What Does It Mean to Be Intellectually Humble?

In his memoir The Restless Wave, the late U.S. Senator John McCain lamented the near disappearance of humility and rise of hostility for those holding opposing political beliefs in American politics: “Among its other virtues, humility makes for more productive politics. If it vanishes entirely, we will tear our society apart.”

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American individuals are increasingly sorting themselves into echo chambers that are largely insulated from potential dissenting voices. In partisan echo chambers, confirmatory information spreads, often rapidly; in contrast, in such chambers, disconfirming information reaches people much more slowly, and perhaps not even at all. Thus, echo chambers can be breeding grounds for confirmation bias, the tendency to favorably interpret information that supports one’s beliefs while denying, dismissing, and distorting information that does not. Confirmation bias can be harmful across settings and contribute to ideological extremism.

One construct that may be especially useful for understanding susceptibility to confirmation bias is intellectual humility. Although there are scholarly disagreements over the extent to which intellectual humility reflects primarily metacognitive (“thinking about how I think”) versus interpersonal (relational) features, most agree that intellectual humility reflects an accurate perception of the fallibility of one’s personal beliefs in conjunction with an appropriate attentiveness to one’s limitations in seeking out and evaluating information.

Nevertheless, considering where the proverbial rubber meets the road, why should we care about intellectual humility? And, importantly, are we as a field falling prey to the jangle fallacy (assuming that two nearly identical constructs are different merely because they are called different things) and measuring general humility while calling it intellectual humility?

Regarding the former question, although research on the psychological correlates of intellectual humility is in its infancy, burgeoning research indicates that intellectual humility may at least provide a partial salve to the ideological divisions pervading American society. Respect for those holding opposing views, particularly in the political domain, appears to be at a near all-time low. Hence, if intellectual humility can be leveraged to increase respect for those with opposing opinions and a willingness to update one’s beliefs when presented with compelling evidence, then it may offer one promising avenue to begin building a much-needed bridge between ideological opponents.

Regarding the latter question, it seems unlikely at this point that intellectual humility is isomorphic to general humility. Preliminary data from Davis and colleagues (2016), for instance, indicate that intellectual humility is related to constructs such as open-mindedness after controlling for general humility. Results such as these provisionally suggest that intellectual humility is separable from general humility.

Open-mindedness

Having the ability and desire to remain open to new ideas, even those we might disagree with or not personally hold, are both essential for bipartisan discussions on most topics, particularly those that are contentious. Many definitions of intellectual humility, such as the framework advanced in Krumrei-Mancuso and Rouse’s (2016) investigation, propose that open-mindedness is part-and-parcel of intellectual humility.

Porter and Schumann (2018) examined whether intellectual humility was related to openness to an opposing perspective in the face of disagreement in two samples (one comprising college students and the other comprising community members). Intellectual humility was positively related to higher levels of open-mindedness toward an opposing viewpoint, even when evaluating beliefs rated as being important to the participant.

Evaluation of Evidence

It is notoriously challenging for most if not all of us to impartially evaluate information that disconfirms our opinions. Nevertheless, a biased interpretation of evidence or even selection of information can bear significant downstream consequences for ideological extremism and hostility toward perceived outgroup members.

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In the domain of religion, for instance, Leary and colleagues (2017) found that intellectual humility was related to preferring balanced arguments surrounding the effects of religion in society compared with arguments espousing one viewpoint in isolation (e.g., pro-religion, anti-religion). These results raise the possibility that intellectual humility facilitates an appreciation for nuance and complexity, even when evaluating an opinion that is central to one’s identity.

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Moreover, Porter and Schumann (2018) examined whether intellectual humility was related to decreased selective exposure (e.g., tendency to select confirmatory as opposed to disconfirming information) in the political domain in community members. After accounting for the total number of reasons selected, intellectual humility was significantly related to selecting more disconfirming reasons to read than confirming reasons. Hence, intellectual humility may predispose individuals to seek challenging information.

Evaluating information impartially does not only necessitate a preference for complex information but an ability to sift through multiple data points and make sense of them. Studies, including Deffler and colleagues (2016) and Zmigrod et al. (2019), have investigated the relations between intellectual humility and reasoning abilities. These studies by and large indicate that intellectual humility is related to enhanced reasoning abilities, including intelligence, cognitive flexibility, and recognition memory.

Forgiveness

In addition to metacognitive features, certain interpersonal features are likely requisite to reduce polarization. One interpersonal feature that has been investigated in relation to intellectual humility is forgiveness.

Zhang et al. (2015) investigated the associations between intellectual humility and forgiveness of a religious offense in college students. Even after accounting for the effects of general humility, intellectual humility positively related to forgiveness. In addition, intellectual humility was a robust predictor of forgiveness largely irrespective of one’s level of religious commitment. In the political domain, Hodge and colleagues (2020) have also found that intellectual humility was related to higher levels of forgiveness toward a perceived political offense. These results indicate that intellectual humility may strengthen social bonds in the aftermath of conflict, a process that is arguably important in most domains characterized by ideological discord.

Parting Thoughts

Although this is by no means an exhaustive review of definitions of intellectual humility or its psychological correlates, it hopefully sheds light on the theoretical and practical import of intellectual humility. Referring to the earlier question of why should we care about intellectual humility, a rapidly growing body of literature suggests that intellectual humility may decrease polarization and facilitate positive intergroup interactions. In addition, considering McCain's sentiments concerning lack of humility in political discourse, it is becoming readily apparent that intellectual humility is sorely needed in American politics. Partisan hostility has increased, with both Republicans and Democrats perceiving those with opposing views as immoral and unintelligent. Perhaps intellectual humility, which is nearly absent in most present day political dialogue, can help mitigate partisan disdain.

Nevertheless, no research has yet examined whether intellectual humility causes reduced polarization and increased respect for those with opposing views. Hence, research using longitudinal (examining intellectual humility and polarization together over time) and/or experimental (manipulating levels of intellectual humility to investigate whether said manipulations increase or decrease polarization) designs is needed.