Summary: In this study, women tended to score higher on compassion and self-reflection, while men scored higher on cognitive reasoning and emotional regulation.
Source: UCSD
Previous research has established that wisdom is a multifaceted personality trait closely linked to mental health and overall well-being. A team at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine examined gender differences in wisdom using two validated measures to better understand how these differences relate to psychological outcomes.
Published in the February 3, 2022 online edition of Frontiers in Psychology, the study evaluated gender-related patterns in wisdom and related constructs such as depression, loneliness, well-being, optimism, and resilience.
The study included 659 community-dwelling adults aged 27 to 103 who completed both the San Diego Wisdom Scale (SD-WISE) and the 3-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS). These measures assess complementary aspects of wisdom and offer a broad view of how wisdom relates to mental health across the lifespan.
The SD-WISE comprises 24 items across six components: pro-social behaviors (including empathy and compassion), emotional regulation, self-reflection, acceptance of uncertainty and diversity of perspectives, decisiveness, and social advising. The 3D-WS includes 39 items that measure three broad dimensions of wisdom: cognitive, affective/compassionate, and reflective.
Results showed consistent patterns in relative strengths by gender. On average, women scored higher on compassion-related facets and on self-reflection, while men tended to score higher on cognitive-related aspects of wisdom and on emotional regulation. Overall scores differed by scale: women had a higher total score on the 3D-WS, but there was no significant gender difference on the total SD-WISE score.
Importantly, in both women and men, higher wisdom—regardless of gender—was associated with better mental well-being, greater optimism and resilience, and lower levels of depression and loneliness. In other words, wisdom components correlated with healthier psychological outcomes across genders.
“We wanted to learn whether men and women show different strength profiles in wisdom that could affect 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. “Our data suggest that women and men emphasize different elements of wisdom, shaped by a mix of sociocultural and biological influences.”
Emily Treichler, PhD, the study’s first author and an assistant professor in the UC San Diego Department of Psychiatry, added: “These findings are one piece of a larger puzzle. People cultivate wisdom in different ways, and examining gender provides one useful lens for understanding those pathways.”
The authors note practical implications for interventions that aim to enhance components of wisdom. Prior work indicates that targeted psychosocial and behavioral programs can increase empathy, compassion, and emotional regulation. By recognizing individual wisdom profiles—such as strengths in compassion versus cognitive analysis—clinicians and program designers could tailor interventions to better support mental health and resilience.
The study has limitations that temper interpretation. It used a cross-sectional design, so it cannot establish causal relationships or how wisdom changes over time. The sample did not include measures of non-binary gender identity or transgender status, and the authors highlight the need for future work that includes a broader range of gender identities and longitudinal follow-up.
“More research is needed, but these results offer a useful foundation for future studies aiming to personalize wisdom-building interventions and promote healthier lives,” said Jeste.
Co-authors on the paper include: Tsung-Chin Wu and Xin Tu (UC San Diego); Barton Palmer, Rebecca Daly, and Ellen Lee (UC San Diego, VA San Diego Healthcare System, and VA Desert Pacific MIRECC); and Michael Thomas (Colorado State University).
About this psychology research news
Author: Michelle Brubaker
Source: UCSD
Contact: Michelle Brubaker – UCSD
Image: The image is in the public domain
Original Research: Open access. “Women and Men Differ in Relative Strengths in Wisdom Profiles: A Study of 659 Adults Across the Lifespan” by Dilip V. Jeste et al., published in Frontiers in Psychology.
Abstract
Women and Men Differ in Relative Strengths in Wisdom Profiles: A Study of 659 Adults Across the Lifespan
Wisdom is a multi-component trait that contributes to mental health and well-being. This study examined gender differences in relative strengths across components of wisdom.
A total of 659 adults aged 27–103 completed the 3-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS) and the San Diego Wisdom Scale (SD-WISE). Analyses explored gender differences in wisdom and whether gender modifies the relationships between wisdom and related constructs—depression, loneliness, well-being, optimism, and resilience.
Women scored higher on average on the 3D-WS but not on the SD-WISE. Women showed higher scores on compassion-related domains and on SD-WISE Self-Reflection, while men scored higher on cognitive-related domains and on SD-WISE Emotion Regulation.
Gender did not alter the associations between wisdom and the related mental health constructs studied. The findings suggest men and women possess different relative strengths in facets of wisdom, likely influenced by both sociocultural and biological factors.
A next important step is to develop and tailor wisdom-enhancing interventions to individuals based on their specific wisdom profiles and to extend research to include diverse gender identities and longitudinal designs.