Words from the Wise: A Qualitative and Quantitative Study of Nominated Exemplars of Wisdom by Drew Krafcik. Recently completed dissertation study, involving the use of an extensive array of quantitative and qualitative assessment tools to determine the personal qualities of exemplars of wisdom. The study found, among other things, that exemplars of wisdom “are humble, spiritual, mindful, insightful, tell the truth, and are open to experiences. They have meaningful, long-term relationships with mentors and loved ones. Exemplars are deeply influential in the lives of others and have very high life satisfaction.”

Wisdom in the Twenty-First Century: A Theory of Psycho-Social Evolution. In this article Tom Lombardo presents a theory of wisdom based on historical traditions, recent psychological research, and philosophical thinking while exploring a variety of important trends and futurist themes. (PDF format)

ANS: The Journal for Neurocognitive Research. Both wisdom and folly are rooted in brain function, and this journal focuses on the brain/mind relationship. The Journal's Open Access Policy means that all of its articles are available in full-text form for viewing and downloading.

Overview of Prior Research on Wisdom is a brief but informative excerpt from an article by University of Virginia professor David Mick.

The Wisdom Development Scale: Further Validity Investigations is the latest report from Jeffrey A. Greene and Scott C Brown on their effort to formulate a rigorously tested, effective measure of wisdom. (PDF)

Wisdom-Guided Business Management is a research focus of David Rooney, Senior Lecturer in the UQ Business School at the University of Queensland.

Wisdom Research Network "is an international networking utility that enables scholars and scientists from all academic disciplines to exchange ideas and engage in richer conversations through online discussion forums."

Would The Wisdom Page be Useful in Your Research? Exploring the potential of the Internet and Wisdom Page for recruiting and communicating with research subjects.

The Scientific Approach to Wisdom, a doctoral dissertation by Richard Trowbridge. This is the complete dissertation in Microsoft Word format — a comprehensive review of the scholarly research on wisdom from 1980 to 2005, and a useful overview of the history of wisdom.

Education: From Conception to Graduation – A Systematic Integral Approach, a doctoral dissertation by Anne Adams concerning education for wisdom — integral education — education that purposefully develops and integrates the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual intelligences.

Empirical Research on Wisdom is a section of Richard Trowbridge's Wisdom-Centered Life website in which he presents a concise summary of the scholarly research on wisdom since 1980.

University of Chicago's "Defining Wisdom" Project  is "a $2 million research program on the nature and benefits of Wisdom." Up to 20 research grants will be awarded to scholars from around the world.

Some Online Articles and Academic Papers Related to Wisdom. An eclectic assortment of articles and papers just a click away. 

Chronology of Wisdom Literature in the West is a perfect resource for anyone interested in exploring the history of the concept of wisdom. It's part of Richard Trowbridge's Wisdom-Centered Life website.

Working Bibliography of wisdom resources prepared by Richard Trowbridge. Contains references to more than 800 works, some available on the Internet.

Wisdom links and resources includes the bibliography associated with the doctoral dissertation of Elle Allison.

Learning Across the Campus: How College Facilitates the Development of Wisdom  A paper by Scott C. Brown that explores this important issue. (In Acrobat .pdf format.)

The Wisdom Development Scale: Translating the Conceptual to the Concrete  Here, Scott C. Brown and Jeffrey A. Greene detail their efforts to develop a valid and reliable Wisdom Development Scale — a scale to measure the wisdom construct described in Scott Brown's paper above. (In Acrobat .pdf format.)

Clicking on one of the names below will take you to information about that researcher, and links to relevant documents. In the future, more names will be added.

Anne Adams    Monika Ardelt   Paul B. Baltes     Caroline Bassett     Susan Bluck    

Alan Briskin     Scott C. Brown     Robert Kenny     Jason Merchey     David Mick

Monisha Pasupathi      George Por     David Rooney       Ursula M. Staudinger      

Robert J. Sternberg       Masami Takahashi     Richard H. Trowbridge