Clarifying the Content of Intellectual Humility: A Systematic Review and Integrative Framework

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Philosophy

Background:

• Intellectual humility (IH) has gained prominence as a concept relevant to political polarization, scientific credibility, and learning.
• Despite its growing importance, definitions and measures of IH lack consistent alignment within psychology and with philosophical accounts.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review empirical research on intellectual humility.
• To identify and synthesize existing definitions and measures of intellectual humility.
• To propose a novel framework for understanding and measuring intellectual humility.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a systematic review of empirical studies on intellectual humility.
• Identified and cataloged distinct definitions and measurement tools (questionnaires) of intellectual humility.
• Synthesized findings to develop a comprehensive framework.

Main Results:

• Discovered 18 distinct definitions of intellectual humility.
• Identified 20 different measures, including 16 unique questionnaires.
• Synthesized this diverse information into a new conceptual framework.

Conclusions:

• The current landscape of intellectual humility research is characterized by definitional and measurement heterogeneity.
• A unified framework is proposed to enhance the clarity and consistency of intellectual humility research.
• This framework has implications for improving the measurement of intellectual humility and directing future research efforts.