Publication details
Spiritual Intelligence and Positive Mental Health: The Value of Personal Meaning Production and Spiritual Practice
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The objectives of this study were to explore the relationship between spiritual intelligence and positive mental health and to examine the potential relationship of spiritual intelligence and demographic variables. The research sample consisted of 223 Czech respondents (33 % male and 67 % female, aged 13 to 87, mean age 34.46 years). The tools used included The Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory (King, 2008) and The Mental Health Continuum Scale – Short Form (Keyes, 2002). Basic demographic data including religious belief and regularity of spiritual practice were also administered. Non-random convenience sampling was used for participant recruitment. The data were analysed using the IBM SPSS 22 software. The results have shown a statistically significant correlation between spiritual intelligence and positive mental health (r = 0.39, p=.001). Regression analysis revealed that, out of four dimensions of spiritual intelligence (which are Critical existencial thinking, Personal meaning production, Transcendental awareness, and Conscious state expansion), the Personal meaning production was the strongest predictor of positive mental health (Beta = 0.62, p=.001). No significant relationship was found between spiritual intelligence and gender, age, education level, and marital status of the respondents. The level of spiritual intelligence was significantly related only to religious belief and higher frequency of spiritual practice. Highest level of spiritual intelligence was found in respondents who reported about themselves as being spiritual but not religious people. Our study has shown that spiritual intelligence can contribute to flourishing of an individual and may be increased through regular spiritual practice. More light on the nature and direction of this relationship would brought prospective experimental studies focused on exploration of long-term effect of regular spiritual practice. |