Reliability and validity of the Integrated Wisdom Scale (long- and short-form) for adolescents in a Chinese sample

Adolescence is crucial for wisdom development, yet it lacks measurement tools. According to the two-dimensional theory of wisdom that integrates virtue and wit, wisdom was conceptualized as a 6 second-order 10-factor structure and measured by the revised integrated wisdom scale (IWS-R). The present study aims to verify the reliability and validity of IWS-R in Chinese adolescents and to develop a simplified version for educational application. In study 1, a total of 4182 participants from China (ages 10–17 years, 54.13% boys) completed the 30-item IWS-R and criterion scales. Four weeks later, participants volunteered for a second survey for test–retest reliability analysis and longitudinal invariance testing. In study 2, we developed a short version of the 10-item revised Integrated Wisdom Scale (IWS-10) using genetic algorithms. Overall, the present study shows that both IWS-30 and IWS-10 have good reliability and validity among Chinese adolescents, which will contribute to the empirical research of wisdom psychology in the future.