Independence of intellect and ego relates to increased subjective well-being and decreased psychopathology

Abstract

The link between intellectual humility and well-being, especially across multiple outcomes of mental health, remains mostly unexplored. Intellectual humility involves an accurate understanding of the limitations and imperfections of one's knowledge and cognitive capabilities during the acquisition of new information. Being intellectually humble enables individuals to not feel threatened in the face of disagreements and leads to an openness in learning about alternative viewpoints. We investigated the relationship between intellectual humility and well-being in an exploratory study and a pre-registered replication (total N = 898). Results indicated that intellectual humility relates to higher meaning in life and flourishing, and lower levels of anxiety, depression, and psychological distress. Independence of Intellect and Ego, a key component of intellectual humility that captures the healthy separation between one's cognitive abilities and identity, appears to be the primary driver of these associations. Finally, these associations were robust to controlling for other factors (such as trait levels of agreeableness and modesty), indicating a consistent association between specific components of intellectual humility and positive and negative mental health outcomes.