Wise people generally share an optimism that life's problems can be solved and experience a certain amount of calm in facing difficult decisions. Intelligence may be necessary for wisdom, but it definitely isn't sufficient; an ability to see the big picture, a sense of proportion, intellectual humility, and considerable introspection also contribute to its development.

Wisdom can be acquired only through experience, but by itself, experience does not automatically confer wisdom. Researchers are continuing to probe the social, emotional, and cognitive processes that transmute experience into wisdom.