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Boosting wisdom: distance from the self enhances wise reasoning, attitudes, and behavior
1Psychology Department, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1109, USA. ekross@umich.edu
Journal of Experimental Psychology. General
|July 7, 2011
Summary
Adopting a psychological distance perspective improves wise reasoning and cooperation on personal issues. This approach fosters intellectual humility and willingness to engage in bipartisan groups, enhancing decision-making.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Decision Science
Background:
- Humans often struggle with wise reasoning on personally significant matters.
- Personal involvement can impede objective and balanced judgment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if psychological distance enhances wise reasoning, attitudes, and behavior.
- To explore methods for improving decision-making in personally consequential situations.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using personally meaningful scenarios.
- Participants were cued to adopt a distanced perspective when reasoning about issues.
- Wise reasoning, attitudes, and behaviors were measured.
Main Results:
- Cueing psychological distance enhanced wise reasoning, including dialecticism and intellectual humility.
- Distanced reasoning led to more cooperation-related attitude assimilation.
- Participants showed increased willingness to join bipartisan groups.
Conclusions:
- Psychological distance is a viable strategy to improve wise reasoning and promote cooperation.
- This perspective can mitigate biases in personal decision-making.
- Findings have implications for conflict resolution and intergroup relations.
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