2011/02/28 by Matthew Taylor, Glen Bates, Jeffrey Dean Webster · 2 citations
Psychology · #Optimism, Hope, and Well-being #Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health #Aging and Gerontology Research
paper · doi:10.1080/0361073x.2011.554508
openalex publication_date 2011/02/28 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Two recently developed scales of wisdom were compared on their abilities to have their dimensional structure replicated and to predict relevant personality (i.e., forgiveness) and life satisfaction (i.e., psychological well-being) variables. One hundred and seventy-six primarily (71%) Australian participants ranging in age from 18 to 68 years (M = 36.60, SD = 12.07) completed an online survey of the Self-Assessed Wisdom Scale (SAWS; Webster, 2003 Webster , J. D. (2003). An exploratory analysis of a self-assessed wisdom scale. Journal of Adult Development , 10, 13–22.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Journal of Adult Development, 10, 13–22; 2007 Webster , J. D. ( 2007 ). Measuring the character strength of wisdom . International Journal of Aging and Human Development , 65 , 163 – 183 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 65, 163–183), the Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS; Ardelt, 2003 Ardelt , M. ( 2003 ). Empirical assessment of a three-dimensional wisdom scale . Research on Aging , 25 , 275 – 324 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 52B, 15–27), the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (Thompson et al., 2005 Thompson , L. Y. , Snyder , C. R. , Hoffman , L. , Michael , S. T. , Rasmussen , H. N. , Billings , L. S. , Heinze , L. , Neufeld , J. E. , Shorey , H. S. , Roberts , J. C. , & Roberts , D. E. ( 2005 ). Dispositional forgiveness of self, others, and situations . Journal of Personality , 73 , 313 – 360 .[Crossref], [PubMed], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Journal of Personality, 73, 313–360), Ryff's (1989 Ryff , C. D. ( 1989 ). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 57 , 1069 – 1081 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081) measure of psychological well-being (PWB), and a measure of social desirability (BIDR; Paulhus, 1984 Paulhus , D. L. ( 1984 ). Two-component models of socially desirable responding . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 46 , 598 – 609 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 598–609). Results indicated that the dimensional structure of the SAWS, but not the 3D-WS, replicated, and the 3D-WS, but not the SAWS, was contaminated by a social desirability response bias. Both scales predicted equally well PWB and forgiveness in predicted directions. Implications for future use of both scales are discussed.