Ethnic differences in spiritual intelligence: a study in a multicultural context

Abstract

This study investigates the nature of spiritual intelligence and its link to ethnic identity, and gauges the difference across the main ethnic groups in Mauritius. A new scale, the Multicultural Spiritual Intelligence Scale (MSIS) was proposed, using the following six dimensions: self-awareness, transcendental awareness, levels of consciousness, the quest for meaning, sensitivity, and resilience. The MSIS was developed and tested using a cross-sectional survey research design with the option of completing a paper or online version, administered to a sample of 1,177 adult participants in Mauritius. This research looked at the three major ethnic groups in Mauritius: Hindu-Mauritians, Creole-Mauritians, and Muslim-Mauritians, and examined their conceptions of spiritual intelligence and ethnic identification. A factor analysis was conducted on the scale and five specific factors: self-mastery, transcendental awareness, spiritual sensitivity, resilience, and the existential quest. These factors emerged with factor loadings greater than 0.35. The MSIS’s construct validity was tested with other similar scales, particularly Meaning in Life (MLQ) (Steger et al., 2006), the Connor-Davison Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) (Connor & Davidson, 2011), Private Self-Consciousness (PSC) (Scheir & Carver, 1985), and New Indices of Religious Orientation (NIRO) (Francis, 2007). The Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) (Paulhus, 1991) was also included to check for social desirable responses and MSIS’s divergent validity. A Welch ANOVA revealed a statistical difference in spiritual intelligence among the ethnic groups: Welch’s F (2, 639.98) = 3.923. Spearman’s rank order correlation revealed that ethnic identification was connected to spiritual intelligence: rs (98) = 0.52, p < 0.0005. A Games-Howell post-hoc analysis indicated a statistically significant mean difference between Muslim-Mauritians and Hindu Mauritians (0.27, 95% CI [0.083, 0.45]) and between Muslim-Mauritians and Creole Mauritians (0.44, 95% CI [0.25, 0.62]). The Muslim-Mauritians obtained the highest score in both ethnic exploration and ethnic commitment. Ethnic identification implied a prior quest for identity, which was connected with spiritual development. A second study was conducted on a sample of 303 participants using a shorter version of MSIS to confirm the five-factor model. Implications for further research include analysing the MSIS in terms of other constructs and using the MSIS with other minority groups in Mauritius.