Certain people just seem to embody wisdom: grandparents and teachers, the changemakers we admire from afar, the intellectuals whose ideas have influenced our own. However, given that cultures vary widely throughout the globe, it would make sense that the criteria for being deemed “wise” would as well. 

To test that hypothesis, researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario enlisted 2,650 participants on five continents to analyze their perceptions of wisdom. Interestingly, across all locations, people agreed that thinking logically and reflectively and taking others’ thoughts and feelings into consideration are what makes a person wise. 

“Understanding perceptions of wisdom around the world has implications for leadership, education, and cross-cultural communication,” Maksim Rudnev, a postdoctoral research associate in psychology at Waterloo and the study’s lead author, said in a news release. “It is the first step in understanding universal principles in how others perceive wisdom people in different contexts.” 

The team arrived at their findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, by giving participants descriptions of 10 specific individuals, including “doctor,” “politician,” and “religious person,” and asking them […]