Deconstructing wisdom through a cultural lens

Folk understandings of wisdom and its ontology in the Philippines and Sri Lanka

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2395596
AutoresSantushi Devini Amarasuriya (0000-0002-9335-1197, University of Colombo, autor de correspondencia), Maria Guadalupe C Salanga (0000-0001-9752-7594, De La Salle University), Charisse Tan Llorin (0000-0003-2959-5207, De La Salle University), Marie Rose H Morales (University of the Philippines Diliman), Eranda Jayawickreme (0000-0001-6544-7004, Wake Forest University), Igor Grossmann (0000-0003-2681-3600, University of Waterloo)
Año2024
Volumen61
Número5
Páginas767-782
Fecha de publicación2024-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaTranscultural Psychiatric Research Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0041-1108 • E-ISSN: 0315-4386
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/13634615241233682
PMID38419553
OpenAlexW4392287276
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas59

In many contemporary societies, misinformation, epistemic arrogance, and intergroup conflict pose serious threats to social cohesion and well-being. Wisdom may offer a potential antidote to these problems, with a recently identified Common Wisdom Model (CWM) suggesting that wisdom involves epistemic virtues such as intellectual humility, openness to change, and perspective-taking. However, it is unclear whether these virtues are central for folk concepts of wisdom in non-Western contexts. We explored this question by conducting focus group discussions with 174 participants from the Philippines and Sri Lanka, two countries facing socio-political and economic challenges. We found that epistemic themes were common in both countries, but more so when participants were asked to define wisdom in general terms rather than to describe how it is acquired or expressed in daily lives. Moreover, epistemic themes were more prevalent among Filipino than Sri Lankan participants, especially when the questions posed were abstract rather than concrete. We discuss how these findings relate to the CWM and the socio-cultural contexts of the two countries, and suggest that a question format should be considered in cross-cultural research on wisdom

Collectivism · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Humility · Individualism · Openness to experience · Phronesis · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Sri lanka · Aging and Gerontology Research · Anthropology · Identity, Memory, and Therapy · Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction · Psychology · Social Psychology