Wisdom, long the province of philosophy, has been studied empirically as a cognitive construct. Paul Baltes and the Berlin Wisdom Paradigm defined wisdom as "expert knowledge about the fundamental pragmatics of life" — knowledge involving the human condition, life planning, life management, and life review. Wise individuals demonstrate rich factual knowledge about human nature, procedural knowledge about handling life's problems, understanding of different life contexts, recognition of uncertainty, and ability to consider multiple perspectives.
Wisdom and Aging
Despite popular association of wisdom with age, research shows that age alone does not produce wisdom. While life experience provides the raw material, wisdom requires reflective processing, emotional regulation, and openness to multiple perspectives. Some studies show peak wisdom in late middle age, while others find no age differences. Professional experience (clinical psychologists, counselors) is a better predictor than age per se.
Igor Grossmann has studied "wise reasoning" — the ability to recognize the limits of one's knowledge, consider others' perspectives, seek compromise, and anticipate change. His research shows that wise reasoning varies more across situations than across individuals (the same person reasons wisely about some problems and not others) and that it predicts well-being, relationship satisfaction, and emotional regulation better than intelligence does.