Toward a Better Understanding of Developmental Pathway of Cognitive Wisdom: Exploring Its Interplay with Openness, Reflectiveness, and Orientation-to-learning

Abstract

Wisdom has emerged as a critical educational objective in higher education, yet inconsistent outcomes across university programs have cast doubt on formal education’s ability to systematically cultivate wisdom—particularly in the cognitive dimension. This study investigated the dynamic relationships between key precursor factors (openness, reflectiveness, and orientation-to-learning) and wisdom scores in 305 university students enrolled in a wisdom-focused EFL program. Results demonstrated three key findings: (1) paired-samples t-tests revealed significant improvement in the judgment subdimension of cognitive wisdom; (2) structural equation modeling (SEM) identified openness and reflectiveness as foundational predictors of wisdom scores, with orientation-to-learning serving as a mediator; and (3) multi-group SEM confirmed the invariance of these relationships across gender groups. These results highlight the crucial role of creating optimal learning conditions that promote critical thinking for wisdom development, while offering practical guidance for designing gender-inclusive wisdom education programs.