The Wise Judgment Consortium brings together an international team of researchers to examine how culture shapes our decision-making. Our interdisciplinary approach combines psychology, natural language processing/LLMs, computational modelling, and psychometrics to uncover the complex ways in which cultural, ecological, and situational factors influence the decisions we make every day.


Methodology

Our research explores how different cultures approach complex decision-making by focusing on real-world scenarios that require wisdom. We follow a three-step process:

Understanding Common Challenges

We start by identifying the most common and unique situations that people face across various cultures, such as moral dilemmas, personal decisions, and interpersonal conflicts. This helps us understand the context in which wisdom is needed.

Exploring Wise Decision-Making

Next, we gather insights from people around the world on the strategies they consider wise in these situations. Through surveys and interviews, we explore how different cultures define and apply wisdom in their decision-making processes.

Modelling and Testing

Finally, we develop models to understand why certain strategies work well in specific situations and how these strategies can be adapted to different cultural contexts. This allows us to predict the effectiveness of various approaches and offer practical tools for better decision-making.

By combining insights from diverse cultures and advanced modeling techniques, our research aims to redefine how wisdom is understood and applied in decision-making across the globe.

Resources and Readings

  • Grossmann, I., & Eibach, R. E. (2024). Metajudgment: Metatheories and Beliefs About Good Judgment Across Societies. Current Directions in Psychological Science. Link.
  • Johnson S.G.B., Bilovich A., Tuckett, D. (2023). Conviction Narrative Theory: A theory of choice under radical uncertainty. Behavioural and Brain Sciences. Link.
  • Grossmann, I., Eibach, R. P., Koyama, J., & Sahi, Q. B. (2020). Folk standards of sound judgment: Rationality versus Reasonableness. Science Advances. Link.
  • Rudnev, M., Barrett, H.C., Buckwalter, W., ...Grossmann, I. (2024). Dimensions of wisdom perception across twelve countries on five continents.  Nature Communications. Link.