Wisdom is more of a state than a trait

The self-reported amount of wisdom that 152 people in Germany displayed over nine days showed higher variation between events than between people.

Hypothesis: People who are more wise have higher standards for their own behavior, and self-report lower. People who are less wise have lower standards for their own behavior, and self-report higher.

Hypothesis: The contextual importance of wisdom varies, and some people are better at acting more wisely at the more important times. For example, there is little harm in acting like a child when you are ordering food, but much harm in acting like a child when raising one.

Small sample size, ambiguous term, self-reporting... There's not a lot of meat to chew on here. I would posit that wisdom is taking the appropriate situation to achieve one's goals, as well as having the right goals. Obviously that leaves a lot of wiggle room, but language allows us to talk about wisdom in terms that are difficult to test or even agree on. Nonetheless, if we accept that definition, then someone's wisdom probably has a lot to do with how experienced they are in certain contexts; i.e. how many tools have they developed to navigate those contexts. Which would make wisdom, in practice, pretty contingent. Well socialized comes close to being wise, for a given social milieu, and that is indeed very different from having a high IQ.

As an individual who has a tattoo that reminds him of wisdom being an achievable trait, I find the idea interesting but disagree.

I believe that wisdom is the joining of experience + intelligence.

And like any trait, sometimes you have to make a conscious decision to act in that particular way - it's not possible to just arrive at a state of "Wisdom" and stay there permanently. Sometimes, regardless of experience or intelligence, you will make poor decisions or miss details. Wisdom is about growth and change.

To be slightly reductionist: Wisdom is a journey, a state-of-mind is a destination, and a journey will never be a destination (unless you're planning on vacation to a hiking spot).

By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest --Confucius

BREAKING NEWS: Study validates the very definition of wisdom!

wis·dom ˈwizdəm noun the quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment

Experience and knowledge will vary greatly from person to person, and situation to situation. The good judgment part plays in cognitive processes, so perhaps those are the stabilizing forces. They did a good job of proving simple assumptions aren't worth much.

"The researchers found that there was considerable variation in how much wisdom people showed from one situation to the next."

It sounds to me that the study's questions likely rely on a very specific understanding of what wisdom is. Whoever wrote those questions must be very wise indeed! (sarcasm)

What I got out of this was that our intellectual state is more variable than we think.

This is why I wholeheartedly embrace procrastinating your way to success. Given that you are procrastinating with something in the top ten priorities.

    The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.

-- Plutarch

Those animated GIFs in the right column are annoying and distract me from the content. You'd think psychologists would know better.

I'm wise enough to know

"(average age 27) "

Is enough to stop reading the article.