Iranian Journal of Learning & Memory

Current Issue

By Issue

By Author

By Subject

Author Index

Keyword Index

About Journal

Aims and Scope

Publication Ethics

Indexing and Abstracting

Related Links

FAQ

Peer Review Process

Journal Metrics

News

Guide to Registration

Article Writing Guide

Manuscript Template

References Guideline

Forms

Investigating Validity and Reliability and Factor Analysis of Webster's Wisdom Questionnaire in Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Educational Psychology, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran

2 Department of Psychology, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran

3 University of Toronto, Canada

4 Department of Psychology, Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan, Iran

Abstract

Webster's Wisdom Questionnaire is a well-known self-assessment scale, which can cover a wide range of future wisdom studies. This research was conducted with the aim to examine the questionnaire psychometrics (reliability, validity, and factor analysis) and to evaluate the relationship between wisdom, age and gender. This questionnaire contains 40 questions assessing the people's wisdom. In a cross-sectional study, 395 (293 males and 102 females) of Sanandaj city, selected through randomized cluster sampling, were assessed using the Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using correlation coefficient, factor analysis and t-test. Using factor analysis, four factors of the proper use of experiences, emotional regulation, reflection, and humor were extracted. To assess the reliability of this questionnaire, Cronbach's alpha and Pearson correlation were used. The results revealed that this questionnaire had good convergent validity. In addition, the comparison of these factors between males and females indicated that females significantly obtained higher score than males in two factors of using the experiences and emotional regulation. Moreover, the high correlation of factors with the total score of the questionnaire and poor correlation of the factors with each other reflect the adequacy and efficiency of this questionnaire to be used by researchers, experts, and psychologists in Iran.

Keywords

References
  1. Ardelt, M. (2003). Empirical assessment of a three-dimensional wisdom scale. Res .Aging, 25, 275–324.
  2. Ardelt, M. (2009). How similar are wise men and women? A comparison across two cohorts. Research in Human Development, 6(1), 9–26.
  3. Ardelt, M. (1997). Wisdom and life satisfaction in old age. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 52B, 15–27.
  4. Arlin, P. K. (1990). Wisdom: The art of problem finding: In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Wisdom: Its nature, origins, and development (pp. 230–243). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  5. Baden, D., & Higgs, M. (2015). Challenging the perceived wisdom of management theories and practice. The Academy of Management Learning and Education. Journal of Youth Development, 60, 120-142.
  6. Bailey, A., & Russell, K. C. (2009). Engaging youth through volunteer travel: In service of the common good. Journal of Youth Development,40,150-162.
  7. Baltes, P. B., & Staudinger, U. M. (2000). Wisdom: A metaheuristic (pragmatic) to or chestrate mind and virtue toward excellence. American Psychologist, 55, 122-136.
  8. Baltes, P. B., Smith, J., & Staudinger, U. M. (1992). Wisdom and successful aging. In T. Sonderegger (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation (Vol. 39, pp. 123-167). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
  9. Birren, J. E., & Fisher, L. M. (1990). The element of wisdom: Overview and integration. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Wisdom: Its nature, origins, and development (pp. 317-332). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  10. Brugman, G. (2000). Wisdom: Source of narrative coherence and eudaimonia. Delft, The Nethelands: Uitgeverij Eberon.
  11. Butler, R. N. (1995). Forward: The life review. In B. K. Haight, & J. D. Webster (Eds.), The art and science of reminiscing: Theory, research, methods, and applications. Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis.
  12. Cacioppo, J. T., & Gardner, W. L. (1999). Emotion. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 191–214.
  13. Clayton, V. P., & Birren, J. E. (1980). The development of wisdom across the life span: A re-examination of an ancient topic. In P. B. Baltes, & O. G. Brim Jr. (Eds.), Life-span development and behaviour (Vol. 3, pp. 103-135). New York: Academic Press.
  14. Chandler, H. M. (1991). Transcendental meditation and awaking wisdom: A 10-year longitudinal study of self development. Dissertation Abstracts International, 51, 5048B.
  15. Costa, R. V., & Pakenham, K. I. (2011). Associations between benefit finding and adjustment outcomes in thyroid cancer. Psycho-Oncology. Doi:10. 1002/ pon.1960.
  16. Digman, J. M. (1990). Personality structure: Emergence of the five-factor model. Annual Review of Psychology, 41, 417– 440.
  17. Glück, J., Strasser, I., & Bluck, S. (2009). Gender differences in implicit theories of wisdom. Research in Human Development, 6(1), 27–44.
  18. Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.
  19. Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth, and crisis. New York: Norton.
  20. Erikson, E. H. (1982). The life cycle completed: A review. New York: Norton.
  21. Frecknall, P. (1994). Good humor: A qualitative study of the uses of humor in everyday life. Psychology. A Journal of Human Behaviour, 31, 12–21.
  22. Friedman, L. J. (1999). Identity’s architect: A biography of Erik H. Erikson. New York: Scribner.
  23. Fredrickson, B. L., & Branigan, C. (2005). Positive emotions broaden the scope of attention and thought-action repertoires. Cognition and Emotion, 19(3), 313–332.
  24. Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. New York: Basic Books.
  25. Germer, C. K., & Siegel, R. D. (Eds.) (2012). Wisdom and compassion in Psychotherapy: Deepening mindfulness in clinical practice. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
  26. Glück, J., Strasser, I., & Bluck, S. (2009). Gender differences in implicit theories of wisdom. Research in Human Development, 6(1), 27–44.
  27. Jeste, D. V., Ardelt, M., Blazer, D., Kraemer, H. C., Vaillant, G., & Meeks, T. W. (2010). Expert consensus on characteristics of wisdom: A Delphi method study. The Gerontologist, 50, 668-680.
  28. Jordan, J. (2005). The quest for wisdom in adulthood: A psychological perspective. In R. J. Sternberg & J. Jordan (Eds.), A handbook of wisdom: Psychological perspectives (pp. 160-188). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  29. Jung, C. G. (1964). Man and his symbols. London: Aldus Books.
  30. Kramer, D. A. (1990). Conceptualizing wisdom: The primacy of affect-cognition relations. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Wisdom: Its nature, origins, and development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  31. Kristinsson, B. (2005). How are leadership styles, emotional intelligence and wisdom related? Unpublished Master’s thesis, Aston Business School, London, United Kingdom.
  32. Kunzmann, U. (2004). Approaches to a good life: The emotional-motivational side to wisdom. In R. J. Sternberg & J. Jordan (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 504-517). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
  33. Magai, C., & McFadden, S. H. (Eds.). (1996). Handbook of emotion, adult development, and aging. New York: Academic Press.
  34. Meacham, J. A. (1990). The loss of wisdom. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Wisdom: Its nature, origins, and development (pp. 181–211). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  35. Mickler, C., & Staudinger, U. M. (2008). Personal wisdom: validation and age-related differences of a performance measure. Psychol. Aging, 23, 787–799.
  36. Holliday, S. G., & Chandler, M. J. (1986). Wisdom: Explorations in human competence. New York: Karger.
  37. Noam G. G. (1996). Reconceptualizing maturity: The search for deeper meaning. In G. G. Noam, and K. W. Fischer (Eds.), Development and vulnerability in close relationships (pp. 135– 172). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
  38. McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T. (1980). Openness to experience and ego level in Loevinger’s Sentence Completion Test: Dispositional contributions to developmental models of personal-ity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 1179– 1190.
  39. Orwoll, L., & Perlmutter, M. (1990). The study of wise persons: In-tegrating a personality perspective. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Wisdom: Its nature, origins, and development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  40. Orwoll, L., & Achenbaum, W. A. (2013). Gender and the development of wisdom. Human Development, 36, 274–296.
  41. Randall, W. L., & Kenyon, G. M. (2001). Ordinary wisdom: Biographical aging and the journey of life. Westport, CT: Praeger.
  42. Randall, W. L., & Kenyon, G. M. (2002). Reminiscence as reading our lives: Toward a wisdom environment. In J. D. Webster & B. K. Haight (Eds.), Critical advances in reminiscence work: From theory to application (pp. 233–253). New York: Springer.
  43. Richardson, M. J., & Pasupathi, M. (2005). Young and growing wiser: Wisdom during adolescence and young adulthood. In R. J. Sternberg & J. Jordan (Eds.), A handbook of wisdom. Psychological perspectives (pp. 139–159). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  44. Robinson, D. N. (1990). Wisdom through the ages. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Wisdom: Its nature, origins, and development (pp. 13–24). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  45. Rogers, C. R. (1961). On becoming a person: A therapist’s view of psychotherapy. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
  46. Ryff, C. D., & Keyes, C. L. M. (1995). The structure of psycho-logical well-being revisited. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 719–727.
  47. Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, Cognition, and Personality, 9, 185–211.
  48. Smith, J., & Baltes, P. B. (1990). Wisdom-related knowledge: Age/ cohort differences in response to life-planning problems. Developmental Psychology, 26(3), 494–505.
  49. Staudinger, U. M., Lopez, D. F., & Baltes, P. B. (1997). The psycho-metric location of wisdom-related performance: Intelligence, personality, and more? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 1200–1214.
  50. Staudinger, U. M. (1999). Older and wiser? Integrating results on the relationship between age and wisdom-related performance. International Journal of Behavioural Development, 23, 641–664.
  51. Sternberg, R. J. (1990). Preface. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Wisdom: Its nature, origins, and development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  52. Sternberg, R. J. (2010). WICS: A new model for school psychology. Sch. Psychol. Int. 31, 599–616.
  53. Taranto, M. A. (1989). Facets of wisdom: A theoretical synthesis. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 29, 1–21.
  54. Taylor, M., Bates, G., & Webster, J. D. (2011). Comparing the psychometric properties of two measures of wisdom: Predicting forgiveness and psychological well-being with the self-assessed wisdom scale (SAWS) and the three-dimensional wisdom scale (3D-WS). Experimental Aging Research.
  55. Takahashi, M., & Overton, W. F. (2015). Cultural foundations of wisdom: An integrated developmental approach. In R. J. Sternberrg & J. Jordan (Eds.), A handbook of wisdom: Psychological perspectives (pp. 32-60). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  56. Takahashi, M., & Overton, W. F. (2005). Cultural foundations of wisdom: An integrated developmental approach. In R. J. Sternberrg & J. Jordan (Eds.), A handbook of wisdom: Psychological perspectives (pp. 32-60). New York: Cambridge University Press.
  57. Vaillant, G. (1977). Adaptation to life. Boston: Little Brown. Webster, J. D., & McCall, M. E. (1999). Reminiscence functions across adulthood: A replication and extension. Journal of Adult Development, 6, 73–85.
  58. Webster, J. D. (2003). An exploratory analysis of a self-assessed Wisdom Scale. Journal of Adult Development, 10(1), 13-22.
  59. Webster, J. D. (2007). Measuring the character strength of wisdom. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 65, 163-183.
  60. Webster, J. D. (2010). Wisdom and positive psychosocial values in young adulthood. Journal of Adult Development, 17(2), 70-80. Doi:10.1007/s10804-009-9081-z.
  61. Wink, P., & Helson, R. (1997). Practical and transcendent wisdom: Their nature and some longitudinal findings. Journal of Adult Development, 4, 1–15.
  62. Yang, S. Y. (2008). A process view of wisdom. Journal of Adult Development, 15(2), 62-57.
Iranian Journal of Learning & Memory
Volume 1, Issue 1
May 2018
Pages 7-19
Files
Share
How to cite
Statistics