Handbook on the State of the Art in Applied Psychology

CHAPTER 19Intellectual Humility: Ten Key Questions

Scott O. Lilienfeld and Shauna M. Bowes

Department of Psychology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

Abstract

There is growing evidence that political polarization and ideological extremism are increasing causes for concern in many Western cultures. Bearing this problem in mind, intellectual humility (IH), a disposition that relates to an awareness of one’s cognitive limitations and propensity toward bias, may be a critical construct for applied psychological science. Although provisional data suggest that IH predicts openness to others’ viewpoints and a greater tolerance of differing political perspectives, a host of important questions regarding its nature and correlates remain. In this chapter, we present 10 key unresolved questions regarding IH, including those concerning its conceptualization and boundaries, measurement, malleability, cross‐cultural manifestations, implications for the propensity toward cognitive biases, and developmental antecedents. A better understanding of IH may ultimately pave the way for developing educational and psychological interventions that temper undue ideological certainty and affective polarization.

Keywords

intellectual humility, measurement, malleability, cross‐cultural manifestations, cognitive biases, developmental antecedents

Approximately 2 weeks before we put the finishing touches on this chapter, US Senator John McCain died at the age of 81. In his memoir The Restless Wave ...