The Architecture of Wisdom in Interpersonal Conflict: Structure and Trait, State, and Cultural Expression Across World Regions

OBJECTIVE: How do individuals across diverse cultures navigate interpersonal conflicts, and what drives variation in their use of wisdom-related strategies? METHOD: In two studies spanning eight world regions (N = 4445), we examined the factor structure of five wisdom-related strategies (Intellectual Humility, Others' Perspectives, Acknowledgement of Multiple Outcomes, Search for Compromise, Outsider's View), their individual-difference correlates, and trait-state variance. RESULTS: In Study 1 (autobiographical recall), we identified a three-factor structure-Perspectival Metacognition, Conflict Resolution, and Outsider's View-that showed approximate measurement invariance across cultures. In Study 2 (standardized scenarios), we replicated this structure and partitioned trait, state, and cultural variance. Cross-cultural differences accounted for about 4% of variance in expressed wisdom, whereas within-person variation across situations explained the largest share: People expressed less wisdom in reflections on conflicts involving trust betrayal than social rejection, an effect linked to greater emotional reactivity to betrayal. At the individual level, need for cognition and relational-interdependent self-construal showed small-to-moderate positive associations with each wisdom-related feature, whereas a sense of uniqueness was positively related to Conflict Resolution. CONCLUSIONS: Wisdom in reflections on interpersonal conflict appears organized around three metacognitive themes that replicate broadly across cultures, with situational affordances (vs. cultural or trait dispositions) accounting for most variation in its expression.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Personality
Published
2026-11-07
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.70107
Primary Topic
Forgiveness and Related Behaviors
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
NOV
article

The Architecture of Wisdom in Interpersonal Conflict: Structure and Trait, State, and Cultural Expression Across World Regions

Emanuele Fabiano, Ljiljana Pantović, Josien Reijer, Minha Lee et al.
1 links
Journal of Personality
Forgiveness and Related Behaviors
article

The Architecture of Wisdom in Interpersonal Conflict: Structure and Trait, State, and Cultural Expression Across World Regions

Emanuele Fabiano, Ljiljana Pantović, Josien Reijer, Minha Lee, Kaori Karasawa, Abdellatif Bencherifa, K. Barr, Pablo Quintanilla, Maksim Rudnev, Rukmini Bhaya Nair, Igor Grossmann, Joshua Homan, Daniel A. Wilkenfeld, Veli Mitova, Yuri Sato, Martin Kanovský, Édouard Machery, H. Clark Barrett, Júlia Halamová, Wesley Buckwalter, Jordan Kiper, Brian C. Porter, Salma Tber, Hackjin Kim, Rockwell F. Clancy, Takaaki Hashimoto, Badr Guennoun, Xiaofei Liu, Anna Dorfman, Pedro Romero, Stephen Stich, Yasuo Deguchi, Purnima Singh
article en

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: How do individuals across diverse cultures navigate interpersonal conflicts, and what drives variation in their use of wisdom-related strategies? METHOD: In two studies spanning eight world regions (N = 4445), we examined the factor structure of five wisdom-related strategies (Intellectual Humility, Others' Perspectives, Acknowledgement of Multiple Outcomes, Search for Compromise, Outsider's View), their individual-difference correlates, and trait-state variance. RESULTS: In Study 1 (autobiographical recall), we identified a three-factor structure-Perspectival Metacognition, Conflict Resolution, and Outsider's View-that showed approximate measurement invariance across cultures. In Study 2 (standardized scenarios), we replicated this structure and partitioned trait, state, and cultural variance. Cross-cultural differences accounted for about 4% of variance in expressed wisdom, whereas within-person variation across situations explained the largest share: People expressed less wisdom in reflections on conflicts involving trust betrayal than social rejection, an effect linked to greater emotional reactivity to betrayal. At the individual level, need for cognition and relational-interdependent self-construal showed small-to-moderate positive associations with each wisdom-related feature, whereas a sense of uniqueness was positively related to Conflict Resolution. CONCLUSIONS: Wisdom in reflections on interpersonal conflict appears organized around three metacognitive themes that replicate broadly across cultures, with situational affordances (vs. cultural or trait dispositions) accounting for most variation in its expression.

Journal of Personality
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (US), Seoul National University (KR), Bar-Ilan University (IL), University of Kansas (US), University of Waterloo (CA), Toyo University (JP), University of California, Los Angeles (US), George Mason University (US), University of Pittsburgh (US), Korea University (KR), Kyoto University (JP), University of Johannesburg (ZA), Ochanomizu University (JP), University of Alabama at Birmingham (US), Wuhan University (CN), University of Belgrade (RS), International University of Rabat (MA), Centro de Estudos Sociais (PT), Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory (RS), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PE), Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IN), Universidad San Francisco de Quito (EC), Comenius University Bratislava (SK), The University of Tokyo (JP), University of Coimbra (PT), Virginia Tech (US), Delft University of Technology (NL), University of Hassan II Casablanca (MA)
John Templeton Foundation, Templeton World Charity Foundation, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Openalex Percentile: Top 12%
Forgiveness and Related Behaviors
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.

Laika access coming soon