<p> Intelligence was defined by early psychometricians as capabilities that could be measured by standardized tests. This definition of intelligence is largely accepted to underlie academic achievement. More recent psychological theory posits a broader definition of human intelligence. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility that the historic definition of intelligence could be expanded to include transpersonal capabilities as features of intelligence which contribute to academic achievement. This study utilized a quantitative, descriptive, and correlational method to explore the possibility of relationships between intelligence, as traditionally measured by standardized tests in academic settings, and four other psychological constructs—multiple intelligences, spiritual intelligence, concept imagery, and empathy. By its nature this type of research is exploratory only and does not reveal causal relationships. One hundred ninety-five English-speaking college undergraduates, 18 to 25 years old, attending university in the United States, were recruited via SurveyMonkey Audience. Data were gathered via Survey Monkey using the following instruments: a demographic questionnaire, the Multiple Intelligence Survey (MIS); The Integrated Spiritual Intelligence Scale (ISIS); the Style of Processing Scale (SOP); and the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (TEQ). It was hypothesized that higher standardized test scores and GPA would correlate positively with concept imagery (SOP), spiritual intelligence (ISIS), empathy (TEQ), logical-mathematical intelligence (MIS), and linguistic intelligence (MIS). Findings did not support the hypothesized relationships. However, an unpredicted negative correlation, between spiritual intelligence and the ACT and SAT standardized test scores, was found. Further analysis revealed that higher ISIS scores correlated with, and predicted, lower ACT/SAT scores. This research contributes to the limited literature available that investigates the relationship between spiritual intelligence, spiritual beliefs/participation, and academic achievement. Future research is recommended to replicate these findings, and to look for causal and/or directional explanations of the negative correlation between SI and ACT/SAT scores found in this study.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PROQUEST/oai:pqdtoai.proquest.com:3709228 |
| Date | 28 July 2015 |
| Creators | Smith, Melissa L. |
| Publisher | Institute of Transpersonal Psychology |
| Source Sets | ProQuest.com |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis |
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