Page 52 - JCBP-1-2

Journal of Clinical and
Basic Psychosomatics Wisdom in mentally ill and healthy

Table 1. Twelve wisdom capacities according to the 12-WD Wisdom Scale, based on the integrative wisdom model by Linden
et al., 2019 [10]
View of the world (1). Factual and procedural knowledge: General and specific knowledge about problems, what constitutes problems,
and the possibilities of solving them
(2). Contextualism: Knowledge about the temporal and situational character of problems and the numerous
conditions in which life is embedded
(3). Value relativism: Knowledge of the diversity of values and life goals and the need to look at other people within
their value system without losing sight of one’s own values
View of other people (4). Change of perspective: The ability to describe a problem from the perspective of other people
(5). Empathy: The ability to understand and feel the emotional experience of another person.
View of one’s own person (6). Relativization of problems and aspirations: The ability to be humble and to accept that one’s problems may not be
that important compared to many problems in the world
(7). Self-relativization: The ability to accept that one is not always the most important individual and that most things
do not follow one’s will or are not aligned with one’s interests.
(8). Self-distancing: The ability to recognize and understand the perception and evaluation of oneself from the
perspective of other people
View of one’s own (9). Perception and acceptance of emotions: The ability to recognize and accept one’s own emotions
emotional experience (10). Emotional serenity and humor: The ability to be emotionally balanced, to control one’s own emotions depending
on the situation, and to view oneself and one’s own difficulties with humor
View to the future (11). Tolerance of uncertainty: Knowledge and acceptance of the fact that future developments can never be reliably
predicted or controlled
(12). Sustainability: Knowledge of short- and long-term consequences, which can contradict each other

to the above definition and assessment questions. All of kind, which was lower than the general prevalence of acute
them fulfilled the criteria of common mental disorders mental disorders and slightly lower than the prevalence
[25]
according to the structured diagnostic mini interview . of chronic mental health problems in primary care ,
[21]
[21]
Since mental health problems are usually chronic and which was higher than that in the general population.
recur over the life span, with relapses or even continuous The majority of participants with chronic mental
problems [21,22,24] , a separate assessment for acute mental disorders were female (65% women in the chronic mental
health problems was of no use in this study. Of interest is health problem group, as compared to 49% in the mentally
whether someone is repeatedly confronted with mental healthy; Table 2), concurring with the previously reported
health problems that mentally impair them in their daily life. data [25,26] . Potential influence of psychosocial factors
(femininity and masculinity), brain structures, genetic
2.4. Statistical analysis
factors, and fluctuations in sexual hormones are regarded
Descriptive data were calculated (mean values, standard as multifactorial causes of more frequent and qualitatively
deviations, and frequencies), and people with and without different mental disorders in women [27,28] . People with
chronic mental health problems were compared by χ test chronic mental health problems were often unemployed
2
or t-test. All analyses were performed using SPSS. (63%, as compared to 42% in mentally healthy), which is
consistent with published data . Very often, they also had
[29]
2.5. Participants
lower income (61.7% below 1500 €/$/month). There were
In 2021, 2509 people from the general population in no differences between people with and without chronic
Germany were surveyed, from which 2505 provided mental health problems in terms of age, size of town in
complete data on the 12-WD Wisdom Scale. Data collection which they were living, and percentage of persons affiliated
was carried out by USUMA GmbH. The sample contained with religious denomination (Table 2).
49% men and 50.9% women, and three persons (0.1%)
identified themselves as diverse. In this survey, 22.5% of 3. Results
the surveyed individuals had a higher school education 3.1. Wisdom capacities in persons with and without
(12 years, i.e., Abitur/A-Levels); 95.2% were employed at the
time of survey; 59.8% had a partner; 34.3% lived in a single chronic mental health problems
household; 69.6% had religious denomination affiliation; People with chronic mental health problems had a lower
4.9% had no own income; 44.1% had a personal monthly global wisdom score as compared with the mentally
income up to 1500 €, and 51% more than 1500 €; and 13.2% healthy group (M MH = 7.00 versus M = 7.70 on scale
H
reported having chronic mental health problem of any 0 – 10, P < 0.001; Table 3). They also had lower ratings

Volume 1 Issue 2 (2023) 4 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcbp.0945