Journal of Research in Personality 39 (2005) 443457

www.elsevier.com/locate/jrp

Wisdom as self-transcendence: Whats love

(& individualism) got to do with it?q
Thao N. Lea,*, Michael R. Levensonb
b

a
Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, USA
Department of Human and Community Development, University of California, Davis, USA

Available online 21 August 2004

Abstract
Certain spiritual and contemplative traditions (e.g., Mahayana Buddhism, and Susm) suggest that love or compassion may be one path toward wisdom. Fromm (1956) argued that certain cultures, particularly capitalistic ones, hinder productive and mature forms of love, and
thus perhaps wisdom. In the rst study, 90 Southeast Asian, Russian/Slavic, and Tibetan community participants completed a survey containing measures of cultural syndromes, immature
love, and self-transcendence, an aspect of wisdom. The second study collected similar data on
164 undergraduate students. The results of these two studies revealed that one cultural syndrome, vertical individualism, was negatively associated with self-transcendence and positively
with immature love. An egalitarian cultural stance was also related to self-transcendence
among college students. The results did not support a mediating role for immature love
between vertical individualism and self-transcendence. Future studies, particularly longitudinal ones, are needed to establish the causal or reciprocal relationships among culture, love,
and self-transcendence.
2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Self-transcendence; Culture; Individualism; Love; Wisdom

q
The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Kim Le and Iris Lopez for their help in data
collection, and Carolyn Aldwin and the anonymous reviewers for their editorial insights.
*
Corresponding author. Fax: 1-530-752-2087.
E-mail address: tile@ucdavis.edu (T.N. Le).

0092-6566/$ - see front matter 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jrp.2004.05.003

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T.N. Le, M.R. Levenson / Journal of Research in Personality 39 (2005) 443457

1. Introduction
Following the contributions of Clayton and Birren (1980) and a collection of
theoretical papers edited by Sternberg (1990), wisdom has emerged as an important theme in the study of adult development. Baltes and his colleagues have conceptualized wisdom as expertise in the fundamental pragmatics of life, involving
life-span contextualism, relativistic thinking, and comfort with uncertainty, as well
as factual and procedural knowledge (Baltes & Smith, 1990; Baltes & Staudinger,
2000). Consistent with the critique of this approach by Chandler and Holliday
(1990), Levenson, Jennings, Le, and Aldwin (2002) oered an alternative and
complementary conceptualization of wisdom as a developmental process involving
self-transcendence. Self-transcendence refers to the ability to move beyond selfcentered consciousness, and to see things as they are with clear awareness of human nature and human problems, and with a considerable measure of freedom
from biological and social conditioning (Habermans, 1970; Levenson, Aldwin,
& Cupertino, 2001; Levenson & Crumpler, 1996). This ability to move beyond
a self-centered perspective is certainly an important component of wisdom.
Consistent with this idea, Pascual-Leons (1990) theory of wisdom suggested that
transcending the self is needed to move beyond ingrained, automatic ways of
thinking, feeling, and acting, and to connect empathetically with the experiences
of others.
Yet, what promotes wisdom as self-transcendence? We argue that two factors are
important. First, minimizing competitive individualism is an important consideration in that an exclusive focus on self and egoistic concerns may hinder the ability
to see others and experiences objectively. A second related factor is the absence of
possessiveness in love relationships (immature love). Combining Fromms view with
our own approach, we argue that immature love is inconsistent with self-transcendence. We present two dierent samples, one involving adult immigrants and the
other, university students, to explore how cultural syndromes and immature love
are related to wisdom as self-transcendence. We begin rst with a theoretical overview of wisdom as self-transcendence, and then the role of love and culture in
self-transcendence. We also explore how culture may dierentially aect love and
self-transcendence.
1.1. Wisdom as self-transcendence
One of the rst empirical studies of self-transcendence was conducted by Tornstsam (1997), involving 50 subjects aged 5297. Tornstam had observed that many of
his older respondents gave the impression of self-transcendence and he had therefore
coined the term gerotranscendence. He found that gerotranscendent individuals
were less attached to maintaining distinct boundaries and focused less on self; instead, they recognized the interdependence and interconnectedness of life, and displayed more universalistic concerns. More recently, Levenson, Jennings, Aldwin,
and Shiraishi (in press) developed the Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory (ASTI)
to tap general self-transcendence among adults.

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445

The centrality of self-transcendence to wisdom has roots in philosophical, religious,

and contemplative literature (cf., Curnow, 1999). Contemporary Western literature
has revived this idea through discussion of moral development as in Kohlbergs seventh stage in which the individual begins to question the meaningfulness of existence
as a rational being and the limits of formal operational thought to obtain the answer
(Kohlberg & Ryncarz, 1990). This stage, he suggested, requires a transcendental experience and perspective. Likewise, the ability to see through illusion through awareness
of ones own cognitive biases has been advanced as a cornerstone in the development
of wisdom (McKee & Barber, 1999). They argue that overcoming cognitive limitations
is not exclusively the province of childhood but involves a lifelong process of overcoming limited conceptions and understandings. Levenson et al. (2001) and Levenson
et al. (2002) have argued that the process of seeing through illusion ultimately leads
to recognizing the familiar self as illusory, consistent with the teachings of contemplative systems such as Buddhism and Advaita Vedanta (cf., Curnow, 1999).
Regardless of how wisdom is conceptualized, the process of its development must
be addressed. Baltes and Staudinger (2000) have argued that certain professions
involving leadership or psychotherapeutic counseling facilitate wisdom. Helson
and Srivastava (2002) found that the personality trait openness to experience interacted with psychospiritual professions in facilitating transcendent wisdom. Aldwin
and Levenson (2001) reviewed evidence that stressful life events can be a context
for the development of wisdom as these events may challenge existing conceptions
of oneself. However, surprisingly little attention has been given to the role of interpersonal dynamics, especially love and compassion, in the development of wisdom.
1.2. Role of love
Taranto (1989) suggested that intuition and compassion may facilitate wisdom by
providing dierent ways of experiencing self and others. In their study of the lived
experience of wisdom, Montgomery, Barber, and McKee (2002) suggested that wisdom develops in compassionate relationships with others. As one of their respondents remarked, wisdom is in relationships (Montgomery et al., 2002, p.153).
Love has been conceptualized in many ways, such as attachment styles (Shaver,
Hazan, & Bradshaw, 1988), love styles (Lee, 1988), and love orientation (Fromm,
1956, 1976; Maslow, 1968). Fromm (1956, 1976), for instance, distinguished between
mature (being) and immature (having) love. Specically, the relationship between
love, self, and possibly, wisdom, has been discussed by Fromm (1976) in terms of overcoming narcissism. Specically, according to Fromm, the main condition for the
achievement of mature love is the overcoming of ones narcissism. Narcissism refers
to experiencing ones own desires and concerns as real or signicant, while the wishes
and concerns of others have no signicance in themselves, but are experienced only
from the viewpoint of their utility. By overcoming narcissism, Fromm argued, one
is able to engage in productive, mature love by seeing people and things as they are.
Mature and immature love, we argue, is related to wisdom as self-transcendence
for at least three, distinct reasons. First, in immature love, there is more grasping,
possessing and clinging to the other person as others are regarded as objects to fulll

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ones sense of lack (e.g., Loy, 2002). In mature love, on the other hand, others are
appreciated and regarded for who they rather than for what needs that they can fulll. Maslow (1970) reported that self-actualizers not only regard love as an end in
itself but also report experiencing greater satisfaction with their own love relationships. In their study of attributes selected as descriptive of wise persons, Holliday
and Chandler (1986) found that interpersonal indicators such as kindness, compassion, and fairness were ones that were most frequently chosen.
A second argument for a relationship between love and self-transcendence is that
mature love puts the needs of others before ones own thus facilitating detachment
from self-centeredness. Aron and Westbay (1996) proposed that love fullls a basic
human motive for self-expansion by inducing this experience. Although Aron and
Westbay (1996) only contended that expansion of self-boundaries is pleasurable
and therefore instrumental for fulllment of needs, philosophical and spiritual traditions have also argued that self-expansion leads to self-transcendence through a
radical awareness that provides a dierent orientation by experiencing diminished
self-centeredness. In Bhakti Yoga, Susm, and Christian devotional practice, powerful concentrated love for the divinity is said to open the practitioner to a love that is
both intense and impartial.
Finally, some theorists propose that growth and development can most eectively
unfold through interpersonal dynamics (e.g., Wink & Helson, 1997). In oering challenges, relationships may lead one to question old ways of understanding, expectations, habits, and automatic ways of responding, potentially resulting in greater
self-knowledge and wisdom. In both Tornstsams (1997) qualitative interviews with
50 adults and Ahmadis (2000) study of two Sus, one of the common wise themes
expressed by these participants was coming to accept, respect, and appreciate others
as they are. This study explores the extent to which love, specically immature love,
is related to wisdom as self transcendence.
1.3. Role of culture
An important, but largely overlooked factor in understanding how self-transcendence and love may be developed or hindered is culture. Culture provides the norms,
values, and standards that the individual uses to make meaning and give meaning to
experiences. Because culture can aect the content of the self and ego (i.e., self-conceptualization), culture is an important consideration.
Oyserman, Cooh, and Kemmelmeiers (2002) meta-analytic review suggested that
one of the dierences between European-American and Asian cultures is the cultural
syndrome of shared attitudes, norms, and values of individualism versus collectivism
(Triandis, 1995). Collectivist cultures emphasize social harmony, conformity, and
interdependence whereas individualist cultures stress uniqueness, self-reliance, and
autonomy. At the psychological level, the internalization of these cultural syndromes
can result in dierences of perceptions of self and others (e.g., Markus & Kitayama,
1991; Triandis, 1995) which may dierentially aect the development of self-transcendence and love. For instance, in more individualistic cultures, especially vertical
(competitive) individualism, there is greater focus and attention directed toward the

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447

self and self-enhancement strategies. As societies become more vertically individualistic, social commentators have noted increases in egoism, selshness, and narcissism
(Lasch, 1979). A focus on self that stresses inequality and competition (vertical individualism) would logically hamper development toward self-transcendence.
With respect to love, Dion and Dion (1991, 1996) suggested that individualism
with its focus on self, utility, and equity may make it dicult for individuals to become more intimate and loving with one another. On the other hand, some individualistic cultures such as Sweden and other Scandinavian countries, stress a self that is
unique and self-reliant without competition and inequality (Gelfand, Triandis, &
Chan, 1996). Such horizontally individualistic cultures may create fewer obstacles
to self-transcendence and mature love. Greater individual freedom to explore and
to experience may allow for greater extension and development of love, and thus perhaps self-transcendence. Maslow (1970) observed that love among self-actualizers
was related to ego transcendence, detachment, and individuality. Self-actualizers,
motivated by growth rather than by lower needs, are able to love others without
clinging and attachment. Interestingly, among self-actualizers, there appears to be
a dialectic between homonomy (unity with others) and autonomy, between ego-transcendence and individuality.
Although collectivistic cultures may not foster self-centeredness, they may be
more parochial. Collectivist cultures and interdependent individuals are more likely
to exhibit greater out-vs-in-group distinctions and express less tolerance for members
of out-groups than do individualistic cultures. Collectivistic cultures are also less
likely to be open to change and spontaneity, preferring to hold on to traditions
and rituals as a form of security. However, just as with individualistic cultures, explicit distinctions need to be made between types of collectivism. Vertically collectivist cultures are hierarchical, with conformity imposed by authority, whereas
horizontal collectivist cultures stress harmony and cooperation. Thus, with respect
to self-transcendence and love, the horizontal collectivist syndrome may be more
conducive to benevolence, universality and care, which are related to mature love
and self-transcendence, as compared to vertical collectivism which stresses authority
and hierarchy.
Finally, in discussing culture, one needs to be explicit about the levels of analysis.
For the present study, assessment of cultural syndromes takes place at the individual
level. Individual dierences are to be expected; however, such dierences include
those arising from cultural inuences. For example, a person living in an individualist culture may endorse a mixture of both individualist and collectivist syndromes.
The two studies presented here explore whether immature love has consequences
for self-transcendence as a dimension of wisdom, and whether immature love
mediates the relationship between cultural syndromes (at the individual level) and
self-transcendence. Study one focuses on a sample of Russian, Southeast Asian,
and Tibetan community adult immigrants, and study two is a replication in a sample
of university students.
Neither Baltes and Staudinger (2000) nor Levenson, Jennings, Aldwin, and Shiraishi (2003) have found a relationship between their respective wisdom constructs
and age. Tornstam (1994) found that many of his older subjects exhibited signs of

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T.N. Le, M.R. Levenson / Journal of Research in Personality 39 (2005) 443457

gerotranscendence, a construct very similar to that posited by Levenson et al. (2003);

therefore, we included age as a possible covariate in the analyses.

2. Study 1
2.1. Sample
The total sample for this study consisted of 90 participants receiving social services from a community-based organization located in Vancouver, Washington. Participants ranged in age from 25 to 75 (M = 49, SD = 13), with 45% male and 51%
female. Four percent did not specify their sex. The ethnic identication of the sample
included 50% Russian/Slavic, 43% Southeast Asian (Laotian,Vietnamese, Thai,
Mien, and Cambodian), and 7% Tibetan. The majority of participants had lived
in the US for many years (M = 14, SD = 7). The participants all resided in the same
geographical region, and although no socioeconomic information was collected, it
appears that they would not dier appreciably from one another.
2.2. Procedure
Individuals who could speak at least conversational English were invited to participate in the study called Culture and Character Orientation. They were informed that their participation was completely voluntary, and that their answers
would be kept condential and anonymous. Participants were administered the survey in a face-to-face interview that took about 30 min to complete.
2.3. Measures
1. Demographics. Demographic information included age, sex, ethnic background,
and years living in the US.
2. Cultural Syndromes. IndividualismCollectivism (INDCOL, Singelis, Triandis,
Bhawuk, & Gelfand, 1995). This 32-item scale has four subscales to evaluate each
of the four cultural orientations. The horizontal individualism (HI) scale emphasizes a view of the self as autonomous from others while underscoring equality
(e.g., I often do my own things). The vertical individualism (VI) scale emphasizes the view of self as autonomous and unique while underscoring inequality,
competition, and status (e.g., competition is the law of nature). The Vertical
collectivism (VC) scale stresses the belongingness to a collective and acceptance
of inequality (e.g., I respect the majoritys wishes in groups of which I am a member) and the horizontal collectivism (HC) scale emphasizes the importance of
perceiving the self as being part of a group while stressing equality (e.g., I feel
good when I cooperate with others). All items are answered on a 10-point scale
ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 10 (strongly agree). Reliability values are in
the .67 to .74 range (Singelis et al., 1995). In these two samples, Cronbachs a reliability ranged from .67 (horizontal collectivism) to .78 (vertical individualism).

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449

3. Self-transcendence. Adult Self-Transcendence Inventory (ASTI; Levenson et al.,

in press). This 10-item scale reects the degree of self-transcendence, which they
argued, is the culminating point in the development of wisdom (see Appendix
A). Participants are asked the extent to which they agree with each item, compared to ve years ago, using a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (disagree
strongly) to 4 (agree strongly). Cronbachs a reliability was .73 in these two samples. As evidence of its construct validity, ASTI was negatively correlated with
neuroticism, and positively correlated with openness, agreeableness, conscientious, and extraversion, albeit modestly. ASTI was also positively correlated with
mediation practice. Cronbachs a reliability was .73 in the two samples.
4. Love. Immature Love (Le, in press). This 4-item true/false version of the scale
reects the love orientation dened as immature love based on the theoretical
underpinnings of Fromm (1956, 1976), Maslow (1968, 1970), and Loy (2002).
Immature love was clearly identied in a principal factor analysis and replicated
in a separate sample (Le, in press). Items for immature love are included in
Appendix B. Cronbachs a coecient of .55 was found for immature love which
is less than ideal but reasonable given that scale with fewer than ve items tend
to produce reliability statistics under .60 (Nunnally & Berstein, 1994).

2.4. Results
We tested the three ethnic groups on the independent variables of age, years living
in the US, individualismcollectivism, and love orientation by using one-way analyses
of variance (ANOVAs) and Schee post hoc tests. The analyses indicated that there
were no signicant dierences on these independent variables except for years living in
the US. F(2, 89) = 35.2, p < .05. Specically, Southeast Asian participants had lived in
the US longer (M = 20 years, SD = 6) than Russians (M = 14 years, SD = 7) or
Tibetans (M = 12 years, SD = 7). Because there were no ethnic dierences across
our independent variables, the ethnic groups were combined in subsequent analyses.
2.4.1. Zero-order correlations
Table 1 provides the correlation matrix for the study variables. As expected,
self-transcendence correlated negatively with vertical individualism (r = .42) and
immature love (r = .45), while immature love was positively associated with vertical
individualism (r = .21). Immature love was also negatively associated with horizontal
collectivism (r = .44) and vertical collectivism (r = .24).
2.4.2. Regression analyses
Next, using multiple regression analysis, the inuence of each of the cultural syndromes was examined simultaneously on self-transcendence. The results closely reected the ndings from the zero-order correlation. The vertical individualism and
self-transcendence link remained signicant when the other cultural syndromes were
controlled for b = .45, t(86) = 3.99, p < .05. All other cultural syndromes
remained non-signicant.

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T.N. Le, M.R. Levenson / Journal of Research in Personality 39 (2005) 443457

Table 1
Zero-order correlation among main variables for Study 1 (N = 90)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Self-transcendence
Vertical individualism
Horizontal individualism
Vertical collectivism
Horizontal collectivism
Immature love
Age
Sex
*

.42*
.06
.17
.14
.46*
.19
.16

.39*
.14
.22*
.21*
.17
.32*

.29*
.09
.06
.07
.20*

.67*
.24*
.10
.20

.44*
.19
.15

.16
.23*

Mean

SD

.21

2.86
5.54
6.92
7.10
6.58
5.14
48.67
1.54

.51
1.69
1.34
1.29
1.31
1.18
12.82
.50

p < .05.

Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were then conducted to examine the relative inuences of age, sex, vertical individualism, and immature love on self-transcendence. In step one, self-transcendence was regressed on age and sex. In step
two, vertical individualism was entered to examine whether it would inuence the
criterion after controlling for the eects of age and sex. Immature love was entered
in the third step to examine the inuence of love controlling for socio-demographic
and psycho-cultural variables.
Results for self-transcendence are shown in Table 2. Sex and age were non-significant predictors of self-transcendence. In the second step, the addition of vertical
individualism contributed a signicant amount of unique variance (15%) to self-transcendence and was a signicant predictor itself, b = .40, t(87) = 3.74, p < .05. The
addition of immature love in the third step also contributed a signicant amount of
unique variance (15%) to self-transcendence. Specically, immature love was negatively associated with self-transcendence, b = .39, t(86) = 4.11, p < .05. Vertical
individualism, however, remained signicant suggesting no mediation. The overall
Table 2
Results of hierarchical multiple regressions predicting self-transcendence, Study 1
Variable

SE

R2 change

Step 1
Age
Sex

.10
.14

.00
.11

.16
.14

Step 2
Age
Sex
Vertical individualism

.00
.03
.12

.00
.11
.03

Step 3
Age
Sex
Vertical individualism
Immature love

.00
.03
.11
.17

.00
.10
.03
.04

Note. N = 90. Total R2 = .35, F(4, 85) = 9.91, p < .05.

*
p < .05.

F change

.05

2.09

.11
.03
.40*

.15

16.85*

.07
.03
.36*
.39*

.15

15.00*

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451

model was signicant, F(4, 85) = 9.91, p < .05 accounting for 35% of the variance in
self-transcendence.
2.5. Discussion
The results of Study 1 indicated that both vertical individualism and immature
love were negatively associated with self-transcendence. As we argued earlier, vertical individualism may hinder self-transcendence, due to its focus on dening the self
as being separate, unique, and distinct from others, and its emphasis on competition
and inequality. Immature love is also antithetical to self-transcendence due to its selfother aective orientation. Others are regarded as means to fulll ones needs which
prevents an expansion and radically dierent experience of the self. There was, however, no support for immature love as a mediator between the vertical individualismself-transcendence link.

3. Study 2: Replication in student sample

3.1. Sample
A total of 164 undergraduate students (124 female, 40 male) at the University of
California, Davis completed a survey as partial fulllment of an introductory psychology course. Ethnic background included European American (35%), Asian
(38%), Hispanic (13%), and Other (14%). The mean age was 20 (SD = 3.2).
3.2. Procedure
Students completed the survey at a scheduled appointment and received credit toward an undergraduate psychology course for their participation.
3.3. Measures
Measures were the same as reported in Study 1.
3.4. Results
3.4.1. Zero-order correlations
Table 3 provides the correlation matrix for the study variables for this student
sample. Similar to the ndings of Study 1, self-transcendence was negatively related
to vertical individualism (r = .25) and immature love (r = .26), but also positively
related to horizontal individualism (r = .25), vertical collectivism (r = .24), and
horizontal collectivism (r = .33). Immature love was positively correlated with
vertical individualism (r = .35) and negatively correlated with horizontal
collectivism (r = .16). Age (r = .19) was also positively associated with selftranscendence.

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T.N. Le, M.R. Levenson / Journal of Research in Personality 39 (2005) 443457

Table 3
Zero-order correlation among main variables for Study 2 (N = 164)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Self-transcendence
Vertical individualism
Horizontal individualism
Vertical collectivism
Horizontal collectivism
Immature love
Age
Sex
*

.25*
.25*
.24*
.33*
.26*
.19*
.07

.03
.23*
.05
.35*
.07
.24*

.22*
.20*
.06
.02
.04

.53*
.05
.07
.18*

.16*
.05
.05

.09
.08

Mean

SD

.21*

2.89
5.34
7.97
7.18
7.45
4.86
20.24
1.76

.43
1.21
1.21
1.06
1.04
1.08
3.10
.43

p < .05.

3.4.2. Regression analysis

The inuence of each of the cultural syndromes was examined simultaneously on
self-transcendence using multiple regression analysis. Similar to the ndings from the
zero-order correlation, all of the cultural syndromes were signicantly associated
with self-transcendence except vertical collectivism. Specically, vertical individualism was negatively related to self-transcendence, b = .29, t(160) = 4.02, p < .05,
while horizontal individualism, b = .20, t(160) = 2.88, p < .05 and horizontal collectivism, b = .29, t(160) = 4.14, p < .05 were positively related to self-transcendence.
Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were then conducted to examine the relative inuences of age, sex, cultural syndromes, and immature love on self-transcendence. The results are presented in Table 4. In step one, self-transcendence was
regressed on age and sex of which age was signicant. In step two, the three cultural
Table 4
Results of hierarchical multiple regressions predicting self-transcendence, Study 2
Variable

SE

R2 change

Step 1
Age
Sex

.03
.05

.01
.08

.19*
.05

Step 2
Age
Sex
Vertical individualism
Horizontal individualism
Horizontal collectivism

.02
.10
.10
.07
.12

.01
.07
.03
.03
.03

.15*
.10
.28*
.20*
.29*

Step 3
Age
Sex
Vertical individualism
Horizontal individualism
Horizontal collectivism
Immature love

.02
.10
.09
.07
.12
.48

.01
.07
.03
.03
.03
.23

.13
.10
.24*
.21*
.26*
.15*

Note. N = 164. Total R2 = .28, F(6, 157) = 9.72, p < .05.

*
p < .05.

F change

.04

3.18*

.22

14.00*

.02

3.33*

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453

syndromes that were signicant predictors of self-transcendence were entered to

examine whether they would inuence the criterion after controlling for the eects
of demographics. Indeed, all three were signicant predictors and accounted for
an additional 22% of unique variance. Immature love was then entered as the nal
step to examine the inuence of love controlling for socio-demographic and psychological cultural variables. The addition of immature love provided unique variance
(2%) to self-transcendence. Specically, immature love was negatively associated
with self-transcendence, b = .15, t(158) = 1.98, p < .05. Cultural syndromes also
remained signicant suggesting no mediation. The overall model was signicant,
F(6, 156) = 9.72, p < .05, accounting for 28% of the variance in self-transcendence.
3.5. Discussion
The ndings of Study 2 replicated that of Study 1, particularly the negative association among vertical individualism, immature love, and self-transcendence. Both
cultural syndromes and immature love accounted for unique variance in self-transcendence. However, unlike Study 1, the data also indicated that an egalitarian
stance, specically horizontal individualism and horizontal collectivism, was signicantly related to self-transcendence. Age was also signicant in this student sample.
Note that although the correlation between age and self-transcendence in the community sample was exactly the same as in this student sample (.19), it was only a
trend in the community sample. The lack of signicance in the community sample
could be attributed to its smaller sample size.
Both results highlight the need to explore the consequences of culture and love in
the development of self-transcendence.

4. General discussion
From the perspective of wisdom as self-transcendence (Levenson et al., in press),
wisdom entails exceptional understanding and self-transcendence. Self-transcendence involves moving beyond egoism and self-centeredness to embrace universal
concerns and ethics, as well as the ability to perceive events and persons more clearly,
accurately, and impartially, without personal distortions and biases. Orwoll and
Perlmutter (1990), for instance, identied exceptional self-development and self-transcendence as indicators of wisdom. Levenson et al. (2002) argued that self-transcendence is the culminating point in the development of wisdom. The results of the
community and student samples illustrated that vertical individualism and immature
love were negative predictors of self-transcendence. Presumably, vertical individualists are more self-centered, placing an emphasis on distinguishing themselves as
unique and dierent from others through competition and achievement. This selfcentered focus reinforces ones sense of separation from others and thus becomes
an obstacle to the experiential knowledge of the self as a construction.
A contemplative tradition like Mahayana Buddhism takes the position that true
human nature is compassionate as well as competitive, but that recognition of this

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compassionate nature is a developmental task (Dalai Lama, 2002). From this perspective, the task involves eective recognition of the impermanent and interdependent nature of self, helping to uncover our compassionate nature. Hence, just as
cultures dier in the degree of support they give to contemplative practices (cf., Assmann, 1994; Ahmadi, 2000; Levenson & Crumpler, 1996; Thomas, 1991) conducive
to self-transcendence, the present study suggests that specic cultural syndromes offer greater or lesser support for this realization.
Similarly, the results of both studies showed that immature love also contributed
signicant unique variance to self-transcendence. Immature love with its focus on
possessing others may actually reinforce self-other boundaries, inconsistent with a
movement toward self-transcendence and compassion.
Aristotle suggested that emotions are not just immediate responses, but can be
cultivated, transformed, and enhanced. Although we did not nd that immature love
mediated the relationship between vertical individualism and self-transcendence, we
did nd an association between cultural syndromes and immature love in the expected directions. Specically, vertical individualism was positively associated with
immature love while a more egalitarian cultural syndrome (horizontal collectivism)
was negatively associated with immature love in both samples. Loy (2002) suggested
that as secular cultures replace religious culture worldwide, we attempt to fulll our
consequent sense of lack or feeling of ungroundness and emptiness through the
acquisition of commodities. Indeed, as the data suggest, the cultural syndrome of
vertical individualism may promote the commodication of love or immature forms
of love.
It is interesting that the relationship between egalitarian cultural syndromes and
self-transcendence was only found with the student sample and not with the adult
community sample. This suggests potential age related dierences for the role of culture. Developmentally, the inuence of culture may be more germane among young
adults whereas among older adults, life experiences and experiential understanding
may be more salient. On the other hand, this nding should be interpreted with caution because of the small sample size in the community sample. The data also revealed that compared to the adult community sample, the student sample reported
higher level means on both horizontal individualism (d = .82) and horizontal collectivism (d = .74). Future studies are needed to explore any potential dierential role of
culture in wisdom across the life-span, and any potential cohort eects.
Certainly, there are several notable limitations in these two studies. First, given
that both samples were cross-sectional in nature, we can not determine causality.
For instance, although we argue that immature love may hinder self-transcendence,
causal directionality cannot be determined. We speculate that causality is actually bidirectional in this case. As (Orwoll & Perlmutter, 1990) suggested, transcending egocentric biases can both facilitate aective development and be a consequence of it.
Self-transcenders may be more likely to be more loving, and in loving, advance their
own self-transcendence, and so forth in an ongoing cycle. Longitudinal data are
needed to address this question empirically. The second limitation relates to our
incomplete measure of love. Although immature love showed trends in the expected
direction, we need a measure of mature love or compassionate love to more directly

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455

test supporting predictors of self-transcendence. Finally, we found no signicant differences on the cultural syndromes across our ethnic groups. Matsumoto (1999) suggested that ethnic dierences (e.g., Russian vs. Asian) on the cultural syndrome
measures are less meaningful than individual level dierences. Cultural syndromes
reect individuals endorsement of cultural values, attitudes, and norms. Indeed, it
is important not to confuse ethnicity with culture. A person living in a vertical individualistic culture (e.g., US) may endorse horizontal collectivism, just as a person living in a collectivistic culture (e.g., Japan) may endorse vertical individualism. What is
perhaps more meaningful is the consistent relation among the individual level measures of immature love, self-transcendence, and cultural syndromes.
Empirical studies on wisdom thus far are limited, with even fewer studies exploring the role of culture and aect on its development. Although we were unable to
provide a denite answer to the question of whats love (& culture) got to do with
wisdom, we hope that this study will stimulate further research on these questions.

Appendix A. Adult self-transcendence inventory

We would like to know whether your view of life is dierent today than it was ve
years ago. We would appreciate your reading the statements listed below and indicating the extent to which you agree with each one.
1
Disagree
Strongly

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

2
Disagree
Somewhat

3
Agree
Somewhat

4
Agree
Strongly

My peace of mind is not so easily upset as it used to be.

Material things mean less to me.
I do not become angry as easily.
My sense of self is less dependent on other people and things.
I feel much more compassionate, even toward my enemies.
I nd more joy in life.
I am more likely to engage in quiet contemplation.
I feel a greater state of belonging with both earlier and future generations
I feel that my individual life is a part of a greater whole.
I have become less concerned about other peoples opinions of me.

Appendix B. Immature love

The following statements might be made to describe a persons attitudes, opinions, interests, and other characteristics. For each statement, decide whether it is true
for you or not. Circle true or false accordingly.

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T F 1. If my spouse or lover stops loving me, I will also stop loving him/her.
T F 2. When someone close to me does something that displeases me, I feel less
love for him/her.
T F 3. It is better to have love than to give love.
T F 4. I can love without expecting anything in return
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