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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 140 (2014) 499 – 505
PSYSOC 2013
The Role of Spiritual Intelligence on Organizational Commitment in
Employees of Universities in Tehran Province, Iran
Seyed Mohammad Kalantarkousheha, Najmeh Sharghib, Maryam Soleimanic, Sepideh
d
Ramezani
a Assistant Professor, Department of Counseling, Faculty of psychology and Education, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran. Email:
[email protected] b,c,d
Master in Career Counseling, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Introduction: Spiritual intelligence is the mind’s capacity to handle substantial and spiritual aspects of life. According to previous
studies, spiritual intelligence can be effective in the promotion of different variables. One such variable is organizational
commitment. Organizational commitment may have potentially serious effects on an organization’s function and can be a major
influence on its effectiveness. This study explores the relationship between spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment
in staff of universities from Tehran Province, Iran. Methods: The study population included all staff of universities in Tehran
Province during 2012-13. From this population we chose a random sample of 200 staff(111males and 89 females). Data
collection was performed by the completion of two spiritual intelligence self-evaluation questionnaires (2008) and the
Organizational Commitment Questionnaire by Allen and Meyer (1997). Conclusion: According to our analysis the results
showed a difference in the amount of spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment between males and females, both of
which were higher in males. A definite correlation existed between spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment among
staff. Higher spiritual intelligence corresponded to higher organizational commitment, which was proven for both males and
females. Additionally, a correlation existed between spiritual intelligence and the continuous subscale. This correlation was also
evident in the spiritual intelligence of males and in the affective and normative subscales.
©© 2014
2014 The
The Authors.
Authors. Published
Published by
by Elsevier
Elsevier Ltd.
Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of PSYSOC 2013.
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of PSYSOC 2013.
Keywords: Organization commitment, spiritual intelligence, staff;
1. Introduction
Here The concept of spiritual intelligence was proposed in 1996 by Stevens, followed by Emmons in 1999.
Spiritual intelligence is defined as the conformity application of spiritual information that aims to facilitate solving
daily issues and attainment of goals (Emmons, 2000). In another definition, King (2008) believes spiritual
Correspondng Author: Seyed Mohammad Kalantarkousheh
E-mail: [email protected]
1877-0428 © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of PSYSOC 2013.
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.04.460
500 Seyed Mohammad Kalantarkousheh et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 140 (2014) 499 – 505
intelligence to be a collection of mental capacities based on unsubstantial and exalted aspects of life such as personal
understanding, deep existential thinking, and expansion of meaning. In his opinion, spiritual intelligence comprises
the four components of critical existential thinking, production of personal meaning, transcendental awareness, and
expansion of conscious states. According to Bowell (2004) spiritual intelligence includes seven steps: awareness,
meaning, evaluation, being centered, vision, projection, and mission. Spiritual intelligence as defined by
Wiggleworth (2006) is the ability to behave with wisdom and clemency as long as internal and external peace is
maintained taking into consideration the conditions (equanimity).
The results of a study on the relation between spiritual intelligence and amount of students’ happiness concluded
that increased in spiritual intelligence corresponded with increased happiness (Yaghubi, 2010). According to Chin et
al., spiritual intelligence in addition to engendering success, honesty and hope also enabled entrepreneurs to be
realistic and conscious of their environment. They have concluded that the presence of spiritual intelligence is one of
the major reasons why some entrepreneurs are more successful than others (Chin, raman, Yeow, & Eze, 2012).
Wiggleworth (2006)defines a mature leader as one who considers specific solutions for increasing problems faced
by humans. She views this kind of consideration as an enhanced grade of leadership and believes that a mature
personality character benefits from this type of union. This high level of growth and personal maturity is correlated
with the development of spiritual intelligence, which leads to the development of leadership skills.
Organizational commitment is construed as an individual’s identification and involvement with a particular
organization. It is defined by “(a) a strong belief in and acceptance of the organization’s goals and values; (b) a
willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organization; and (c) a strong desire to maintain membership
in the organization” (Hart & Willower, 2001).
Organizational commitment is the ability of an individual employed in an organization and is separate from
occupational satisfaction. Instead, it is an effective response to the whole organization, whereas occupation
satisfaction is a positive response to particular aspects of a job (Williams and Hazer, 1986).
Meyer and Allen (1998) divide organizational commitment into three separate positions: affective, continuance,
and normative. Affective commitment refers to identification, participation, and affective attachment to an
organization, meaning that staff that have strong affective commitment remain because they want to keep their jobs.
Continuance commitment refers to a commitment based on the staffs' awareness of the loss that they incur if they
leave. Therefore, the staff remains in the company with a strong commitment either by force or due to personal
sacrifices related to leaving the organization. Normative commitment is based on sense of commitment to the
organization. Employees with strong normative commitment who remain in the organization feel obligated to stay.
Those with a stronger affective commitment accept changes in instances where these changes would not alter the
organization’s goals, but rather benefit the organization(Viljoen & Rothmann, 2009).
Tafreshi and Darbayegan (2011)have shown the presence of a meaningful relationship between job satisfaction
and organizational commitment, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior, as well as organizational
commitment and organizational citizenship behavior. The results of their study showed multiple relations between
job satisfaction and organizational commitment with organizational citizenship behavior. A total of 21% of the
variance in organizational citizenship behavior was predicted by job satisfaction and organizational commitment
from which the role of organizational commitment ranked higher in this prediction.
Padala (2011) studied occupation satisfaction and organizational commitment in an Indian fertilizer and chemical
material production company. The study indicated that age, education, type of job, hours worked, and income
negatively impacted job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
According to one study, meaningful relationships existed between emotional intelligence and job satisfaction,
emotional intelligence and organizational commitment, and job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Emotional intelligence predicted 16% of job satisfaction and 14% of organizational commitment (Ostovar and
Khatunigar 2009).
A model that evaluated the relationship between occupation stresses, occupation satisfaction, organizational
commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior was presented in another study. The results showed a
meaningful, negative relationship between the variables of occupational stress, occupation satisfaction and
organizational commitment. Satisfaction with occupation positively and meaningfully affected organizational
citizenship behavior and organizational commitment (Ansari, Mirahmadi, & Zabihzadeh, 2011).
Seyed Mohammad Kalantarkousheh et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 140 (2014) 499 – 505 501
Despite the importance of spiritual intelligence and its necessity throughout various organizations and institutions,
in Iran, little research exists in this area. Akbarizadeh et al.(2012)have studied the relationship between spiritual
intelligence, strong-willed characteristics and general health among nurses. The results showed a meaningful,
positive relationship between spiritual intelligence and strong-willed characteristics, spiritual intelligence and
general health, and strong-willed characteristics and general health. The promotion of spiritual intelligence and
encouragement of strong-willed characteristics in individuals could help increase nurses' general health.
As previously mentioned, spiritual intelligence is the mental capacity of each individual according to
unsubstantial and spiritual aspects of life. Research has shown that spiritual intelligence can impact and promote
different variables. One of the variables examined in this research is organizational commitment. According to given
definitions, organizational commitment is the employment of an individual in an organization and the convergence
of that organization's purposes and values upon that individual.
Organizational commitment may potentially have a serious impact on an organization’s function and can be a
major influence in its effectiveness. Therefore, this study explores the relationship between spiritual intelligence and
organizational commitment of staff from universities in Tehran Province, Iran. It examined the positive effects of
this relationship in the promotion of the effectiveness of these universities and the effects on individual development
of each staff member.
2. Material and Methods
2.1. Research Design
This was a descriptive research study that used correlation and regression for statistical analysis. The study
population comprised all staff from universities in Tehran Province employed during 2012-13. In this research there
were 200 staff randomly chosen from the study population. Participants comprised 111 males and 89 females.
Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory
The Spiritual Intelligence Self-report Inventory (SISRI-24) designed by King (2008) includes 24 questions in a
five-item Likert Scale. This scale evaluates the mental ability of spiritual intelligence and related abilities in four
major aspects of critical existential thinking, transcendental awareness, personal meaning production, and conscious
state expansion (Mousavi, Talebzadeh, & Shams, 2012).
Mousavi (2012) et al reported the Cronbach's alpha for critical thinking, personal meaning production,
transcendental awareness, conscious state expansion, and total spiritual intelligence in the following order: 0.59,
0.51, 0.74, 0.68, and 0.73. The present research determined Cronbach's alpha coefficients for total spiritual
intelligence (0.864)in addition to spiritual intelligence of males(0.839) and females(0.873).
Organizational Commitment Questionnaire
This questionnaire (Allen and Meyer 1997) is used to assess and measure three aspects of organizational
commitment (affective, continuance, and normative). This questionnaire consists of 24 close-ended questions
according to the Likert scale. Each response is assigned a number for scoring purposes, where's strongly agree'=5
and 'strongly disagree'=1.
2.2. Descriptive Statistics
Table1. Mean, Standard Deviation, and Cronbach's alpha
Standard
Mean(average) Minimum Maximum Alpha
Deviation
Men 67,88 10,358 32 86 .839
spiritual Intelligence Women 63,75 11,785 34 90 .873
Total 65,59 11,334 32 90 .864
Organizational Men 58,99 8,839 39 85 .658
502 Seyed Mohammad Kalantarkousheh et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 140 (2014) 499 – 505
Commitment Women 55,80 7,436 37 73 .568
Total 57,22 8,224 37 85 .622
Men 8,53 2,175 1 5 .115
Continuance Subscale Women 7,05 2,157 1 5 .205
Total 7,71 2,281 1 5 .226
Men 6,28 1,865 3 12 .206
Women 6,45 1,953 3 12 .529
Normative Subscale
Total 6,38 1,911 3 12 .219
The highest total mean value was 65.59 for spiritual intelligence whereas the lowest mean was the normative
subscales which were 6.38. In all variables, with the exception of the normative subscales, males had a higher
average compared to females. The average for spiritual intelligence among males was 67.88, compared to the
average value of 6.38 for females. Among males, the organizational commitment score was 58.99, which was higher
than seen in females (55.80). The continuance subscale value for males was 7.71. Females scored 6.38. The only
exception was observed for the normative subscales, where females scored 6.45 compared to 6.28 for males. The
higher standard deviation also belonged to the score for spiritual intelligence in females, which were 11.785. The
lowest standard deviation was in the normative subscale for males (1.865). The minimum score observed was1 for
the continuance subscale and the maximum score was 90, which was the total score for spiritual intelligence among
females (Table 2).
2.3. Inferential Statistics
The results showed a difference in the amount of spiritual intelligence between males and females. Males scored
higher in terms of emotional intelligence. Therefore, the following hypothesis was approved: “Emotional
intelligence is different between male and female employees” (df=130,p=0.120,t=-1.180). The standard deviation
and average for organizational commitment is shown in Table 3 for males and females. The average organizational
commitment for males was 58.99 which was higher than observed in females(55.80). The standard deviation
was8.398 for males and the standard deviation for females were 7.436. According to the results, the amount of
organizational commitment differed between males and females, with a higher total score for organizational
commitment observed in males. Hence, the following hypothesis is approved: “Organizational commitment is
different between males and females” (df=130,p=0.120,t=-1.180).
Table 2. The independent t-test as a comparison of spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment in males and females
Variable group M±SD T Sig(1-tailed)
Women M=63/78
Spiritual Intelligence n = 111 Sd=11/78
81,83 0.00
Men M=67/88
n = 89 Sd=10/358
Women M=55/80
Organizational n = 111 Sd=7/436
Commitment 98,40 0.00
Men M=58/99
n = 89 Sd=8/839
Seyed Mohammad Kalantarkousheh et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 140 (2014) 499 – 505 503
Table 3.Correlation between spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment
variable Total (n = 200) Men (n = 89) Women (n = 111)
r p r p r p
Spiritual Intelligence and
.148. .037 .151 .158 .343 .00
Organizational Commitment
Spiritual Intelligence and
.037 .604 -0,138 0,198 0,169 0,76
Continuance Subscale
Spiritual Intelligence and
0,026 .714 -0,144 0,177 0,043 0,656
Normative Subscale
Spiritual Intelligence and Affective
-,061 .389 -0,042 0,693 -0,176 0,065
Subscale
According to the data (Table 3), the total correlation between spiritual intelligence and organizational
commitment was 0.148. Considering the fact that 0.037 is less than 0.5 and that it is a meaningful coefficient, hence
there is a meaningful relationship between them. Therefore, the following hypothesis was approved: “There is a
meaningful relation between spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment of the staff”. Increased spiritual
intelligence corresponded with increased organizational commitment within an individual [Pearson’s r(132)=
-0.25, p<0.05].
The correlation among males was 0.151.Due to the fact that the coefficient of 0.158 is less than 0.5, the
relationship was meaningful. The following hypothesis was approved: “There is a meaningful relation between
spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment of male employees”. In males, higher spiritual intelligence
corresponded to higher organizational commitment [Pearson’s r(132) = - 0.25, p<0.05].
The correlation of this relationship was 0.343 among females. Due to the fact that 0.00 is less than 0.5, therefore
the relationship was meaningful. The following hypothesis was approved: “There is a meaningful relation between
spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment of female employees”. The higher spiritual intelligence in
females corresponded with higher organizational commitment [Pearson’s r (132)= - 0.25, p<0.05].
The correlation between spiritual intelligence and the continuance subscale
The total correlation between spiritual intelligence and the continuance subscale was 0.037; according to the
score of 0.604 which is more than 0.5, there was no meaningful relationship, therefore the hypothesis was rejected.
The meaningful coefficient correlation was0.76 among females and more than 0.5. This correlation was not
meaningful in females and the following hypothesis was rejected: “There is a meaningful relation between female
spiritual intelligence and the affective subscale”.
According to the coefficient correlation of 0.198, the following hypothesis was approved in males and the
correlation was meaningful. “There is a meaningful relationship between spiritual intelligence and the affective
subscale” [Pearson’s r(132) = - 0.25, p<0.05].
The correlation between spiritual intelligence and the normative subscale
The total correlation between spiritual intelligence and the normative subscale was 0.026.The coefficient
correlation was 0.714 and greater than 0.5. Therefore, the relationship was not meaningful.The following hypothesis
was rejected: “There is a relation between spiritual intelligence and the normative subscale”.
A meaningful coefficient of 0.177 was observed among males. The correlation was meaningful and the following
hypothesis approved: “There is a relation between spiritual intelligence in males and the normative subscale”
[Pearson’s r(132) = - 0.25, p<0.05].
However in females, there was a meaningful coefficient of 0.656. Therefore this correlation was greater than 0.05
and not meaningful. Hence the following hypothesis was rejected: “There is a relation between spiritual intelligence
and the normative subscale”.
The correlation between spiritual intelligence and affective subscale
The total correlation between spiritual intelligence and the affective subscale was 0.061.The meaningful
coefficient was 0.389 and less than 0.5.The relationship was meaningful and the following hypothesis approved:
“There is a relation between spiritual intelligence and the continuance subscale” [Pearson’s r(132) = - 0.25, p<0.05].
In addition, the meaningful coefficient of the correlation is 0.76 in females, which was more than 0.5. Thus, the
correlation was not meaningful among females and the following hypothesis was rejected: “There is meaningful
relation between spiritual intelligence and the continuance subscale”.
504 Seyed Mohammad Kalantarkousheh et al. / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 140 (2014) 499 – 505
The correlation coefficient among maleswas 0.693, more than 0.5. As a result the correlation was not meaningful
among males and the following hypothesis was rejected:"There is a relation between spiritual intelligence and the
continuance subscale”.
3. Conclusion
This research studied the relationship between spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment of staff from
universities in Tehran Province, Iran. The positive effects of spiritual intelligence in the promotion of an
organization's effectiveness and the individual growth of employees were considered in this study. The results
indicated that the amount of spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment varied between males and
females. In the current study, males achieved a higher score in both variables. A meaningful relationship has been
shown to exist between spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment of an organization's employees. When
an individual’s spiritual intelligence increases, the organizational commitment also increases. This relationship has
been separately proven in both males and females.
King (2008) has defined spiritual intelligence as a collection of mental capacities based on unsubstantial and
exalted aspects of life such as personal understanding, deep existential thinking, and expansion of meaning. The
present research showed a relationship between spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment. Malik and
Naeem (2011)concluded that dimensions of spiritual intelligence had a positive relationship with organizational
commitment of university scientific board members.
In addition, spiritual intelligence has a relationship with effective leadership components such as organizational
commitment (Amram, 2009). Because commitment, creativity and innovation are currently important topics, it is
necessary for managers and organizational leaders to have moral values such as liking other people, forgiveness, and
honesty. The presence of these values assists in better management of employees to be the best (Jurkiewicz &
Giacalone, 2004). According to Farhangi et al (2009) both affective intelligence and spiritual intelligence have a
significant effect on a type of leadership.
Samadi and Mahdavikhui (2009) determined that three different dimensions of organizational commitment (duty,
affective, and continuance) were meaningful at different levels of moral management. They studied the effect of
moral management on organizational commitment of employees at a Tax General Office in Hamedan Province. The
results showed that increased moral management also increased the amount of organizational commitment. The
results of the current study supported their findings between spiritual intelligence and organizational commitment.
Limitations of this study included the lack of control over the amount of cooperation and motivation of the
participants to complete the questionnaire. Participants were not comfortable being evaluated, although they
received some explanations. Therefore, in areas such as job safety, participants stated that safety was better than in
reality.
Emotional intelligence that includes job components is a new topic. There are a limited number of studies in this
field, thus the need exists for additional research. Future studies should research the effect of spiritual intelligence
on organizational functioning, the relationship between spiritual intelligence and organizational expansion, and the
role of spiritual intelligence in the improvement of affective commitment in an assumed organization.
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