Abstract
This symposium explores how culture, personality, resources, and life course experiences contribute to the development and conceptions of wisdom and how wisdom might be related to successful aging. A 60-year longitudinal study of 98 men indicates that early and midlife “seeds” and pathways to wisdom and well-being at age 80 differed, although wisdom and well-being were correlated. Early personality predicted old age well-being, whereas social support during the formative years and/or personality appeared to promote growth in wisdom. Quality of life was also correlated with wisdom in a cross-sectional study of 164 older (age 60–85) and younger (age 18–25) Canadians and South Koreans. Yet religious experience and spirituality only predicted old age wisdom. The final presentation examines predictors of wisdom conceptions. A mixed-method study of 103 adults, age 65+, showed that sociocultural, socioeconomic, and geographical factors all affected conceptions of wisdom. Yet, despite the differences in wisdom understandings, wisdom was positively correlated with life satisfaction.