Exploring religious/spiritual pathways between practical wisdom and depression: Testing the importance of the divine relationship in later life

ABSTRACT

The last several decades have witnessed the topic of wisdom gaining momentum in the field of positive psychology. In this study, we focus on the potentially important role of religion/spirituality, specifically beliefs about God, as a mediating mechanism underlying the relationship between practical wisdom and depression among older adults. Drawing on a nationally representative sample of older adults from the 2013 wave of the Religion, Aging, and Health Survey (n = 1,497), our results show that practical wisdom is associated with lower depressive symptoms. We also document that three God-related constructs, God-mediated control, trust in God, and gratitude towards God each partially explained the relationship between wisdom and well-being. Taken together, Christian conceptions of God as a personal, divine being, the ultimate attachment figure who is an unconditional source of love and support for believers, may be a target of older adults who have cultivated practical wisdom.

KEYWORDS:

• Depression
• god-mediated control
• gratitude
• trust in god
• wisdom

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was support by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation and the United States Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging (Grant RO1 AG009221).