ISSN 1671-3710
CN 11-4766/R

Advances in Psychological Science ›› 2020, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (11): 1880-1889.doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1042.2020.01880

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Selflessness and eudaimonia: Self-based processes of wisdom

WEI Xindong, WANG Fengyan   

  1. Institute of Moral Education Research, Nanjing Normal University; School of Psychology, Nanjing Normal University; Nanjing 210097, China
  • Received:2019-12-27 Online:2020-11-15 Published:2020-10-27

Abstract: Wise people are both selfless and eudaemonic. Research adopting the social-ecological approach has found individual’s ability to reason wisely across interpersonal and societal conflicts can be fostered by ego-decentering mindset, while research grounded in the person-centric approach has demonstrated the positive relation between wisdom and eudaimonia. Based on the integration of the two approaches, a model of self-based processes of wisdom was proposed. This model is characterized by a self-reinforcing circle. More specifically, selflessness boosts practical wisdom in daily life, which will bring the state of eudaimonia. In turn, this state of mind linked with eudaimonia will reinforce the selflessness. Lastly, the influence of different types of self across cultures and dynamic relationship between eudaimonia and wisdom are needed to be further investigated.

Key words: wisdom, self, eudaimonia, selflessness, wise reasoning

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