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Social class and wise reasoning about interpersonal conflicts across regions, persons and situations

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Brienza, Justin P., Grossmann, Igor·2017·Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
DOI 10.1098/rspb.2017.1870PMC PMC5745406

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Abstract

We propose that class is inversely related to a propensity for using wise reasoning (recognizing limits of their knowledge, consider world in flux and change, acknowledges and integrate different perspectives) in interpersonal situations, contrary to established class advantage in abstract cognition. Two studies—an online survey from regions differing in economic affluence ( n = 2 145) and a representative in-lab study with stratified sampling of adults from working and middle-class backgrounds ( n = 299)—tested this proposition, indicating that higher social class consistently related to lower levels of wise reasoning across different levels of analysis, including regional and individual differences, and subjective construal of specific situations. The results held across personal and standardized hypothetical situations, across self-reported and observed wise reasoning, and when controlling for fluid and crystallized cognitive abilities. Consistent with an ecological framework, class differences in wise reasoning were specific to interpersonal (versus societal) conflicts. These findings suggest that higher social class weighs individuals down by providing the ecological constraints that undermine wise reasoning about interpersonal affairs.

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  • Daily diary and experience-sampling studies, along with cross-cultural surveys, show that people's level of intellectual humility systematically varies within and across individuals facing different ecological and situational demands.

    “Daily diary and experience- sampling studies, along with cross- cultural surveys, show that people's level of intellectual humility systematically varies within and across individuals facing different ecological and situational demands, creating opportunities for intervention 34,37,50,119 .”

    From Predictors and consequences of intellectual humility (2022) · cites this paper as [119]

    The Study 1 Methods include intellectual humility as a facet of wise reasoning, and the Discussion reports differences in wise reasoning across groups, individuals, and situations. But the paper describes an online autobiographical survey and laboratory interviews, not daily-diary, experience-sampling, or cross-cultural studies. It also does not establish changes in intellectual humility within the same individuals over time. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Brienza, J. P., & Grossmann, I.
Affiliations
University of Waterloo (CA)
Corresponding author
Grossmann, Igor
ORCID
Venue
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Publisher
The Royal Society
Published
2017-12-20
Volume
284
Issue
1869
Pages
20171870
ISSN
  • 0080-4649 (ISSN-L)
  • 0962-8452
  • 1471-2954
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2017.1870
PMC
PMC5745406
OpenAlex
W2780603846
Cited by
50
References
17
Citations by year
2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 1
FWCI
16.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
  • OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (435-2014-0685)
  • Ministry of Research and Innovation (Early Researcher Award)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
  • Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
Keywords
social class, wise reasoning, interpersonal conflict, cognitive ecology, economic affluence, regional variation, fluid and crystallized intelligence, ecological constraints
MeSH terms
Adult, Conflict, Psychological, Female, Geography, Humans, Interpersonal Relations, Male, Problem Solving, Social Class, United States, Young Adult

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