"Time for wisdom" : the relationship between wisdom and the time perspective

Analysing the relationships between wisdom and time is increasingly becoming an important and interesting issue. The purpose of the study is empirical verification of the relationship between wisdom and the five categories of the temporal perspective: the positive past (PP), negative past (NP), hedonistic present (HP), fatalistic present (FP) and the future (F). It has been assumed that wisdom will positively correlate with the combination of three dimensions considered the balanced time perspective (past-positive, present-hedonistic, and future) and negatively correlated with the temporal profile considered less functional (past-negative and present-fatalistic perspective).

The study has been conducted on a group of 279 Polish respondents, including 67% women, aged 16-28 (M=19.13; SD=3.01). The group has been composed of secondary school pupils and students. Two research tools were used: The Three-Dimensional Wisdom Scale (3D-WS) by Ardelt (2003), in Polish adaptation by Steuden, Brudek and Izebski (2006) and the Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory (ZTPI-short version), adapted by Cybis, Rowiński and Przepiórka (2012).

On the basis of the obtained results, it can be assumed that: 1) participants of the study characterised by general wisdom and its cognitive dimension do not focus on the FP and NP; 2) in case of the reflexive dimension of wisdom, the predictive function is performed by the NP, FP and, to a lesser extent, the PP; 3) the only predictors of the affective dimension of wisdom have turned out to be the FP and the F.

The obtained results seem to have the theoretical and empirical justification. Individuals with lower scores on wisdom have expressed aversion to past events and have been convinced that they have no control over the present, and that what is happening is a result of capricious fate. Significant correlations of wisdom concern the negative temporal profile, both in the general dimension of wisdom and in relation to its individual dimensions.