GENDER AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF WISDOM

Recent Psychological research into the realms and processes of growing wiser can be linked to gender theory and research documenting variati on in human development. Drawing on an integrative model of wisdom inc luding components in three domains (personality, cognition, and conati on) and across three levels (intrapersonal, interpersonal, and transpe rsonal), we highlight potential differences in the ways that women and men attain and express wisdom, and we initiate a search for interacti ve patterns across the components of wisdom. Although it would be prem ature to claim that men and women differ globally in wisdom, there is sufficient evidence of divergences across the sexes to warrant more sy stematic inquiry.