A new study published recently in online edition of Frontiers in Psychology, assessed gender differences in wisdom and associated constructs, including depression, loneliness, well-being, optimism and resilience. The researchers found that, in general, women scored higher on compassion-related items and on self-reflection while men scored higher on cognitive-related items and on emotional regulation. Generally speaking, the total 3-D-WS score was higher in women than in men, but there was no gender difference in the total score on the SD-WISE.
In both women and men, wisdom was associated with greater mental well-being, optimism, and resilience and lower levels of depression and loneliness. “We wanted to gain information on potential differences in wisdom between men and women that could impact well-being,” said senior author Dilip V. Jeste, MD, senior associate dean for the Center of Healthy Aging and Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences at UC San Diego School of Medicine. “We found women and men have different relative strengths in wisdom, likely driven by both sociocultural and biological factors.”
“Our latest findings are only a piece of the overall puzzle. There are several paths toward achieving a wise life. People approach wisdom differently and looking at gender is one way to assess those potential differences,” said Emily Treichler, PhD, first author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine and a research psychologist in the Desert Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC) at the VA San Diego Healthcare System.
“Having a better understanding of wisdom and how to improve it has health benefits and value for individuals and society. Other studies have shown that the levels of certain components of wisdom like empathy/compassion and emotional regulation can be increased with appropriate psycho-social and behavioral interventions. Studies such as ours may help tailor wisdom interventions to individuals based on specific characteristics.”
“More work needs to be done, but we can take what we have learned and apply it to future studies to make the results applicable to different groups, with the ultimate goal of promoting healthier lives,” said Jeste.
Participants, ages 27 to 103, were included in the study and completed both the San Diego Wisdom Scale (SD-WISE) and the 3-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS). The SD-WISE includes 24 items related to six defined components of wisdom: pro-social behaviors (empathy and compassion), emotional regulation, self-reflection, acceptance of uncertainty and diversity of perspectives, decisiveness and social advising. The 3D-WS contains 39 items covering three dimensions of wisdom: cognitive, affective or compassionate/and reflective.
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