Elucidating how leisure experience facilitates wisdom transformation in elderly adults

Leisure is the primary lifestyle and center of life for older people. Developing interests and hobbies is particularly crucial for elderly adults. Therefore, this study established a model of wisdom transformation through exploring the process and effectiveness of how elderly adults’ leisure experiences enhance their perspectives of wisdom. Initially, a questionnaire survey was administered to preliminarily investigate elderly adults’ views of wisdom. Subsequently, adopting a qualitative approach to interpretive phenomenology, this study conducted in-depth interviews on 11 elderly adults to analyze the transformative process of how their leisure experiences shaped their wisdom. The results indicate that wisdom transformation attributed to leisure experience was embodied in the integration, action and practice, and positive effects of cognition, affect, and reflection. Furthermore, wisdom transformation occurred through 4 stages: (a) leisure experience; (b) reflection and development; (c) action and practice; and (d) positive effects.