Exploring the definition of wisdom from the perspective of middle-aged people with life adversity: a phenomenological study

The purpose of this research was to explore the meaning of wisdom from the point of view of middle-aged men and women regarding the adversities in their lives. Qualitative research methods and a phenomenological approach were used. The research environment included all the middle-aged men and women of Isfahan who had experienced one or more adversities during their lives. Participants were selected based on purposeful snowball sampling; The semi-structured interview continued until reaching saturation, and finally, 13 people participated in the research. After analyzing the data, 60 concepts, 10 sub-categories, and 4 main categories (rationality, sense of satisfaction, humility, knowledge about oneself, God, and the world) were extracted. The results showed that wisdom is a broad concept that has different meanings and definitions, and the role of adversity in achieving the characteristics related to wisdom is very strong, each person can understand this concept by considering their different experiences throughout life.