TY - JOUR
T1 - Development and Validation of a Capacity for Wonder Scale for Use in Educational Settings
AU - Geller, Gail
AU - Steinman, Christopher
AU - Caldwell, Meredith
AU - Goldberg, Harry
AU - Hanlon, Caitlin
AU - Wonnell, Teresa
AU - Merritt, Maria W.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This earlier work was partially supported by the John Templeton Foundation (Grant No. 39625).
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - Experiences of wonder should be valued, protected, and promoted in academic settings. Identification of learning environments and interventions that cultivate students’ capacity for wonder (CfW) first requires a means to measure it. We used a mixed-methods approach to develop and validate a measure of CfW. In the qualitative component (Studies 1–3), we content analyzed open-ended descriptions of wonder (Study 1), interviewed people whom others identified as exemplifying CfW (Study 2), and conducted focus groups to review, for quality and consistency, and to establish face validity of, potential inventory items that capture wonder (Study 3). These items were then subjected to standard psychometric analyses in the quantitative component of our methods (Studies 4–6). In Study 4, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed CfW may contain two subscales representing “Perspective Shifting” and “Emotional Reawakening.” In Study 5, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) corroborated this two-factor structure in an independent sample and longitudinally across 17 months, establishing a final 10-item CfW scale; In Study 6, we assessed the scale’s discriminant and convergent validity. CfW was weakly to moderately correlated with theoretically related constructs of curiosity, tolerance for ambiguity, humility, and empathy. We conclude with a discussion of future directions and potential applications.
AB - Experiences of wonder should be valued, protected, and promoted in academic settings. Identification of learning environments and interventions that cultivate students’ capacity for wonder (CfW) first requires a means to measure it. We used a mixed-methods approach to develop and validate a measure of CfW. In the qualitative component (Studies 1–3), we content analyzed open-ended descriptions of wonder (Study 1), interviewed people whom others identified as exemplifying CfW (Study 2), and conducted focus groups to review, for quality and consistency, and to establish face validity of, potential inventory items that capture wonder (Study 3). These items were then subjected to standard psychometric analyses in the quantitative component of our methods (Studies 4–6). In Study 4, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed CfW may contain two subscales representing “Perspective Shifting” and “Emotional Reawakening.” In Study 5, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) corroborated this two-factor structure in an independent sample and longitudinally across 17 months, establishing a final 10-item CfW scale; In Study 6, we assessed the scale’s discriminant and convergent validity. CfW was weakly to moderately correlated with theoretically related constructs of curiosity, tolerance for ambiguity, humility, and empathy. We conclude with a discussion of future directions and potential applications.
KW - cognitive abilities
KW - factor analysis
KW - measurement
KW - personality/individual differences
KW - scale development/testing
KW - social and educational environment
KW - university–college/adult
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U2 - 10.1177/0734282920918727
DO - 10.1177/0734282920918727
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85084553264
SN - 0734-2829
VL - 38
SP - 982
EP - 994
JO - Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment
JF - Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment
IS - 8
ER -