

dimension includes self-examination self-awareness and self-insight (eg ―Things often

go wrong for me by no fault of my own (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) as well as

the ability to perceive a phenomenon from different perspectives (eg ―Before criticizing

somebody I try to imagine how I would feel if I were in their place (Ardelt 2003 p

317)) and ―transcendence from self-projections and self-serving bias (eg ―I either get

very angry or depressed if things go wrong (Ardelt 2003 p 317) reverse item) Lastly

the affective dimension refers to sympathy and compassion for others (eg ―Sometimes I

feel a real compassion for everyone (Ardelt 2003 p 318))

Below is a detailed list of the sub-dimensions of the three wisdom dimensions (Ardelt

6

unpublished documentation authorized by Ardelt) ―

Cognitive dimension

1 Ability and willingness to understand a situation or phenomenon thoroughly

2 Acknowledgement of ambiguity complexity and uncertainty in life

3 Ability to make important decisions despite lifelsquos unpredictability and uncertainties

Reflective dimension

1 Ability and willingness to look at phenomena and events from different perspectives

2 Absence of subjectivity and projections

Affective dimension

1 Presence of positive and caring emotions toward others

2 Absence of indifferent or negative emotions toward others

3 Motivation to nurture the well-being of others

Ardeltlsquos method is also a 1st person perspective measure while self-report measure of

wisdom may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception

(Staudinger Gluck 2011) In fact a positive association between impression

management and scores on some items in Ardeltlsquos scale was demonstrated in a survey

(Taylor Bates amp Webster 2011)

23 ldquoMORErdquo model

Focused on the development of wisdom Gluumlck and Bluck (2012) proposed the MORE

model of wisdom embodying four resources of wisdom

1 A Sense of Mastery belief in onelsquos ability of handling life challenges

2 Openness awareness of multiple perspectives on a phenomenon interests in ―learning

7

from new perspectives and from other people (p 9)

3 Reflective Attitude ―willingness to look at life issues in a complex way (p 10)

4 Emotion RegulationEmpathy ―ability to deal with otherslsquo feelings effectively and

―reach out to others through empathetic concern (p 12)

The model is still under development Gluumlck and Bluck suggested a longitudinal survey

to explore the developmental dynamics between MORE resources and life experiences

24 Critiques of these Western wisdom models

In general Western researchers proposing these models may be implicitly influenced by

Western culture characterized by Greek philosophy and Christian religion Furthermore

these models have been mainly applied to Western participants growing up in a Western

cultural background which has significantly influenced the scientific understanding of

wisdom (for reviews see Bangen et al 2013 Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013 Sternberg amp

Jordan 2005) Little is known about the conception of wisdom in other social-cultural

contexts Therefore we are not sure if these models are relevant for other cultural groups

It could be relevant because wisdom is a universal quality of human life or irrelevant

the structure of wisdom is cultural-specific because culture influences wisdom

conception which further influences wisdom development

3 Wisdom studies in non-Western culture backgrounds

Most of the existing studies in non-western cultures have targeted a particular wisdom

tradition such as Levittlsquos (1999) qualitative study of Tibetan Buddhist monks which

found that wisdom was defined as examination of reality understanding of ―true self

and being altruistic to others or focused on a particular explicit theory of wisdom such

as Grossmann and his colleagueslsquo (2012) cross-culture study on Japanese and Americanslsquo

wise decision making which found that American (not Japanese) performed better with

increasing age

8

In general wisdom researchers in Eastern cultures believe that culture significantly

shapes conception of wisdom (Brezina amp Oudenhoven 2012) Ivan Brezina and Jan

Pieter Van Oudenhoven examined the conception of wisdom among five different

nations Ecuador (predominantly Christian) India (predominantly Hindu) and the

predominantly Muslim countries Indonesia Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates

They showed the participants different items each of which describes an individual

characteristic and the participants indicated their agreement with its relatedness to

wisdom The factor analysis results revealed three primary factors underlying the concept

of wisdom ―serenity referring to detachment from emotion and material

―determination reflecting reflection upon oneself and persistence in difficulties and

―altruism defined as selflessness Moreover they found that effect of national culture

was more significant than an effect of religion upon the conception of wisdom However

their research method has a shortcoming in that the researchers own conception of

wisdom rather than that of the local population was examined Therefore the

similarities between the wisdom conception among the participants and that identified in

Western studies could be caused by the unconscious impact of the abundant Western

wisdom research literature upon the researchers Moreover the participants were all

immigrants who had already experienced a different social culture that may influence

their conception of wisdom

Nevertheless the idea that the Eastern conception of wisdom differs from the Western

conception was confirmed by other studies exploring implicit theories of wisdom in

Eastern cultures For example a survey in several Asian countries (India Indonesia

Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates) revealed that their conceptions of wisdom were

more related to many aspects of personal characters compared with that in Western

cultures (Ivan amp Alojz 2010) a survey on American Australian Indian and Japanese

revealed that Western conception of wisdom emphasized cognitive dimension while

Eastern conception both cognitive and affective dimensions (Takahashi amp Bordia 2000)

4 Chinese culture

It is not easy to define culture For my thesis culture is defined as beliefs about human

9

life commonly shared by a group of people which are influenced by their philosophy

religion literature history politics economy etc For example Chinese culture is well-

known for its characteristic Confucianism (Winfield Mizuno amp Beaudoin 2000)

However Chinese culture is influenced not only by Confucianism but also by Daoism

Buddhism and other schools of philosophy For example the Legalist School argues that

governments should build on strict and established laws instead of morality proclaimed

by Confucians Mohism advocates indiscriminating love iron will and strict discipline

denounces all kinds of offensive wars admires noble talents worships ghosts and

heaven Mohism agrees with Confucianism upon advocating virtues such as humaneness

and righteousness however Mohism emphasizes simplicity and austerity denouncing the

complicated rituals and rites advocated in Confucianism (Feng 1983)

Nevertheless Confucianism Daoism and Buddhism are usually regarded as the most

important Chinese traditions (Peng 2007) The most important figures for Confucianism

are Confucius (551 - 479BC) and Mencius (372 - 289BC) for Daoism Lao-tzu a

mysterious historic figure (Sima 1939) and Chuang-Tzu (369 - 286 BC) Buddhism was

founded by Buddha Gautama (around 300 BC) in India entered China in the latter part of

the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and gradually merged with the Chinese local culture

(Hardy 2014) There are numerous teachings and endless debates about these three

traditions among the experts in Chinese philosophy however these three traditions

merged into one around the time of Song dynasty (96 - 1279) (Feng 1983) Hence most

Chinese are influenced by all these traditions

Here I have only chosen some basic tenets of these three traditions with which most

Chinese will have an understanding

41 Confucianism

According to Confucianism everybody should be unified in virtue (eg Humaneness amp

Righteousness仁义) for Harmonious interpersonal relationship especially within family

and States For example Confucius said ―Do not impose on others what you yourself do

not desire (chapter 122) ―A benevolent man helps others to take their stand in so far as

he himself wishes to take his stand and gets others there in so far as he himself wishes to

10

get there (chapter 630) (Lau 1979)

Confucians emphasize interpersonal connection For example Mengzi persuaded kings to

unify the turbulent China at that time through compassion and actions to fulfill

compassion (Confucius amp Mencius 2007) Xunzi believes that social cooperation and

rites distinguish man from the animals (Feng 1983) Correspondingly many Chinese

scholars believe that Chinese emphasize on interpersonal-relationship more than

Westerners do (eg Zhu amp Han 2008 Gu amp Guo 2015)

42 Daoism

According to Daoism everything is unified in ―Dao the eternal way of natureuniverse

Daoism teaches man to model on nature For example Lao Tzu said ―Man models

himself on Earth Earth on Heaven Heaven on the Way and the Way on that which is

naturally so (Lau 1963 chapter 25)

In nature cause and effect influence each other cause and effect are connected in one

process the eternal way The founder of Daoism Lao Tzu said ―Being and Non-being

produce each other (Lau 1963 chapter 2) Here ―Being and ―Non-being are cause

and effect of each other in fact Daoism does not distinguish cause from effect

Man is an integral part of universe rather than a Subject independently of observed

Objects The distinction between subject and object in Western philosophy remained

unchallenged until Heidegger argued that there is no such thing as an observing subject

that is unaffected by the external world of observed things (Gu amp Guo 2015)

Correspondingly Daoism proclaims that a person should forget self especially desires of

self so that the person would have pure perception of the world and freedom in this

universe

43 Chinese Buddhism

When Buddhism spread to China there were the Theravada and Mahayana traditions

However due to the influence of the existing Chinese traditions especially Confucianism

and Daoism the Theravada tradition faded away within a short period of time whereas

11

Mahayana tradition gradually merged into Chinese culture and came to dominate Chinese

Buddhism (Group 2003)

According to Chinese Buddhism all the Beings Non-Beings and relationships between

BeingsNon-Beings are unified with the Universal Mind Buddha Buddha says ―Banruo

Boruomi (Buddha 2007) Banruo is wisdom like a hard and pure diamond piercing

through illusions and reach the world of truth namely Boruomi

Everything is transient interdependent and void (no-self) only a manifestation of mind

one needs to realize the original identification with the Universal Mind and replace non-

enlightenment with enlightenment to escape the endless transmigration of cause and

effect This extrication is called nirvana (Feng 1983)

The ―Enlightenment in Chinese Buddhism is different from the ―Cognition framed in

Western culture Because men are already unified with Buddha enlightenment is a

process of self-realization of this fact and the unspeakable wisdom is deep in the mind

whereas in Christianity men are separated from God salvation is from Christ and the

gospel needs to be proclaimed Moreover in Buddhism essence and appearance are one

man should not cling to anything However most Western philosophers (eg Plato)

believe that essence is different from appearance (Gu amp Guo 2015)

44 Fundamental difference between Chinese and Western philosophy

In general Chinese philosophies emphasize connections and try to unify everything into

one In space everything is unified in one unit (individuals in society or BeingsNon-

beingsrelationships in universe) in time every event is in one process In contrary

western philosophies concern themselves more with atoms in space or cause and effect

in time (Gu amp Guo 2015) Correspondingly Eastern understandings of wisdom

emphasize both analytical and synthetic domains whereas only analytical domains in

Western understandings (Takahashi 2000)

However most Mainland Chinese nowadays may be unfamiliar or disagree with these

profound Chinese philosophies due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China

12

in modern history

5 Modern history of China

Since the painful collision with Western culture in the First Opium War (1839-42)

Mainland of China has undergone a series of historic events that may seriously affect the

transmission of Chinese traditions In general numerous defeats by foreigners especially

Westerners helped Chinese people to reflect upon their own traditions and begin to

realize that Chinese culture is not superior to other cultures especially Western culture

Thus they began to critique their own culture and learn from people in other cultures

especially the Westerners (science philosophy politics etc) It should be noted that

Communism was also from the West and the Communists have governed Mainland of

China (not Taiwan) since 1949

A brief account of modern history of China is given below It should be noted that the

historical account is inevitably biased due to the authorlsquos education life experience

political beliefs etc Nevertheless I endeavor to present a history that is probably known

by most Mainland Chinese

51 Before the Cultural Revolution

A history textbook in Mainland of China will claim that China was repeatedly invaded by

foreigners at the beginning of the modern period (see Ministry of Education in China

2003) The British navy easily defeated China in the First Opium War of 1839 and in

1860 Beijings Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) was burned to the ground by British

and French troops in 1895 Taiwan was ceded to Japan after Chinalsquos defeat in the Battle

of the Yellow Sea in 1900 European powers along with the United States Russia and

Japan seized Beijing coercing the Qing government into paying them 675 million

pounds in indemnity and signing protocols unfair for China (Weatherley amp Rosen 2013)

Angered by its weakness and corruption the Mainland Chinese populace mdashled by Dr

Sun Yat-sen founder of the Chinese Nationalist Partymdash overthrew the Qing government

in 1911 (Fairbank Twitchett amp Feuerwerker 1986) However Sun Yat-sen was unable to

create a government capable of controlling the political situation in Mainland of China

13

Warlords supported by different foreign powers fought against each other leading

Mainland of China into seemingly endless turbulence Eventually Sun Yat-sen built the

Nationalist Partylsquos own army and allied with the Chinese Communist party and the

USSR was preparing to defeat the warlords and reunify China when Sun Yat-sen died

suddenly in 1925 (about the time the oldest of the older generation participants in study 2

was born)

Fulfilling Sun Yat-senlsquos dream the Northern Expedition began from Guangzhou in 1926

the Nationalist Party established its Capital in Nanjing in April 1927 confronting the

Beiyang Government established by the warlords in Beijing In 1928 the Nationalist

party captured Beijing and the warlord in the Northeast of China subsequently declared

his loyalty to the Nanjing government and the Northern Expedition ended however the

Chinese Nationalist Party and Chinese Communist Party had turned against each other

since 1927 and the war between these two parties went on In 1931 the Communist party

established its capital in Ruijin (a Hakka city in the south of China) defying the Nanjing

government in the same year the Japanese invaded Mainland of China The Japanese

had conquered the whole of Northeast China by 1932

In 1936 the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Nationalist Party decided to end

the civil war and join forces to fight against the Japanese The war against the Japanese

was extremely difficult almost one third of Mainland of Chinalsquos territory had been

invaded by Japan (including Beijing which was captured by the Japanese in 1937 and

was not reclaimed until 1945 by the Nationalist party) After Japan surrendered and

returned Taiwan to China in 1945 civil war in China between the Chinese Nationalist

Party and the Chinese Communist Party resumed almost immediately The Communist

Party captured Beijing from the Nationalist party in January 1949 and on October 1st of

the same year the leader of the Communist Party Mao Zedong announced the foundation

of Peoplelsquos Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing In December 1949 Chiang Kai-shek

with his government fled to Taiwan (Fairbank et al 1986) (This was about the time the

youngest of the older generation participants in study 2 was born) Taiwan has been

separated from the Mainland of China since that time

14

After another difficult war in Korea against the United States and its allies (1950-1953)

(for the details see Blair 1987) the Mainland Chinese Communist Party launched

communist reform throughout Mainland of China Communist ideology was proclaimed

private businesses were appropriated as national assets lands were taken from the

landlords and divided among peasants and collective farms were built (MacFarquhar

1991) Chairman Mao wished to build a socialist country for the proletariat however

after he retired from the position of Chairman in 1959 he was disappointed to find

traditional ideas reappear in contemporary literature and the Communist Party suffered

from corruption and bureaucracy Nevertheless these realities did not diminish Maolsquos

―communist dream instead he launched the Cultural Revolution (MacFarquhar 1991)

52 Cultural Revolution

From its beginning in 1966 to its end ten years later the Cultural Revolution is

considered Mainland of Chinalsquos most turbulent time after the founding of the Peoplelsquos

Republic (MacFarquhar 1991) The reason for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

is still debatable but many historians believe that Mao wanted to prevent bureaucracy

revisionism and capitalism that he thought was developing in Khrushchevlsquos USSR

(MacFarquhar 1991) Mao was especially skeptical of the ―deterioration of the central

communist leaders such as Chairman Liu Shaoqi (whom Mao suspected of revisionism

he was persecuted and died during the Cultural Revolution)

Besides many communist leaders numerous innocent scholars who were (or seemed)

unenthusiastic about Maolsquos communist ideology were persecuted during the Cultural

Revolution by Maolsquos loyal followers the ―Red Guards mostly made up of passionate

youths (MacFarquhar 1991) The Red Guards considered Maolsquos Quotations (―Red

Precious Book 「红宝书」) almost as a sacred text and were strongly against anything

related to traditional ideologies such as Confucianism Daoism or Buddhism They were

responsible for the destruction of many national treasures and historic art

Chinese culture and education suffered most during the Cultural Revolution and its

impact has been believed to be long-lasting (MacFarquhar 1991) The youthful spirit of

the Cultural Revolution differed from Chinese tradition in many ways First it was a

15

dictatorship of the proletariat not the aristocracy Second soldiers were respected while

scholars were belittled Traditional literati were usually peaceful gentle and even soft

(Stokstad 2005) while Mao (although a poet) valued military strategy resorting to

violent revolution to tackle social problems He proclaimed that political power come

from military strength (Mao 1972) In fact popular support from the Peoplelsquos Liberation

Army (PLA) was an important basis for Maolsquos launching the Cultural Revolution

Finally Marxist materialism was proclaimed while the traditions such as Confucianism

Daoism and Buddhism were roundly denounced

Unfortunately the Cultural Revolution degenerated into chaos (MacFarquhar 1991) In

1971 Maolsquos long-time comrade and chosen successor Marshal Linmdashwho had

enthusiastically supported the Cultural Revolution (at least on the surface)mdashbetrayed

Mao (MacFarquhar 1991) In 1975 one year before Maolsquos death and the de facto end of

the Cultural Revolution Mao wrote his last poem in which he said ―At that time

anxious about our motherland we comrades were not afraid of being beheaded Now the

whole country is red (communist) but who can guard it The work has not finished yet

my body is tired my hair is white How can you be hardhearted enough to let our life-

long dream be gone with the river (Mao 1996)

53 After the Cultural Revolution

Although repeatedly attacked Deng Xiaoping survived the Cultural Revolution to launch

economic reform his ―Reform and Opening started in 1978 has generated rapid

economic growth in Mainland of China since the 1980s (MacFarquhar 1991) The

Cultural Revolution was officially decried The public image of Mao became much more

realistic especially after Denglsquos compromising comments on Maolsquos life his

achievements before the foundation of Peoplelsquos Republic of China and his mistakes in his

late life especially during the Cultural Revolution Moreover Confucianism Daoism

and Buddhism are increasingly appreciated as demonstrated by the growing popularity of

the books about Chinese traditions such as Confucianism (eg Yu 2006) Meanwhile

religions such as Christianity Buddhism and Taoism are recovering after the loosening of

earlier restrictions put in place by the Communist Party (Yang 2006)

16

There are many fundamental changes in current society of Mainland China

First new social classes such as owners of private companies emerged after the

economic reform changing the previous simply layered social structure made up of

famers workers and scholars Meanwhile cooperation rather than conflict between

different classes is emphasized (Lu 2004) Consistently social interaction and social

relationship (关系) are increasingly appreciated The social ability of modern Mainland

Chinese youths is believed to be higher than that of their parents (Huang Deng Chen amp

Lu 2009) However this 关系 also has negative implications For example people who

have connections with governing officials such as the politicianslsquo relatives usually get

advantages in the competition of the immature markets and occupy most social resources

Corruption among the political officials moreover is commonplace Correspondingly

the current income levels in current China are overwhelmingly imbalanced the managers

form the top class of Mainland Chinese society which according to surveys in Shenzhen

and Hefei (Lu 2004) earn 15 times of the income of the workmen who are at the bottom

of the social hierarchy and are often belittled This situation is totally different from that

in Maolsquos age when workmen formed the upper class and were greatly respected Second

knowledge and techniques especially scientific knowledge and techniques are becoming

more and more important Therefore scholars and scientists are more and more

respected Third with the opening up of Mainland China to the outside world Mainland

Chinese society is becoming more and more international and multi-cultural art

literature and philosophy have been flooding into Mainland of China from Hong Kong

Taiwan Korea Japan the United States etc This trend is intensified by the prevalence of

the internet all over China Fourth the one-child policy was implemented Most youths

are the only child or of just one of two children in a family and thus enjoy a luxury of

resources that had not been available to their parents

With such dramatic changes in society there are tremendous gaps between the mentalities

of current Mainland Chinese youths and their parents they are much more

individualistic open-minded critical adventurist and fact-based (not as interested in

theory and ideology as their parents once were during Maolsquos age) legally conscious

interested in public affairs but not so much in social morality caring about the protection

17

of the environment fond of fun rather than being serious (Huang et al 2009) Western

ideas such as freedom and democracy are much more appreciated meanwhile some

negative values such as worshiping financial power and material consumption are also

more common among current Mainland Chinese youth than among their parents

6 Existing wisdom studies in Chinese culture

Wisdom studies in non-Western cultures mostly involve Japan and India Very little has

been done in China The Berlin Wisdom criteria were applied in a study to rate a

Mainland Chinese citylsquos elderly peoplelsquos psychological adaptation level which was

found to be significantly positively correlated with their life satisfaction (Weidong 2006)

An opinion paper discussed differences between Chinese and Western practical wisdom

in management and concluded that both value compassion (Opdebeeck amp Habisch

2011) a survey on the wit and wisdom of Mainland Chinese tour guides merely

illustrated tour guideslsquo practical wisdom which was barely a necessary ingredient of a

good life (Dioko Harrill amp Cardon 2013) Bang and Zhou (2014) studied how Ardeltlsquos

(2003) Three-dimensional wisdom Scale related to development of ego identity among

Mainland Chinese undergraduate university students and identified a positive correlation

None of these studies has been specifically focused on wisdom among Mainland Chinese

Yang (2001 2007 2008a 2008b 2008c 2014a) has studied the conception of wisdom in

Chinese culture in depth Yang chose 智慧 as the corresponding Chinese word for

―wisdom and reviewed the development of the meaning of 智慧 in Chinese history 智

慧 is mostly about personal characters especially about cognitive ability and judgments

With the spread of Buddhism in China 智慧 incorporated the components of wisdom in

Hindu culture ability to transcend laws in universe and pierce through transient

phenomenon in this world in order to realize ultimate truth In modern Chinese language

智 and 慧 are very similar in meaning (see httpwwwzdicnet) 智 emphasizes

more intelligence wisdom and resourcefulness 慧 is closer to wisdom (Banruo) in

Buddhism

In an empirical study Taiwanese Chinese who had been nominated as wise exemplars

18

were asked to describe wise decisions and actions in their own lives (Yang 2008c)

Several common themes emerged 1 ―striving for common good by helping others and

making major contributions to society (n = 79 36) 2 achieving a satisfactory state of

life (n = 55 25) 3 developing and determining life paths (n = 37 17) 4 resolving

difficult problems at work (n = 30 14) and 5 doing the right thing in the face of

adversity (n = 19 9) (p 286) In another study Yang (2014b) measured wisdom

among Taiwanese Chinese by methods of other-rating transcripted interviews and self-

report survey in her model wisdom is a real-life process including three components

connected together cognitive integration amp action embodiment amp positive effects for self

and others Yanglsquos model is featured by Chinese philosophy traditions such as emphasis

on integration in space and connection of events in one process Moreover the

component ―action embodiment is missing in most Western models corresponding to

the difference between Chinese and Western philosophy traditions

Besides Yang Chen and his colleagues (Chen Cheng Wu amp Hsueh 2014) applied the

grounded theory method to study Taiwanese Chinese educatorslsquo interpersonal and

intrapersonal perspectives on wisdom and identified four core components of wisdom

―intrapsychic integration ―actions in service of problem solving and ideal

implementation and ―positive results and feedback and adjustments (p 425)

However these findings may not be generalized to Mainland Chinese due to the

difference of culture between Mainland of China and Taiwan Taiwan was ceded from

China to Japan for 50 years after 1895 and was influenced by Japanese culture (Yang

2008a) Moreover Taiwan was governed by Chinese Nationalist party which revived

Chinese traditions through many political and cultural events after 1949 whereas

Mainland of China was governed by the Chinese Communist party and experienced

communist reforms and the 10-year Cultural Revolution attacking Chinese traditions

(MacFarquhar 1991)

19

Chapter 2 Self-report Wisdom among Mainland Chinese Youth

1 Introduction

11 Choosing Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure for Mainland Chinese

Due to the numerous turbulent events in Mainland China through the modern history (see

Chapter 1 Section 6) the culture in Mainland of China could be very different from that

in Taiwan Therefore a prototype of wisdom among Mainland Chinese may be different

from that among Taiwanese Chinese Bang and Zhou (2014) believed that a prototype of

wisdom in Chinese culture was congruent with that in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model thus they

conducted a survey among some Mainland Chinese with the three-dimensional wisdom

scale However factor analysis identified a four dimensional structure (Non-dualistic

thinking ―Perspective-taking ―Non-resentment ―Empathy)

In order to test whether Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom model or Bang and Zhoulsquos

four-dimensional wisdom model could represent wisdom among Mainland Chinese a

self-report wisdom measure was conducted among 100 Mainland Chinese youth

12 Validity tests of Ardeltrsquos wisdom measure

In order to test whether a wisdom measure is valid researchers could propose several

correlates of wisdom based on theories If the wisdom correlates measured by some

established measurements are significantly correlated with the wisdom measured then

the wisdom measurelsquos validity is testified For our study we chose four wisdom

correlates cognitive intelligence emotional intelligence empathy and prosocial

personality traits (high extroversion low psychoticism and low neuroticism) for reasons

below

Studies of implicit theories of wisdom in North America (ie the lay peoplelsquos theory of

wisdom) revealed that cognitive ability and reasoning were regarded as the most

important factors underlying wisdom (Sternberg 1990) Cognitive ability was found to

be one of the core themes of Western implicit theories of wisdom (Bluck amp Gluumlck 2005)

20

Besides cognitive ability wise people are thought to be good at understanding otherslsquo

emotions (Stange amp Kunzmann 2009) Adams (1998) simply regarded ―wisdom as the

classical version of ―emotional intelligence In a previous study a positive correlation

between wisdom measured by three-dimensional wisdom scale and emotional

intelligence measured by Wong and Lawlsquos emotional intelligence scale was

demonstrated and the effect of wisdom on happiness was reduced to emotional

intelligence (Zacher McKenna amp Rooney 2013) However wisdom should not be

reduced to emotional intelligence because emotional intelligence does not guarantee pro-

social personality as we see in some highly emotionally-intelligent criminals (Hampson

2012) and sly Nazi politicians (Shirer 2011) Understanding of otherslsquo suffering does not

necessary lead to compassion for others Therefore other-related wisdom defined as

empathic Concern for Others (Gluumlck amp Redzanowski 2013) is often added as an

important attribute for distinguishing wisdom from individual intelligence

Wisdom is interpreted by many researchers as a combination of intelligence and

character the ability to strive for the welfare of individuals and communities and the

willingness to do it (Pasupathi 2001 Stange amp Kunzmann 2009 Staudinger Doumlrner amp

Mickler 2005) Therefore we hypothesized that wise people not only possessed high

cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence but also empathy toward others and

prosocial personality traits such as low psychoticism low neuroticism and high

extroversion

2 Hypotheses

Reliabilities of Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale as well as the subscales of

cognitive reflective and affective dimensions of wisdom should be ideal because

wisdom among Mainland Chinese embodies cognitive reflective and affective

components as hypothesized in Ardeltlsquos wisdom model

If Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional scale were valid for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese the wisdom score should be positively correlated with cognitive intelligence

emotional intelligence empathic concern and prosocial personality traits measured by

scales whose reliability and validity among Mainland Chinese were established in

21

previous studies eg Raven Matrix Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence scale the

Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Mainland Chinese

version of the shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the Ethic Committees at Zhejiang Normal

University and the University of Toronto

31 Participants

Ninety-seven Mainland Chinese undergraduate students (46 males aged from 18 to 23

years M = 1971 SD =119 years) at Zhejiang Normal University Jinhua Chinamdash a city

with a population of 5361600 at the 2010 census (―Jinhua 2014) Twelve were

Buddhists 3 were Christians 1 was Muslim 1 was favorable towards all kinds of

religious belief and the other 79 were atheists

32 Material

321 Visual basic program

All the items and pictures used in the scales and tests were presented on a computer one

by one in a home-made Visual Basic Program This program not only made the

characters easily readable but also prevented potential influence between adjacent scale

items

322 Three-dimensional wisdom scale (3DWS)

All the instructions and items were translated into Chinese and then reverse-translated to

English by native Mainland Chinese speakers and compared for accuracy to the original

English items by native English speakers The discrepancy was then corrected and this

double-reverse translation procedure repeated until the Chinese version scale was

consistent with the English version scale

22

For more details of this scale see Chapter 1 Section 23

423 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS)

The Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale (WLEIS) includes four subscales self-

emotion appraisal other-emotion appraisal utilization of emotion and regulation of

emotion scales (Law Wong amp Song 2004) Each subscale has four items Self-emotion

appraisal and other-emotion appraisal refer to the abilities to understand emotion of self

and others respectively Utilization of emotion refers to utilizing emotion of self to guide

actions Regulation of emotion refers to controlling emotion of self The participants rate

the accordance of the description in the items to themselves on a 5-point scale

A previous study in China has demonstrated that the WLEIS was a better predictor of job

performance than the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test developed in

the US (Law Wong Huang amp Li 2008) Besides the WLEIS was testified as reliable

among 680 Mainland Chinese university students (Li Saklofske Bowden Yan amp Fung

2012)

424 Chinese version of Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI)

This scale measures four aspects of empathy perspective taking fantasy empathic

concern and personal distress (Siu amp Shek 2005) There are 28 items altogether seven

items for each subscale The Perspective-Taking scale assesses the liability to

spontaneously adopting perspectives of others the Fantasy scale measures the liability to

transpose self imaginatively into the feelings and actions of fictitious characters The

Empathic Concern scale measures other-oriented feelings of sympathy and care for the

suffering individuals The Personal Distress scale measures self-oriented feelings of

personal anxiety and unease in tense interpersonal situations (Davis 1983) The

participants indicate on a 5-point response scale from ―Definitely true of myself or

―strongly agree to ―Definitely not true of myself or ―strongly disagree

The scale was testified as reliable and valid among 580 Mainland Chinese participants

(Siu amp Shek 2005)

23

425 Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS)

The Chinese version of shortened Eysenck personality scale (EPQ-RS) has 48 items 12

items for each of the following sub-scales Psychoticism Extroversion

Neuroticismemotional instability and LieSocial desirability scales Psychoticism is

tendency to develop a psychotic symptom or anti-social behaviors Extraversion is

tendency to be active in social activities Neuroticism or emotion stability measures

individualslsquo emotional instability and the tendency to develop negative feelings The Lie

scale contains questions on which individuals tend to lie for social desirability (Eysenck

amp Eysenck 1975) The items are questions about the participants and the participants

respond ―yes or ―no to these questions

This scale was testified as reliable and valid among 8637 Mainland Chinese participants

(Mingyi Guocheng Rongchun amp Shen 2000)

426 Progressive Raven Matrix

There are 35 Progressive Raven Matrix items altogether used in this study In each item

the participants need to identify the missing element that completes a pattern on a 33

matrix Raven Matrix was found to be reliable and valid in measuring cognitive

intelligence among several cultures including Chinese culture (Raven 2000)

33 Procedure

The following procedure was completed individually in the Psychology laboratory at

Zhejiang Normal University The participants were left alone in a quiet room to finish the

scales and tests

All the participants completed the three-dimensional Wisdom Scale and the WLEIS In

addition 31 participants (12 males 18 to 22 years M = 1958 years SD =113 years)

finished Progressive Raven Matrix another 66 participants (34 males 18 to 23 years M

= 1977 years SD =122 years) completed the Mainland Chinese version of Interpersonal

Reactivity Index (IRI) and the Mainland Chinese version of the shortened Eysenck

personality scale (EPQ-RS) Considering fatigue effect the participants who finished

24

Raven Matrix were not instructed to finish IRI and EPQ-RS

4 Results

41 Score distribution and Inter-item reliability of Ardeltrsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

A reliability test was conducted for the three-dimensional wisdom scale and its subscales

based on the data from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs

alpha of the whole scale was 070 alpha of the cognitive dimension scale was 065 alpha

of the reflective dimension scale was 049 alpha of the affective dimension scale was

030 Therefore the inter-items reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a

whole was acceptable However inter-items reliability of neither the reflective nor

affective dimensional subscale was acceptable all r lt 060

The final score of the three-dimensional wisdom scale ranged from 245 to 392 (M =

320 SD = 026) cognitive wisdom ranged from 207 to 414 (M = 334 SD = 040)

An inter-item reliability analysis was also conducted to test the four-factor structure

proposed by Bang and Zhou Cronbachs alpha of ―Non-dualistic thinking items was

053 alpha of ―Perspective-taking items was 068 alpha of ―Non-resentment items was

037 alpha of ―Empathy items was 028 Therefore only the ―Perspective-taking

subscale has acceptable inter-items reliability the four-factor structure proposed by Bang

and Zhou was not confirmed

42 Factor analysis

Combining the 3DWS data in this study with another 3DWS data of 50 Mainland

Chinese youths (22 males aged from 20 to 30 M = 2404 SD =242) collected in

another study we got data of 148 Mainland Chinese youthslsquo three-dimensional wisdom

items scores Factor analysis using a principal axis factoring analysis (the same method

used by Bang and Zhou) and an oblique rotation method (Direct Oblimin) was conducted

Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy was acceptable (060) however the

factor analysis extracted 14 factors explaining only 500 variance Moreover the

25

rotation failed to converge in 25 iterations Therefore we quitted the exploratory factor

analysis

Later we fixed the number of factors at three however the extracted three factors only

explained a 198 variance And then we fixed the number of factors at four but the

extracted four factors only explained a 236 variance Therefore there may be more

than four factors that underlie the participantslsquo performance in Ardeltlsquo self reporting

three-dimensional wisdom scale

43 The correlation between Raven Matrix and wisdom scales scores

The 31 participants who took the Raven Matrix test had solved 7 to 34 matrixes (M =

2126 SD = 671) Bivariate correlation analysis between the Raven Matrix test score and

the three-dimensional wisdom score revealed no significant correlation r = 016 p =

038

We hypothesized that cognitive dimension of wisdom should be positively correlated

with the Raven matrix score even if the total wisdom score was not so however the

correlation of the Raven score with the score on cognitive wisdom was also not

significant r = 022 p = 024

44 Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale

A reliability test was conducted for the WLEIS scale and its subscales based on the data

from the 97 Mainland Chinese undergraduate students Cronbachs alpha of the total scale

was 080 alpha of ―self-emotion appraisal was 061 alpha of ―other-emotion appraisal

was 080 alpha of ―use of emotion was 075 alpha of ―regulation of emotion was 082

Therefore inter-items reliability of the whole scale and all the sub-scales were

acceptable

The score of the Wong and Law emotional intelligence scale ranged from 238 to 475 (M

= 341 SD =041) the score of ―self-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 475 (M =

355 SD =056) the score of ―other-emotion appraisal ranged from 200 to 500 (M =

26

352 SD =060) the score of ―use of emotion ranged from 200 to 480 (M = 336 SD

=064) the score of ―regulation of emotion ranged from 100 to 500 (M = 320 SD

=066)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that the wisdom score was significantly positively

correlated with WLEIS score r = 047 p lt 0001 and with all the subscale scores all r gt

024 all p lt 005

45 Interpersonal Reactivity Index scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the ―perspective-taking scale was 064 the alpha of the ―fantasy

scale was 069 the alpha of the ―empathic concern scale was 059 and the alpha of the

―personal distress scale was 070 Therefore the ―empathic concern scalelsquos inter-item

reliability was marginally acceptable for calculating the ―empathic concern score and the

other scaleslsquo inter-item reliabilities were acceptable

The score of ―perspective-taking ranged from 229 to 457 (M = 338 SD =051)

―fantasy ranged from 157 to 471 (M = 337 SD =063) ―empathic concern ranged

from 229 to 471 (M = 346 SD =049) ―personal distress ranged from 157 to 457 (M

= 330 SD =053)

Bivariate correlation analyses revealed that score of ―fantasy and ―perspective taking

were significantly positively correlated with wisdom score r = 026 p = 0039 r = 046

p lt 0001 respectively Other correlations were not significant all p gt 005

46 Eysenck personality scale

A reliability test was conducted for each scale based on the data from the 66 participants

Cronbachs alpha of the Psychoticism scale was 021 the alpha of the Extroversion scale

was 071 the alpha of the Neuroticism scale was 075 the alpha of the LieSocial

desirability scale was 059 Therefore the inter-item reliabilities of the Extroversion and

Neuroticism scales were ideal for calculating the total scores and that of the LieSocial

desirability scale was marginally acceptable

27

The Extroversion score ranged from 0 to 12 (M =663 SD =337) the Neuroticism score

ranged from 1 to 12 (M = 695 SD = 291) the LieSocial desirability score ranged from

0 to 11 (M = 454 SD =224) The LieSocial desirability score was not significantly

positively correlated with the Extroversion or Neuroticism score all r lt 01 all p gt 005

Therefore the Extroversion and Neuroticism scores were not biased by social

desirability

Bivariate correlation analysis revealed that the Extraversion score was significantly

positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 036 p = 0003 whereas the

Neuroticism score was significantly negatively correlated with the wisdom score r = -

032 p = 0008 However it should be noted that the Liesocial desirability score was

significantly positively correlated with the wisdom score r = 026 p = 0037 but not

with any other self-report score (eg emotional intelligence empathy) all r lt 01 all p gt

005

5 Discussion

51 Problem in the structure of wisdom model

Although the reliability of the three-dimensional wisdom scale as a whole was acceptable

(Cronbachs alpha = 070) the inter-items reliabilities of reflective wisdom and affective

wisdom were quite poor This result revealed that the three-factor structure of wisdom

proposed by Ardelt may not exist among Mainland Chinese Indeed Bang and Zhou

(2014) also failed to find a three-factor structure of wisdom Moreover the four-factor

structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was also not testified in our study Therefore a

different wisdom model may be necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland

Chinese A qualitative method such as an implicit theory study of wisdom among

Mainland Chinese may be helpful for exploring the structure of wisdom among Mainland

Chinese which was fulfilled in Study 2 of this thesis

52 Validity test results

Our hypothesis about wisdom related to cognitive intelligence was not confirmed by the

correlation result Perhaps wisdom is more about cognition of grand objects (eg

28

meaning of life and human nature) and thus the ability to recognize the pattern of matrix

is not related to the cognitive dimension of wisdom In fact a previous study has shown

that an increase of crystalized intelligence a component of wisdom was not related to

fluid intelligence (Christensen Batterham amp Mackinnon 2013) Wisdom may be more

related to intelligence in the domains about life in general which is essentially different

from intelligence in other domains such as that measured by the Raven matrix

Our hypotheses about positive correlation of wisdom with emotional intelligence

empathy (―perspective taking ―fantasy) and prosocial personality traits

(―extroversion ―emotion stability) were confirmed by the correlation results (Note that

the social desirability score was not correlated with any of these wisdom correlates and

thus these significant correlations can not be accounted for by the effect of social

desirability) Overall our results suggested that wisdom was embodied in reasonably

handling emotion of self and others (appraising otherslsquo emotion utilizing and regulating

emotion emotional stability) and taking care of others taking otherslsquo perspectives

transposing oneself imaginatively into the feelings and actions of others (related to

―fantasy) and being active in social interaction (―extraversion) However no cause-

effect relation can be derived from these correlation results These factors could be either

the outcomes or the sources of wisdom Eg extraversion could be the outcome of

wisdom wiser people are more likely to interact with others because they appreciate

more about the value of social networking On the other hand extraversion could

contribute to wisdom social interaction provides individuals more opportunities for

learning from others Likewise emotional stability may be important for reflective

wisdom while emotional stability could be an outcome of wisdom Individuals of high

neuroticism may be weak at reflecting upon their self-images due to their easily irritable

temperament preventing them from accepting ideas harmful for their self-image while

wise people are not self-centralized and thus emotionally stable Finally all these

potential components of wisdom need to be integrated For example an extravert without

empathy for others may interact with others superficially without being aware of otherslsquo

inner feelings and thoughts and thus wonlsquot accumulate experience of some fundamental

life pragmatics in social life such as painful separation from a beloved person

29

53 Problem of vulnerability to social desirability

According to Confucianism a Superior Man should examine himself objectively

(Confucius 2009) however the liesocial desirability score was significantly positively

correlated with the score of three-dimensional wisdom This result corresponded to the

proposition of Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) that self-reported measurement of wisdom

may be influenced by self-serving bias and inaccuracy in self-perception wise

individuals are arguably more accurate in self-reflection and thus score lower than those

unwise individuals who have positive bias in their self-reflection In fact a positive

correlation between impression management and scores on some items in the three-

dimensional wisdom scale was demonstrated in a previous study (Taylor Bates amp

Webster 2011) Therefore a method more objective than self-report such as performance

measure is necessary for wisdom measurement among Mainland Chinese This problem

is tackled in Study 3 of this thesis

6 Conclusion

Emotional intelligence empathy emotion stability and extraversion were significantly

positively correlated with wisdom measured by Ardeltlsquos three-dimensional wisdom scale

For Mainland Chinese wisdom may be embodied in the ability and willingness to

understand and regulate emotion of selves and others in social life However the

structure of wisdom was unclear neither the three-factor structure proposed by Ardelt nor

the four-factor structure proposed by Bang and Zhou was testified Moreover the self-

report wisdom score was significantly positively correlated with social desirability score

Therefore we probably need a different model and a performance measure for wisdom

measurement among Mainland Chinese

30

Chapter 3 Mainland Chinese Wisdom Model

1 Introduction

In order to explore the structure of wisdom ie the potential wisdom components among

Mainland Chinese and build a Mainland Chinese Wisdom model the implicit theory of

wisdom among Mainland Chinese was examined

11 Implicit theory study on wisdom among the westerners

The implicit theory of wisdom is about the lay peoplelsquos latent understanding of wisdom

or implicit conceptualization of ―wisdom Implicit theory studies typically use one of

two main approaches ―descriptor rating and ―nomination of exemplars (Bluck amp

Gluumlck 2005)

Descriptor rating studies of wisdom The earliest and still most common method of

research on implicit theories of wisdom uses attribute rating (eg Clayton amp Birren

1980 Holliday amp Chandler 1986 Jason et al 2001a Sternberg 1985) Participants first

list attributes they associate with wisdom that are then merged into a master list with

repetitions idiosyncrasies and synonyms removed the master list is then presented to a

second (often larger) sample of participants who rate each attribute for how central it is

to wisdom Multidimensional scaling is then used to extract underlying components from

ratings with dimensions labeled according to their characteristic attributes

Exemplar approaches to implicit theories of wisdom Another way of studying implicit

theories of wisdom is to ask people to nominate individual exemplars of wisdom (eg

Orwoll amp Perlmutter 1990 Takayama 2002) Nomination studies of wisdom ask people

to nominate someone they consider wise from history or from their personal

acquaintance Historical exemplars of wisdom are not universal For example Jewish

Canadians frequently nominated Gandhi as a historical exemplar of wisdom among a

wide range of political and intellectual figuresmdashmany of importance to Judaism like

Moses However Gandhi was nominated only once in Pakistan with 60 of participants

31

choosing the Prophet Mohammed (Ferrari Kahn Benayon amp Nero 2011)

12 Core Components of Wisdom in Subjective Theories

Gluumlck and Bluck (2005 see also Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011) identified five core themes

of Western implicit theories of wisdom in their careful review of all Descriptor rating

studies of wisdom completed to that time

1 Cognitive ability (profound knowledge amp reasoning about novel problems)

2 Insight (willingness and ability to ponder deeply on complex issues)

3 Reflective attitude (do think profoundly about self others and the world from many

different perspectives to be self-critical and not biased by emotion of self)

4 Concern for Others beyond close family and friends (self-transcendent concern and

compassion)

5 Problem-solving skills (applying knowledge to concrete problems)

Later Staudinger and Gluumlck (2011) summarized these as core components of wisdom in

subjective theories and then added another three components of wisdom from some

expertslsquo subjective theories especially those for some self-report wisdom scales

Spirituality and connectedness to nature to be spiritual in life and enjoy a connection

with the divine and care for the natural environment (Jason et al 2001b) Emancipatory

nature of wisdom interests in self-critical reflection and autonomy and knowledge that

increases the freedom of the self and provides opportunities for self-development

(Sternberg 1990) Humor the ability to see comical components even in serious

situations (Staudinger amp Gluumlck 2011)

13 This study

Given the shortcomings of self-report wisdom measure as demonstrated in study 1 we

conducted another study based on the secondary data from a previous study to explore the

potential factors underlying wisdom in Mainland Chinese culture The conceptions of

32

wisdom among two generations of Mainland Chinese were examined The older

generation had experienced the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) when they were

emerging or middle-aged adults (18 to 42 years old in 1966) whereas the younger

generation was born after the Cultural Revolution As far as we know this is the first

study on the implicit theory of wisdom among Mainland Chinese

As mentioned earlier Mainland China underwent the 10-year Cultural Revolution (1966-

1976) during which the traditional wisdom ideologies of Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism were fiercely denounced nationwide while Maolsquos Communist ideology was

proclaimed instead (Yang 2006) The Cultural Revolution provides a unique opportunity

to study an event that disrupted transmission of Chinese traditions People who lived

through this time may incorporate elements of communist ideology into their conceptions

of wisdom

2 Hypotheses

We hypothesized that people who had experienced the Cultural Revolution should have

an implicit theory of wisdom different from that among those born after the Cultural

Revolution conceptual wisdom components related to Confucianism Daoism and

Buddhism should be less prevalent whereas conceptual wisdom components related to

Communism should be more prevalent among the older generation than among the

younger generation

Parallel hypothesis

Similar to all cross-section studies cohort effect is mixed with age effect and thus not

identifiable People who had experienced the Cultural Revolution may later learn the

revived traditions and become even more affected by these traditions due to their greater

experience of the revived traditions through age Therefore conceptual wisdom

components related to Chinese traditions may be more prevalent among the elders than

among the youths

33

3 Method

All information regarding sample size data exclusions experimental manipulations and

measures have been included in the following description of our method All procedures

used in the current study were approved by the ethics committee at the University of

Toronto

31 Participants

One hundred Mainland Chinese adults were interviewed in Beijing in 2008 half were

native-born Mainland Chinese elders living in the Beijing area (28 males aged from 60

to 84 M = 7166 SD =599) They were born between 1924 and 1948 and had

experienced the Cultural Revolution and were living independently or with family around

the time of interview Among them 15 participants had not finished high school 12

participants had high school or equivalent diploma 7 participants had some college

education and 16 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent degree one was Buddhist 1

was Muslim 16 named their religious affiliation as Communism and the other 32 did not

indicate any religious affiliation

The other 50 were students at Beijing Normal University (22 males aged from 20 to 30

M = 2404 SD =242) born between 1978 and 1988 after the Cultural Revolution which

ended in 1976 Among this generation 18 participants had a Bachelors or equivalent

degree 31 participants had a Masterlsquos degree and one participant a doctorate one was

Buddhist 1 was Muslim 2 were Christians and 2 named their religious affiliation as

Communism the other 44 did not indicate any religious affiliation

32 Material

Recorder printed ―Interview guide etc

33 Procedure

Participants were interviewed individually in a quiet room They nominated several

wisdom exemplars from among historic figures and their acquaintances and then

34

explained why they regarded the exemplars as wise how the wisdom exemplars had

become wise and what the definition of wisdom is The Mainland Chinese term used for

wisdom is the same as that in Yangs study with Taiwanese Chinese Zhi Hui (智慧)

(Yang 2008)

More specifically it included the following questions

(1) Please take a moment to think of the wisest person you know of in history among

your acquaintances Who is this person and what makes them so wise What is one story

you know about this person or one thing they said or did that shows them to be wise

We included the following probes ―What was wise about that What might some other

person have said or done We also asked ―Has this person affected or inspired you in

your own life Is it possible for you to become more like them Are there any wise

moments in your life

(2) Finally we asked about the participantslsquo own definition of wisdom ―Now that we

have had a chance to talk about it what is wisdom What does wisdom mean to you

The interviews were recorded and transcribed

The nomination of wisdom exemplars may reveal who had influenced the participantslsquo

conceptualization of wisdom The reasons for the participantslsquo nomination were arguably

determined by their conceptualization of wisdom We made this arrangement because the

conceptualization of wisdom is not easy for lay people to articulate and asking questions

relevant to wisdom before addressing their definition of wisdom could activate the

neural-network carrying information related to wisdom conceptualization However the

participants sometimes talked about something unrelated to their definitions of wisdom

which is inevitable because it is very difficult for common people to focus on the topic

―wisdom throughout the whole conversation Nevertheless when the participants

responded to our last question ie the definition of wisdom they were mostly focused

on their conceptualizations of wisdom Therefore we chose to code their responses to the

last question

In total 92 Mainland Chinese participants (47 male aged from 20 to 84 M = 4722 SD

35

=2408) reported their definition of wisdom including 47 youths (27 males 20 to 30

years M = 2409 years SD =246years) and 45 elders (20 males 60 to 84 years M =

7138 years SD =607years) Thematic analysis using a grounded theory method

allowed us to code these participantslsquo answers and discover common themes of the

Mainland Chinese participantslsquo definition of wisdom After these common themes were

found 2 Taiwanese Chinese research assistants coded the transcripts again and identified

all the common themes we found without discovering any new theme Finally a

codebook was developed based on these common themes and then two trained Mainland

Chinese coders coded the transcripts again according to this codebook Coder agreement

and Kappa values on each category of this codebook were analyzed just as in a previous

study (Gluumlck et al 2005) Disagreements were later resolved by discussion between

these coders and then the frequency of each category coded was calculated

4 Results

41 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated by the Mainland Chinese participants

Participants made a total of 180 nominations of historical wise exemplars nominating 64

historic figures The mostly frequently nominated historic wisdom exemplars were

political or military leaders (ie emperors presidents premiers civil officials and

generals) nominated by 74 participants The second most frequently nominated group of

historic wisdom exemplars were scholars (ie philosophers literary authors poets and

historians) nominated by 21 participants Following these two groups of historic wisdom

exemplars were scientists nominated by four participants and then religious leaders

nominated by three participants Buddha nominated by a Christian Jesus nominated by a

Buddhist Muhammad nominated by an atheist

The leaders were regarded by the participants as wise mostly for their personal abilities

and contribution to their society The leaderslsquo personal abilities included leadership in

military or political events talents in ruling organizations and states social interaction

organizational and leadership skills such as understanding otherslsquo mentality and

managing the talented persons The leaderslsquo contribution to their society included

36

recovering the order of the society and showing compassion for the poor The scholars

were regarded as wise mostly for their mentality cognitive ability cognitive traits

cognitive outcome (eg works of literature) and virtue teaching wisdom to the public

self-transformation and transcendent personalities The wisdom of leaders emphasized

more on changing the external world ie society whereas the wisdom of scholars on

transforming the internal world ie mind

Table 1 shows a chronological ranked ordering of the 24 historic figures who received at

least 2 nominations as wise exemplars (All other figures received only a single

nomination and thus was not reported here) It should be noted that 19 of these 24

nominees were Chinese 15 of the 24 were political or military leadersmdashsome dating

back over 2000 years to the unification of China as a centralized country by Qin Shi

Huang (260ndash210 BC) the first emperor of China mdash through to the 17th

c but then we

found a gap of almost 200 years until 6 leaders within living memory of the older

generation In addition to these political or military leaders 8 were scholars and only 1

was a religious figure (Muhammad)

37

Table 1 Historic wisdom exemplars nominated more than once

Wisdom Exemplarparticipants Youth Elder Total

Lao-tzu Legendary founder of Daoism Zhou dynasty (6th c BC) 2 0 2

Confucius (551ndash479 BC) Ancient educator and political advisor

founder of Confucianism

9 1 10

Plato (429ndash347 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Aristotle (384ndash322 BC) Ancient Greek philosopher 2 0 2

Emperor Qin [Shi Huang] (260ndash210 BC) First emperor Qin dynasty 3 4 7

Emperor Gaozu (256 or 247-195 BC) First emperor Han dynasty 1 1 2

Emperor Wu (156 ndash 87 BC) Seventh emperor Han dynasty 2 0 2

Sima Qian (145 or 135-86 BC) Ancient historian in Han dynasty 2 0 2

Cao Cao (155-220) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

1 2 3

Zhu Geliang (181-234) Ancient political and military leader Three-

Kingdom age

6 6 12

Muhammad (570 - 632) Prophet and founder of Islam 2 0 2

Emperor Taizong (598-649) Emperor Tang dynasty 3 3 6

Emperor Wu Zetian (624-705) A female emperor in Tang dynasty 1 1 2

Su Shi (1037-1101) Song Dynasty writer poet painter calligrapher

pharmacologist and statesman

4 0 4

Empress Xiao Chuang (1613-1688) Concubine of the Qing Dynasty

ruler Hong Taiji grandmother of Emperor Kangxi

2 0 2

Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) Fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty 3 3 6

Karl Marx (1818-1883) Philosopher 2 0 2

Marie Curie (1867-1934) Scientist 2 0 2