Relationship between Big Five Personality Traits and Virtue of Wisdom: The Mediating Role of Patience

Patience and wisdom are highly respected moral virtues in Islamic culture. The former (patience) is of utmost importance in the Islamic religion and the latter (wisdom) is one of the six basic virtues both in the recent classification of positive psychologists and Islamic-Iranian culture. These moral virtues are considered important in individuals’ wellbeing and can have significant social and personal consequences on the mental health of people. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality traits and the virtue of wisdom with regard to the mediating role of patience. A total of 440 BSc students studying at Shiraz University participated in the present study. They included 281 females and 159 males selected through random cluster sampling method. The participants were asked to complete the Self-Assessed Wisdom Scale (Webster), Big five personality questionnaire (Goldberg), and patience Scale (Khormaei et al). The results of structural equation modeling showed that the data fitted the model. Moreover, the findings indicated that agreeableness, conscientiousness, and neuroticism could indirectly predict wisdom through the mediating role of patience. On the basis of the results, it could be concluded that personality traits could improve wisdom in students through the mediating role of patience. Considering the fact that patience can be taught, it is recommended that efforts should be dedicated to teaching moral virtues to students to bring wisdom to young people.