This longitudinal study investigates the structure, developmental trends, and well-being implications of values among Chinese adolescents – a large, culturally distinctive population undergoing rapid social change. We conducted a large-scale, two-wave longitudinal study (Wave 1: N = 69,115; M = 12.74 ± 2.25 years; 49.84% girls; Wave 2: N = 45,762; M = 12.98 ± 2.22 years; 50.53% girls; with 45,762 students participating in both waves) across a 6-month interval. A three-factor structure of adolescent values emerged: Collective Altruism, Individual Initiative, and Individual Hedonism. Results revealed distinct developmental trajectories: Collective Altruism declined slightly, while Individual Hedonism increased, both stabilizing around mid-adolescence (age~15)—a developmental inflection point in value orientation. Cross-lagged models demonstrated small but significant reciprocal positive associations between Collective Altruism, Individual Initiative, and well-being, while Individual Hedonism showed a small but significant negative association with subsequent well-being. These findings support the theoretical framework of contextually healthy values—value orientations that are culturally normative and developmentally adaptive. This study also provides valuable insights for promoting adolescent mental health and positive development in rapidly modernizing contexts.

Wisdom is theorized to regulate the ethical use of cognitive strengths, but empirical evidence for its moderating role remains limited and inconsistent. This research investigates whether wisdom guides the application of intelligence and creativity toward prosocial ends, using domain-consistent, humanistic assessments across two studies (N = 933). Study 1 employed performance-based measures to examine how state-level wisdom influences the prosocial deployment of social intelligence and real-life creativity in morally complex scenarios. Study 2 used self-report measures to explore trait-level associations among integrative wisdom, social intelligence, creativity, and social mindfulness. Across both studies, wisdom consistently moderated the link between creativity and prosociality: higher wisdom predicted either stronger positive associations (Study 2) or buffered against ethically problematic use (Study 1). In contrast, no consistent evidence was found that wisdom similarly guided the use of intelligence. These findings suggest that wisdom functions as a selective moral regulator, more effectively shaping the ethical expression of open-ended, generative capacities such as creativity than of structured, instrumental capacities such as intelligence. The results underscore the importance of aligning constructs within shared evaluative domains and provide preliminary empirical support for wisdom as a meta-capacity that channels value-sensitive strengths toward socially constructive ends.

Awe, a self-transcendent emotion, has been theoretically posited as a precursor to wise reasoning. However, direct empirical evidence supporting this relationship and the underlying mechanism has been limited. In four studies (N = 3700), we examined the relationship between awe and wise reasoning, as well as the mediating effect of self-transcendence, employing cross-sectional, longitudinal, and experimental designs. We consistently found that awe had a lagged effect on (Study 1), enhanced (Studies 2 & 3), and was associated with (Study 4) wise reasoning. Furthermore, self-transcendence mediated this relationship (Studies 3 & 4). The impact of awe on wise reasoning and mediating effect of self-transcendence could not solely be attributed to awe’s predominantly positive nature, and the mediation model was established beyond the influence of self-smallness (Studies 3–4). These findings contribute to understanding the emotional trigger of wise reasoning, the cognitive implications of awe, and its role in promoting wise conflict resolution.