Spiritual intelligence

Spiritual intelligence is a term used to indicate a spiritual correlate to IQ (Intelligence Quotient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient). Like EQ, SQ is becoming more mainstream in scientific inquiry and philosophical/psychological discussion.[1]

Models for developing and measuring spiritual intelligence are also increasingly used in corporate settings, by companies such as Nokia, Unilever, McKinsey, Shell, Coca-Cola, Hewlett Packard, Merck Pharmaceuticals, Starbucks and the Co-operative Bank.[2] It has been identified as a key component of Leadership by bestselling business author Stephen Covey, who observes that "Spiritual intelligence is the central and most fundamental of all the intelligences, because it becomes the source of guidance for the other[s]..."[1]

Howard Gardner, the originator of the theory of multiple intelligences, chose not to include spiritual intelligence amongst his "intelligences" due to the challenge of codifying quantifiable scientific criteria.[3] Instead, Gardner suggested an "existential intelligence" as viable.[4]

Contents

Robert Emmons (2000)

Robert Emmons (2000) defines spiritual intelligence as "the adaptive use of spiritual information to facilitate everyday problem solving and goal attainment."[5] He originally proposed 5 components of spiritual intelligence:

  1. The capacity to transcend the physical and material.
  2. The ability to experience heightened states of consciousness.
  3. The ability to sanctify everyday experience.
  4. The ability to utilize spiritual resources to solve problems.
  5. The capacity to be virtuous.

The fifth capacity was later removed due to its focus on human behavior rather than ability, thereby not meeting previously established scientific criteria for intelligence.

Singh G. (2008) defined spiritual intelligence as "an innate ability of thinking and understanding of spiritual phenomenon and to guide the everyday behaviour by spiritual ideology".

Tony Buzan (2001)

Spiritual intelligence is described in Tony Buzan's (2001) book The Power of Spiritual intelligence as 'Awareness of the world and your place in it'. Spiritual intelligence is supposed to be one of the 10 intelligences described by Tony Buzan. Robert Emmons (2000) defines spiritual intelligence as "the adaptive use of spiritual information to facilitate everyday problem solving and goal attainment." Kathleen Noble (2000/2001) agrees with Emmons' (2000) definition and adds that spiritual intelligence is an inherent ability. Zohar & Marshall (2003) define spiritual intelligence as "the intelligence with which we can place our actions and our lives in a wider, richer, meaning-giving context; the intelligence with which we can assess that one course of action or one life-path is more meaningful than another."

Kathleen Noble (2000/2001)

Kathleen Noble (2000/2001) identifies spiritual intelligence as an innate human potential. She agrees with Emmons' (2000) core abilities and adds two others:

  1. The conscious recognition that physical reality is embedded within a larger, multidimensional reality with which we interact, consciously and unconsciously, on a moment to moment basis.
  2. The conscious pursuit of psychological health, not only for ourselves but also for the sake of the global community.

Frances Vaughan (2002)

Frances Vaughan (2002) offers the following description: "Spiritual intelligence is concerned with the inner life of mind and spirit and its relationship to being in the world."[6]

Cindy Wigglesworth (2004/2008)

Cindy Wigglesworth defines spiritual intelligence as "the ability to act with wisdom and compassion, while maintaining inner and outer peace, regardless of the circumstances."[7] She breaks down the competencies that comprise SQ into 21 skills, arranged into a four quadrant model similar to Daniel Goleman's widely used model of emotional intelligence or EQ. The four quadrants of spiritual intelligence are defined as:

  1. Higher Self / Ego self Awareness
  2. Universal Awareness
  3. Higher Self / Ego self Mastery
  4. Spiritual Presence / Social Mastery[7]

Wigglesworth's SQ model and assessment instrument have been successfully used in corporate settings.[8]

David B. King (2007)

David B. King (2007) has undertaken research on spiritual intelligence at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. King (2007) defines spiritual intelligence as a set of adaptive mental capacities based on non-material and transcendent aspects of reality, specifically those that:

"...contribute to the awareness, integration, and adaptive application of the nonmaterial and transcendent aspects of one's existence, leading to such outcomes as deep existential reflection, enhancement of meaning, recognition of a transcendent self, and mastery of spiritual states."[9]

King further proposes four core abilities or capacities of spiritual intelligence:

  1. Critical Existential Thinking: The capacity to critically contemplate the nature of existence, reality, the universe, space, time, and other existential/metaphysical issues; also the capacity to contemplate non-existential issues in relation to one's existence (i.e., from an existential perspective).
  2. Personal Meaning Production: The ability to derive personal meaning and purpose from all physical and mental experiences, including the capacity to create and master a life purpose.
  3. Transcendental Awareness: The capacity to identify transcendent dimensions/patterns of the self (i.e., a transpersonal or transcendent self), of others, and of the physical world (e.g., nonmaterialism) during normal states of consciousness, accompanied by the capacity to identify their relationship to one's self and to the physical.
  4. Conscious State Expansion: The ability to enter and exit higher states of consciousness (e.g. pure consciousness, cosmic consciousness, unity, oneness) and other states of trance at one's own discretion (as in deep contemplation, meditation, prayer, etc.).[10]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Covey, Stephen, The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness (Simon and Schuster, 2004, p.53)
  2. ^ Ian Wylie, "Hopelessly Devoted," The Guardian, Saturday 10 December 2005
  3. ^ Gardner, Howard, A Case Against Spiritual Intelligence, The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, Volume 10, Issue 1 January 2000, pp. 27-34
  4. ^ Gardner, Howard, Intelligence reframed: multiple intelligences for the 21st century (Basic Books, 1999) p.53
  5. ^ [Emmons]
  6. ^ Vaughan, F. What is Spiritual Intelligence? Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol 42, No. 2. Spring 2002, 16-33, 2003 Sage Publications.
  7. ^ a b Wigglesworth, Cindy, "Why Spiritual Intelligence is Essential to Mature Leadership", Integral Leadership Review Volume VI, No. 3, August 2006
  8. ^ Aburdene, Patricia, Megatrends 2010, (Hampton Roads, 2005) p. 127.
  9. ^ "A Viable Model and Self-Report Measure of Spiritual Intelligence," David B. King & Teresa L. DeCicco (2009) The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, Volume 28, pp. 68-85
  10. ^ "A Viable Model and Self-Report Measure of Spiritual Intelligence", David B. King & Teresa L. DeCicco (2009) The International Journal of Transpersonal Studies, Volume 28, pp. 68-85

References