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This handbook introduces the concept of transformational wisdom as the missing component to build a more sustainable future and address the world’s most pressing challenges. Drawing on Sternberg’s work on transformational creativity and transformational giftedness, this timely collection brings together contributions from leading scholars in wisdom as well as creativity research to challenge the traditional Western skill- and knowledge-based education systems and help build a new social conscience that fosters resilience, equity, and systemic change. Chapters investigate topics such as virtue-based thinking, ethical frameworks, sustainability, omniculturalism, and the role of wisdom in leadership, education, and social justice.
Closing an ideal trilogy started with The Palgrave Handbook of Transformational Giftedness for Education (Palgrave, 2022) and Transformational Creativity: Learning for a Better Future (Palgrave, 2024), this groundbreaking collection asks how transformational wisdom can be exercised to create a more sustainable world and tackle global societal issues like climate change, pollution, poverty, war, violence, ideological polarization, and the spread of dictatorships. It provides a comprehensive reference for understanding and cultivating transformational wisdom across disciplines, making it essential reading for scholars and students in psychology (developmental, social, cognitive, educational, clinical), education, philosophy, political science, and leadership studies. It will also benefit researchers and practitioners interested in ethics, sustainability, intercultural competence, and the application of wisdom to global problems.
Robert J. Sternberg
is Professor of Psychology at Cornell University, USA, and Honorary Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University, Germany. He is Past President of the American Psychological Association and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, he was cited in an APA Monitor on Psychology report as one of the top 100 psychologists of the 20th century. ScholarGPS ranked him #2 in 2025 among psychologists around the world for contributions to the field of psychology.
Arezoo Soleimani Dashtaki
is a PhD student of Human Development at Cornell University, USA.
List of contents
I:- FOUNDATIONS OF TRANSFORMATIONAL WISDOM.-
1.- Introduction: What Is Transformational Wisdom and Why Is It Important in Today's World?- 2.- Ethical Launching Pads and Sinkholes: An Exploration Of 21st-Century Phenomena That Influence the Emergence of Transformational Wisdom.- 3.- Socratic gadflies and transformational wisdom.- I
I.- THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL WISDOM.-
4.- Successes and challenges of teaching transformational wisdom in a university class.- 5.- Educating for wise leadership in business school.- 6.- Transformative Self-authorship through Education for Wisdom.- 7.- Creative preservation as a practice of transformational wisdom.- 8.- Enhancing Transformational Wisdom by Integrating Indigenous Ecological Wisdom: Lessons from Indigenous Peoples.- 9.- The Wise Institute.-
III.- TRANSFORMATIONAL WISDOM IN ACTION.-
10.- Fostering Transformational Wisdom: A Call for Interventions Beyond Short-Term Individual Wisdom “Boosts”.- 11.- Wisdom, a Transformational Framework for Dealing with Socially Complex Macro Problems.- 12.- Revisiting Leadership Models: The Role of Wisdom and Context in Transformational and Ethical Leadership.- 13.- Transformational wisdom and social intelligence in Western liberal democracies.- 14.- Don’t We Say Gay: The Necessity of Inclusive Books and Curricula for Sustaining LGBTQ+ Cultures, Histories, and Lives.- 15.- Wisdom and Sustainability: Wisdom Displayed through Regional Revitalization in Taiwan.- 16.- What Do We Need to Do to Create a Better World?- 17.- Political Wisdom in a Time of Dysfunction.- 18.- Transformational Wisdom for Equitable Resilience in a Changing Climate.- 19.- Why Transformational. Wisdom? Because the World Is Running out of Time.-
IV.- CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON TRANSFORMATIONAL WISDOM.-
20.- Celebrating Human Similarities: Omniculturalism as Transformative Wisdom.- 21.- Cross-cultural inquiries into the transformational wisdom of wise organizations and wise leaders.- 22.- Transformative Purpose as an Expression of Wisdom.- 23.- Cultivating Concern: Advancing Sustainability through Transformational Wisdom.-
V.- TRANSFORMATIONAL WISDOM AND OTHER PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTS.-
24.- Caring Through and For Transformational Wisdom: A Focus on Compassion and Forgiveness.- 25.- Can Self-Transcendence Have a Transformational Impact on Individual and Community Resilience?- 26.- How Can Good Thinkers Make a Better World?- 27.- The role of intellectual humility for transformational wisdom.- 28.- Creativity Compass: Fostering Creative and Multicultural Competencies towards Transformational Wisdom.- 29.- Conclusion and Future Implications.
About the author
Robert J. Sternberg
is Professor of Psychology at Cornell University, USA, and Honorary Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University, Germany. Past President of the American Psychological Association and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, he was cited in an APA Monitor on Psychology report as one of the top 100 psychologists of the 20th century.
Arezoo Soleimani Dashtaki
is a PhD student of Human Development at Cornell University, USA.
Summary
This handbook introduces the concept of transformational wisdom as the missing component to build a more sustainable future and address the world’s most pressing challenges. Drawing on Sternberg’s work on transformational creativity and transformational giftedness, this timely collection brings together contributions from leading scholars in wisdom as well as creativity research to challenge the traditional Western skill- and knowledge-based education systems and help build a new social conscience that fosters resilience, equity, and systemic change. Chapters investigate topics such as virtue-based thinking, ethical frameworks, sustainability, omniculturalism, and the role of wisdom in leadership, education, and social justice.
Closing an ideal trilogy started with The Palgrave Handbook of Transformational Giftedness for Education (Palgrave, 2022) and Transformational Creativity: Learning for a Better Future (Palgrave, 2024), this groundbreaking collection asks how transformational wisdom can be exercised to create a more sustainable world and tackle global societal issues like climate change, pollution, poverty, war, violence, ideological polarization, and the spread of dictatorships. It provides a comprehensive reference for understanding and cultivating transformational wisdom across disciplines, making it essential reading for scholars and students in psychology (developmental, social, cognitive, educational, clinical), education, philosophy, political science, and leadership studies. It will also benefit researchers and practitioners interested in ethics, sustainability, intercultural competence, and the application of wisdom to global problems.
