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In Adolescence and Young Adulthood DEIELOPMENT OF WISDOM-RELATED KNOWLEDGE IN ADOLESCENCE AND YOUNG ADULTHOOD Barbara Joan Anderson A thesis submined in conformity with the requirements for the degree ofDoaor ofPhiIosophy Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the Univers* of Toronto O Copyright by Barbara Joan Anderson 1998 National Library Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON KIA ON4 OttawaON K1AON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Librq of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/fh, de reproduction sur papier ou su.format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thése ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otheMrise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. Development of Wisdom-Related Knowledge in Adolescence and Young Adulthood Doctor of Philosophy 1998 Barbara Joan Anderson Department of Human Development and Applied Psychology Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the University of Toronto ABSTRACT This study examuied the development of wisdom-related knowledge over the transitional period extending fiom middle adolescence into early adulthood. Wisdom- related knowledge, as a form of "reai-world" intelligence, was measured in two domains: ( 1) hypothetical scenarios about Life problems of others and (2) one's own "real-hfe" problems. The sample consisted of 128 individuals distributed equaliy across four age groups (1 5-1 6 years, 17-18 years, 20-22 years, 25-27 years) which were balanced on the basis of gender, race (African-Amencan and white), and social class (middle class and working class). Participants were adrninistered a semi-stnictured inte~ewin which they were asked to discuss (1) hypotheticai scenarios about life problems of others and (2) their own stressfiil lifie events. Inte~ewprotocols were coded for levei of wisdom-related knowledge. The coding system, which assessed general critena (i.e., factuai and procedural knowledge) as weii as specific meta-level critena (i-e., contextualism, relativism, and uncertainty) for wisdom, was adapted fiom Staudinger, Smith, and Baltes' (1 994) wisdom coding system. Results of analyses revealed main effects of age and gender for both scenario and stressa Mie event protocols. The pattern of age effects for scenarios varied with the nature of the He problem. An important factor in the general age effect for stressfil life events was an increase in "relativistic thinking" and "thinking about uncertainty" in the older age groups. Gender analyses indicated that wisdom scores averaged across scenarios and wisdorn scores for stressful life events were higher for females than males. This gender ciifference resulted mainly fiom (1) higher scores for femaies on the scenario about making friends and (2) s greater focus on "self-issues" by fernales when discussing their own stressful life events. No race or social class ciifferences were found. A main effect of problem type was found with wisdom-related knowledge about one's own real-Me problem exceeding wisdom-related knowledge about hypothetical life problerns of others. iii I wodd Like to express my appreciation to ail of the members of my thesis committee. 1 am grateful to Dr. Carol Musselman for her support in the final stages of the process. 1 would like to thank Dr. Solveiga Miezitis for her encouragement and fkïendship over the years. I am indebted to Dr. Keith Oatley for his careful reading of my thesis and particularly for bis many helpful suggestions. I wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Daniel Keating for his knowiedgeable direction throughout this process. Finally, 1wouid like to th& DY.Rosame Menna for her inspiration and guidance in the wtiting of this thesis, and for her firiendship through the years. 1 wodd especidy like to thank my children, Michael and Colleen, and my husband, Ted, for their support and encouragement throughout the doctoral joumey. Lady, 1would like to acknowledge my appreciation to Bailey, my fithfiil cornpanion, for her countless hours of devoted support. TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 1 Theoreticai Basis for the Measurement of Wisdom .................................. 7 ................ 7 Theories of Intelligence .......................... .... ................................................... 9 Cognitive Development ........................................................................................ 14 Socialization Muences on Wisdom-Related Knowledge........... .. ........................ 22 Previous Research on Wisdom-Related Knowledge ............................................... 22 Research Objectives ............................................................................................... 25 1.7 Data Collection........................................................................................................ 26 1.8 Prior Research on this Data Base .......................................................................... 26 1.9 Summary of this Smdy .......................... .... ...................................................... 27 Chapter 2: METaOD ......................... .. ....................................................................... 28 2.1 Participants .............................................................................................................. -28 2.2 Materials ................................................................................................................. -3O 2.2.1 Demographic Variables .................................................... .... ....................... 30 2.2.2 Life Problems Interview ....................................................................................... 31 2.3 Procedure ................................................................................................................ 34- 2.3.1 Rating Sy stem Development....... .... ........*.*..................................*.....*............-34 2.3.2 Coding System Developrnent............................................................................... 373 2.3.3 Scoring ...................................... .. .......................... .. ...................................... 38 2.3.4 Application of Coding System to Protocols ........................................................ .39 2.3.5 Reliability ........... ......... ................................. 2.3.6 Generd Rathg Design ........................................................................................ 43 Chapter 3: RESULTS ..................................... ............................................................. 45 3 -1Hypothetical Scenarios ... ........................................... .... .............................. 45 3.2 Stressful Life Events ............................................................................................... 50 - . 3.3 Cornparison of Hypothetical Scenarios and Stressful Life Events .......................... 33 3 -4 Metacriteria Themes ............................................................................................... -58 Chapter 4: DISCUSSION.............. ... .......................................................................... 63 4.1 Muence of Age on Wisdom-Related Knowledge ........................ ............... -63 4.1.1 Hypothetical Scenarios and Age .................... ... ............................................... 64 4.1 -2 Stressful Life Events and Age ......................... .... ............................................... 66 4.2 Influence of Social Context on Wisdom-Related Knowledge ................................. 69 4.3 Comparison of Hypothetical Scenarios and Stressfûi Life Events ....................... -70 4.4 Metacriteria Themes ............................................................................................. -71 4.4.1 Metacriteria Themes and Age .................... .. ..................................................... 71 4.4.2 Metacriteria Themes and Gender ......................................................................... -74 4.5 Summary .................................................................................................................. 75 4.6 Importance of this Study ................................................................... .. ............. 76 4.7 Limitations and Future Directions ........................ ............. ..................................... -78 RIEFERENCES ............ .,., ...., ........................................................................................ -8O APPENDIX A: Life Problems Interview .......................................................................... 90 APPENDM: B: Wisdom Scoring: Response Examples ................................................... 97 APPENDIX C: Hypothetical Scenarb Criteria Examples ............................................
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