Challenges in measuring wisdom-relevant constructs in young adult undergraduate students. Issue 1 (2nd January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Brocato, Nicole; Hix, Laura; Jayawickreme, Eranda
• Is Part Of: Journal of moral education. Volume 49:Issue 1(2020)
• Page Start: 46
• Page End: 70
• Publication Date: 2020-01-02
• Subjects: wisdom -- late adolescents and young adults -- self-report measures -- cognitive interviews -- undergraduate; Moral education -- Periodicals; 370.114
• DOI: 10.1080/03057240.2019.1576124
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-7240

Abstract

ABSTRACT: University settings present a unique opportunity for young adults to develop characteristics constitutive of wisdom. One challenge for educators working to support this development involves effectively measuring these characteristics. In this article, we present results from a secondary analysis of cognitive interviews to examine challenges that may arise when young adult undergraduate students respond to self-report measures of Meaning, Identification with all Humanity and Dedication to Lifelong Service—three characteristics of personality-focused accounts of wisdom. Although the items had well-fitting exploratory and confirmatory latent variable models, between 12.5% and 87.5% of students ( n = 8 for each item) provided unintended interpretations for each item. This mismatch between students' interpretations and the intended interpretations can threaten item validity and obfuscate findings from applications such as pre-post assessments. Further research is needed to better understand the factors affecting young adults' responses to measures of wisdom-relevant characteristics.