A day of online talks and workshops about contemporary theory and research on the topic of wisdom.
Schedule of Sessions
All times shown below are in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
10.00am - Judith Glück lecture - link to video recording here
What is wisdom – and why do we so often do the unwise thing?
10.45am – break
11.00am– Judith Glück workshop
Learning from life: Growing wiser from reflecting on when we weren’t wise
11.45am – break for lunch
1.00pm Monika Ardelt lecture - link to video recording here
How is wisdom related to moral virtues, spirituality, religiosity, and flourishing?
1.45pm– break
2.00pm - Monika Ardelt workshop
How to grow in wisdom
2.45pm - break
3.00pm – Symposium of short talks
Marc Lucas: Growing together and/or wisening apart? Questioning wisdom concepts from genuine wisdom theoretical and adult developmental perspectives
Kristján Kristjánsson: Conceptualising and Measuring Practical Wisdom
Eeva K. Kallio: Who says what is wisdom, and why? Value questions in wisdom research
4.00pm - break
4.15pm to 4.45pm – Plenary dialogue between speakers
4.45pm Closing words
All times shown below are in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
10.00am - Judith Glück lecture - link to video recording here
What is wisdom – and why do we so often do the unwise thing?
10.45am – break
11.00am– Judith Glück workshop
Learning from life: Growing wiser from reflecting on when we weren’t wise
11.45am – break for lunch
1.00pm Monika Ardelt lecture - link to video recording here
How is wisdom related to moral virtues, spirituality, religiosity, and flourishing?
1.45pm– break
2.00pm - Monika Ardelt workshop
How to grow in wisdom
2.45pm - break
3.00pm – Symposium of short talks
Marc Lucas: Growing together and/or wisening apart? Questioning wisdom concepts from genuine wisdom theoretical and adult developmental perspectives
Kristján Kristjánsson: Conceptualising and Measuring Practical Wisdom
Eeva K. Kallio: Who says what is wisdom, and why? Value questions in wisdom research
4.00pm - break
4.15pm to 4.45pm – Plenary dialogue between speakers
4.45pm Closing words
Summer Symposium 2024
Abstracts
Judith Glück lecture
What is wisdom – and why do we so often do the unwise thing?
This presentation discusses an integrative model of wise behavior that combines elements from several psychological wisdom theories to explain what we need to act wisely in challenging real-life situations – and why we so often end up acting not so wisely. I first describe the life situations that most require wisdom, and then discuss our “elephant model” of wisdom (Glück & Weststrate, 2022), which proposes that an interplay of noncognitive and cognitive components is necessary for real-life wise behavior. One focus of the talk is on the most typical real-life obstacles to wise behavior. Finally, I argue that our world is in urgent need of more wisdom, and I make some suggestions about what we all can do to foster wisdom in the world.
Judith Glück workshop
Learning from life: Growing wiser from reflecting on when we weren’t wise
In this workshop, participants will be asked to reflect on situations in their own life where they did and did not act particularly wisely. According to developmental models of wisdom, reflecting on life experiences in an open-minded, exploratory way can help people grow wiser. By discussing the obstacles that blocked our wisdom in the “unwise” situations, we will collaboratively try to find ways to overcome similar obstacles in the future.
Monika Ardelt lecture
How is wisdom related to moral virtues, spirituality, religiosity, and flourishing?
Is it wise to be good and is it good to be wise? The presentation will explore whether moral virtues, spirituality, and/or religiosity are necessary for the development of wisdom and, conversely, whether wisdom might strengthen moral virtues, spirituality, and/or religiosity and lead to flourishing. After introducing Aristotle’s theory on the relations between moral virtues, wisdom, and flourishing, I present a quantitative empirical test of Aristotle’s theory. Subsequently, I describe associations between wisdom, spirituality, and religiosity and end with four case studies of older adults who scored relatively low or relatively high on measures of wisdom and religious spirituality.
Monika Ardelt workshop
How to grow in wisdom
This workshop will introduce different avenues of growing in wisdom: (ultimate) limit situations, meditation, and the art of maintaining control. Participants are invited to reflect on these avenues and participate in a short meditation session.
Marc Lucas short talk
Growing together and/or wisening apart? Questioning wisdom concepts from genuine wisdom theoretical and adult developmental perspectives
Adult development makes some assumptions about the nature of “wisdom” that should be questioned and reflected upon based on existing theoretical considerations of genuine wisdom theories. The assumption is that the discourse between both disciplines can result in a fruitful cross-paradigmatic encounter and a growing understanding of mutual enrichment and can generate relevant questions for research and model development in and between the disciplines. In particular, questions will be raised as to whether wisdom is a late adult development, whether and how wisdom can be measured, and whether wisdom can be understood as a (primarily) individual psychological construct or whether social (attribution) processes are not of more fundamental importance here.
Kristján Kristjánsson short talk
Conceptualising and Measuring Practical Wisdom
In this presentation, I explain the work done in the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues since 2019 on conceptualising and measuring the construct of practical wisdom or phronesis. I explain how it differs from (but also partly overlaps with) what psychologists typically mean by wisdom. I talk about the pros and cons of our original instrument to measure practical wisdom, the first one ever created, as set out in an article in Personality and Individual Differences in 2022. I then go on to talk about our much larger study which is leading to the creation of more wieldy and better validated instrument. I chart some of the correlates of practical wisdom, as seen in large (N: 4000) UK and US samples. I finally discuss the next steps in this project.
Eeva K. Kallio short talk
Who says what is wisdom, and why? Value questions in wisdom research
Wisdom is labelled as one of the highest attainments of optimal human development – an ideal and the ultimate goal of all development. The terms are not often analysed or reflected further to understand their problems and hidden assumptions, especially regarding unethical claims of ‘better’, ‘advanced’ and ‘more developed’. From a certain viewpoint, these kinds of claims can be seen as potentially discriminatory and unjust. Which are the criteria of ranking behind them? Who determines which developmental phase is considered better or more developed, and on what ideological, worldview-based and axiological assumptions are such determinations based? Is it possible to create psychological science without seriously taking philosophy into account?
Abstracts
Judith Glück lecture
What is wisdom – and why do we so often do the unwise thing?
This presentation discusses an integrative model of wise behavior that combines elements from several psychological wisdom theories to explain what we need to act wisely in challenging real-life situations – and why we so often end up acting not so wisely. I first describe the life situations that most require wisdom, and then discuss our “elephant model” of wisdom (Glück & Weststrate, 2022), which proposes that an interplay of noncognitive and cognitive components is necessary for real-life wise behavior. One focus of the talk is on the most typical real-life obstacles to wise behavior. Finally, I argue that our world is in urgent need of more wisdom, and I make some suggestions about what we all can do to foster wisdom in the world.
Judith Glück workshop
Learning from life: Growing wiser from reflecting on when we weren’t wise
In this workshop, participants will be asked to reflect on situations in their own life where they did and did not act particularly wisely. According to developmental models of wisdom, reflecting on life experiences in an open-minded, exploratory way can help people grow wiser. By discussing the obstacles that blocked our wisdom in the “unwise” situations, we will collaboratively try to find ways to overcome similar obstacles in the future.
Monika Ardelt lecture
How is wisdom related to moral virtues, spirituality, religiosity, and flourishing?
Is it wise to be good and is it good to be wise? The presentation will explore whether moral virtues, spirituality, and/or religiosity are necessary for the development of wisdom and, conversely, whether wisdom might strengthen moral virtues, spirituality, and/or religiosity and lead to flourishing. After introducing Aristotle’s theory on the relations between moral virtues, wisdom, and flourishing, I present a quantitative empirical test of Aristotle’s theory. Subsequently, I describe associations between wisdom, spirituality, and religiosity and end with four case studies of older adults who scored relatively low or relatively high on measures of wisdom and religious spirituality.
Monika Ardelt workshop
How to grow in wisdom
This workshop will introduce different avenues of growing in wisdom: (ultimate) limit situations, meditation, and the art of maintaining control. Participants are invited to reflect on these avenues and participate in a short meditation session.
Marc Lucas short talk
Growing together and/or wisening apart? Questioning wisdom concepts from genuine wisdom theoretical and adult developmental perspectives
Adult development makes some assumptions about the nature of “wisdom” that should be questioned and reflected upon based on existing theoretical considerations of genuine wisdom theories. The assumption is that the discourse between both disciplines can result in a fruitful cross-paradigmatic encounter and a growing understanding of mutual enrichment and can generate relevant questions for research and model development in and between the disciplines. In particular, questions will be raised as to whether wisdom is a late adult development, whether and how wisdom can be measured, and whether wisdom can be understood as a (primarily) individual psychological construct or whether social (attribution) processes are not of more fundamental importance here.
Kristján Kristjánsson short talk
Conceptualising and Measuring Practical Wisdom
In this presentation, I explain the work done in the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues since 2019 on conceptualising and measuring the construct of practical wisdom or phronesis. I explain how it differs from (but also partly overlaps with) what psychologists typically mean by wisdom. I talk about the pros and cons of our original instrument to measure practical wisdom, the first one ever created, as set out in an article in Personality and Individual Differences in 2022. I then go on to talk about our much larger study which is leading to the creation of more wieldy and better validated instrument. I chart some of the correlates of practical wisdom, as seen in large (N: 4000) UK and US samples. I finally discuss the next steps in this project.
Eeva K. Kallio short talk
Who says what is wisdom, and why? Value questions in wisdom research
Wisdom is labelled as one of the highest attainments of optimal human development – an ideal and the ultimate goal of all development. The terms are not often analysed or reflected further to understand their problems and hidden assumptions, especially regarding unethical claims of ‘better’, ‘advanced’ and ‘more developed’. From a certain viewpoint, these kinds of claims can be seen as potentially discriminatory and unjust. Which are the criteria of ranking behind them? Who determines which developmental phase is considered better or more developed, and on what ideological, worldview-based and axiological assumptions are such determinations based? Is it possible to create psychological science without seriously taking philosophy into account?
Biographies
Judith Glück
Judith Gluck is professor of developmental psychology at University of Klagenfurt, Austria. Her main topic of research is wisdom: its development, its manifestation in real life, situational and contextual factors that influence wise behavior, measuring wisdom, the relationship of wisdom and morality, and people’s conceptions of wisdom across cultures. Her wisdom research has been repeatedly funded by the Austrian Science Fund and published in top-tier journals including Annual Review of Psychology, Psychological Inquiry, and Personality and Social Psychology Review. She is a co-editor of the Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom and currently president of the Austrian Psychological Society. |
Monika Ardelt
Monika Ardelt is an Associate Professor of Sociology at The University of Florida. Her research interests include Adult Human Development and Ageing and Dying well. For the last 25 years or so, she has been at the cutting edge of Wisdom Research. Professor Ardelt is responsible for the development of the highly respected and widely used Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale, which you can try for yourself by clicking here. |
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Marc Lucas
Marc Lucas is a professor of psychology at University for Media, Communication and Economics (HMKW) in Cologne, Germany as well as founder of Lucoco Lucas Consulting & Counseling. His main interests are in the integration of such diverse fields as adult development (AD) in leadership, education and organization, organizational trauma prevention, and arts-inspired qualitative research as well as integrative and integral meta-theorizing. He is board-member of ESRAD and co-founder and member of the “Wisdom SIG” of the society. With his internet platform “WEI-SE” he offers researchers a growing test-system of diverse wisdom and AD related measures and projective tests free of charge. |
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Professor Kristján Kristjánsson (Ph.D., University of St. Andrews)
Professor Kristján Kristjánsson is Professor of Character Education and Virtue Ethics, Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtues, at the University of Birmingham, U.K. He also has professorial roles at Boston College and University of Iceland. His interests lie in research on character and virtues at the intersection between moral philosophy, moral psychology and moral education. He has published various books on those issues, the latest ones are Friendship for Virtue (O.U.P., 2022) and Phronesis: Retrieving Practical Wisdom in Psychology, Philosophy, and Education (O.U.P., 2024, with Blaine Fowers). Kristján is Editor of the Journal of Moral Education. |
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Eeva K. Kallio
Eeva K. Kallio is a Doctor of Psychology and Associate Adjunct Professor at the University of Jyväskylä and the University of Tampere, Finland. She is interested in the development of wisdom and adult development, both from a psychological and philosophical perspectives. She leads the Wisdom and Learning team at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä. She is Honorary President of ESRAD (European Society for Research in Adult Development), and has edited several books on adult developmental psychology. Kallio is currently involved in Academy of Finland project “Wisdom in practice” (2022-2026), and the leader of its' work package "Psychological foundations of research on wisdom", in which new wisdom model has been created, including both philosophical and psychological perspectives. She has been in numerous public appearances in media, the latest in YLE, National Broadcast of Finland, with more than 160 000 listeners in short time, with topics of adult development and wisdom. |