The objective of the study is to develop a three-dimensional wisdom scale and to test its validity and reliability for use in large, standardized surveys of older populations. Long thought to be an efficacious predictor for many attributes of aging well, the construct of wisdom still lacks a coherent, directly testable scale. The proposed research will provide such a scale. Wisdom is operationalized and measured as a latent variable with cognitive, reflective, and affective effect indicators. This means that all three dimensions have to be simultaneously present for a person to be considered wise. A stratified sample of close-knit social groups of older adults (55+) from the Gainesville, FL, area will be drawn. The stratification variables are gender, race, and socioeconomic status composition of the group. The sample should contain approximately equal numbers of men/women, African Americans/Whites, and persons with high and low socioeconomic status. Sampling of social groups will continue until the number of study participants is 138 or above to generate an N sufficient for testing a scale. Respondents will be asked to complete a questionnaire that includes the newly constructed standardized wisdom scale, measures of mastery and social desirability, and questions about the respondents' general well-being and life conditions (life satisfaction, depression, health, financial situation, socioeconomic and marital status, etc.). Furthermore, they will be asked to nominate persons whom they would consider as wise from their social groups, excluding relatives. Seven hypotheses dealing directly with the validity and reliability of the proposed three-dimensional wisdom scale will be tested. Structural equation models with latent variables will be applied which take measurement error into account. It is hypothesized that those nominated as wise should score the highest on the latent variable """"""""wisdom."""""""" In addition, the latent variable """"""""wisdom"""""""" should be positively related to a person's psychological and physical well-being and mastery skills but uncorrelated to general life conditions. After about three months respondents will be contacted again to assess the test-retest reliability of the scale. A valid and reliable standardized self- administered wisdom scale would make it relatively easy for researchers to measure a person's degree of wisdom in large samples.
