Abstract

This study investigated wisdom and intelligence among three generations within families in order to highlight multidimensional and multidirectional nature of adult intellectual development. Wisdom was assessed in three ways. First, subjects rated themselves on five wisdom criteria (factual and procedural knowledge, relativism, contextualism, and uncertainty). Second, subjects were rated by two family members on these criteria. Third, a Wisdom Inventory was administered to measure adults' knowledge about uncertain life dilemmas. Significant but modest relationships among self-ratings, ratings by others, and objective performance were obtained, suggesting that they tap related but different aspects of wisdom. Wisdom was stable across generations of young adult children, middle-aged parents, and older grandparents with a slight negative trend. The older grandparent generation did not achieve the highest score on any wisdom measure. However, age was positively related to performance on the Wisdom Inventory within generations. Cohort effects favoring the younger generations may have masked age-related increases in wisdom. By contrast, fluid and crystallized intelligence showed sharp decreases across generations. Wisdom was significantly correlated between generation dyads, suggesting a possible intergenerational transmission within families.