Time of Wisdom and time for Wisdom. The role of time perspective on wisdom in old age

Abstract

Introduction: Wisdom was defined as a deep knowledge about the most relevant questions of life. Other theoretical perspectives maintain that wisdom is related also to the development of post-formal dialectical thinking and to the ability in managing the uncertainty of the future. Several studies have shown that wisdom is related to high level of psychological well-being in old age. This study explored the relationships between wisdom and time perspective in the third and fourth age, after controlling for age, gender and level of education as structural variables. Method: 155 subjects (m. age: 68.69; 67% females and 33% males) filled in the WITHAQ questionnaire (Moraitou & Efklides, 2013) and the S-ZTPI questionnaire (Carelli et al., 2011). Results: Positive correlations emerged between wisdom as post-formal thinking and future positive, negative correlation with present fatalistic. Wisdom as pragmatics of life is positively correlated with past positive and future positive, while wisdom as awareness of future uncertainty show positive correlations with past negative and past positive, future negative and future positive. Three hierarchical regression model that posited each of them a dimension of wisdom as dependent variable highlights time perspective as significant, positive contributor to them. Conclusions: The study highlights the relevance of time perspective for wisdom, opening new interesting paths of both research and interventions aimed at a better comprehension of the mechanisms that link the cognitive and affective relation with time in old age with the unfolding of wisdom in its specific dimensions and at translating these results into concrete therapeutic interventions.