Iranian Journal of Learning and Memory

Abstract Wisdom is one of the highest virtues and in a wide range of social activities, ultimately improves oneself and society. It is inherently involved in ethical behavior and the pursuit of social justice and equity for all. Moral intelligence is also one of the moral constructs that lead humans to perform great valuable actions. The purpose of this study was to explain wisdom based on the moral intelligence. For this purpose, a sample of 350 adults (220 females and 130 males) in the age range of 20 to 72 was selected by multistage cluster sampling method from different districts and communities. They answered the wisdom questionnaire of San Diego and the moral intelligence of Lennik and Kiel. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results of the analysis demonstrated that the model fits best for this purpose as the effect of moral intelligence and its dimensions on wisdom was confirmed. Based on the results of this study, it is suggested that social and educational settings and environments, in addition to conventional intelligence, can benefit from moral intelligence where wise people with high wisdom can contribute effectively to a better community development.

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.