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From Personal Striving to Positive Influence: Exploring Wisdom in Real-Life Contexts

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The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom

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Abstract

In this chapter, I define wisdom as a real-life process that is manifested when a person integrates conflicting ideas, and embodies those integrated ideas in actions that generate positive effects for oneself and others. From this perspective, I argue that wisdom involves both general and personal aspects. Personal involvement is vital for the manifestation of wisdom; successful attempts to pursue a good life for oneself and at the same time to help others live better lives are often valued as manifestations of wisdom. However, the overall effects that wisdom generates inevitably go beyond personal boundaries and affect others who benefit over the long term from wise decisions and actions. Historically, manifestations of wisdom have often pushed the boundaries of standards we use to evaluate the good life and have transformed the world we live in. Because people manifest wisdom and develop the ability to manifest wisdom in their own lives, it is important that we study wisdom in real-life contexts. I also discuss methods that can be used to study wisdom in real-life contexts, findings of some recent studies of wisdom in real-life contexts, as well as future directions for this branch of wisdom studies.

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Acknowledgement

The preparation of this chapter is partly supported by National Science Council, Taiwan under the grant numbered 97-2410-H-260-005-SS2 and 99-2410-H-260-006-MY2. I would like to thank Professor Michel Ferrari for his very helpful comments on earlier draft of this chapter. Many thanks are to Dr. Lacy Johnson, Dr. Christine Jensen, and Dr. Robert Reynolds for their invaluable editing help.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Policy and Administration, National Chi Nan University, 1 University Rd., Puli, Nantou, Taiwan

    Shih-ying Yang

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  1. Shih-ying Yang
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Correspondence to Shih-ying Yang .

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  1. OISE, Applied Psychology and Human Development, University of Toronto, Bloor Street West 252, Toronto, M5S 1V6, Ontario, Canada

    Michel Ferrari

  2. Ontario Inst. Studies in Education, Dept. Human Development &, University of Toronto, Bloor Street West 252, Toronto, M5S 1V6, Ontario, Canada

    Nicholas Weststrate

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Yang, Sy. (2013). From Personal Striving to Positive Influence: Exploring Wisdom in Real-Life Contexts. In: Ferrari, M., Weststrate, N. (eds) The Scientific Study of Personal Wisdom. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9231-1_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9231-1_6

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  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-9230-4

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