Takahashi, M. & Overton, W. F. (2002). Wisdom: A culturally
inclusive developmental perspective. International Journal of Behavioral
Development, 26(3), 269-277.
ABSTRACT
This study examines cross-cultural age-related patterns of two modes of
wisdom: the analytical (i.e., Knowledge Database, Abstract Reasoning),
and the synthetic (i.e., Reflective Understanding, Emotional Empathy, and
Emotional Regulation).Sixty eight American and 68 Japanese community-dwelling
adults with equal number of middle-aged (mean age = 45.3 years) and older
adults (mean age = 70.1 years) in each group participated in the study.
The results demonstrate that across cultures older adults function at a
higher level than their middle-aged counterparts on these modes. Specific
effects of culture, within each dimension, were also found. The general
findings are discussed in terms of their contribution to a culturally inclusive
developmental perspective on wisdom.