Nimmy Anna Shaji

Measuring the Spiritual Intelligence & examining its relationship with Student Achievement and Goal Orientation among college students A Project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION By Nimmy Anna Shaji DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT WALJAT COLLEGE OF APPLIED SCIENCES In academic partnership with BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MUSCAT, SULTANATE OF OMAN 2014 Measuring the Spiritual Intelligence & examining its relationship with Student Achievement and Goal Orientation among college students A Project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION By Nimmy Anna Shaji DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT WALJAT COLLEGE OF APPLIED SCIENCES In academic partnership with BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MUSCAT, SULTANATE OF OMAN 2014 DECLARATION CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the work presented in the project entitled “Measuring the Spiritual Intelligence & examining its relationship with Student Achievement and Goal Orientation among college students” in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Degree of Bachelor of Business Administration of Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Ranchi is an authentic work carried out under my supervision and guidance. To the best of my knowledge, the content of this project does not form a basis for the award of any previous Degree to anyone else. Date :(Guide’s Name & Signature) Department of Management Waljat College of Applied Sciences Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Head Department of Management Waljat College of Applied Sciences Muscat, Sultanate of Oman CERTIFICATE OF APPROVAL The foregoing project entitled “Measuring the Spiritual Intelligence & examining its relationship with Student Achievement and Goal Orientation among college students” is hereby approved as a creditable study of research topic and has been presented in satisfactory manner to warrant its acceptance as prerequisite to the degree for which it has been submitted. It is understood that by this approval, the undersigned do not necessarily endorse any conclusion drawn or opinion expressed therein, but approve the project for the purpose for which it is submitted. (Internal Examiner)(External Examiner) ABSTRACT The human brain is undoubtedly the most profoundly complex organ and has always been a fascinating organ of the body. Development duration of the human brain is longer in comparison with any other organ in the body and also undergoes more changes than any other organ. The multifarious and manifold abilities of the brain are complex problem solving, decision making, execution of behavior, abstract reasoning, creativity, memory and remarkably numerously more. Hitherto, the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) was contemplated as the most important factor for distinguishing a smart individual with high learning and understanding capacity. However this trend was gradually superseded with the advent of Emotional Quotient (EQ). Researchers propounded that comprehension of any individual’s emotions and feelings is a pre-requisite for successfully tackling any circumstances and henceforth more important than IQ. People frequently assumed that reacting emotionally was being instigated due to extrinsic predicaments but in contrast the actuality was that the emotions were triggered due to the inner mindset of a person and it is profoundly vital and crucial to understand this fact. A couple of years ago, researchers realized that IQ and EQ were insufficient and there's more to it. And hence a revolutionary new concept of Spiritual Intelligence (SI) came into existence known as the “ultimate intelligence” as claimed by researchers. It is most certainly a pre-requisite for any individual to first and foremost get connected to their inner self spiritually and embrace it to rediscover the true meaning and purpose in their life and the reason for their existence. This main objective of this research study undertaken was to investigate the relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Need for Achievement and Goal Orientation among College Students. The research sample consisted of 220 College students comprising of both Under Graduate (UG) and Post Graduate (PG) students. A predefined standardized questionnaire was employed for data collection among College students in the context of this research study. Once the data was solicited, data analysis were discharged using SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and SmartPLS (Partial Least Square) for ascertaining the results of the research study. The results of the study revealed that there is a significant relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Goal Orientation among College students. However it was also deciphered that the significance of the relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Need for Achievement could not be captured through the data collected. It was observed that Spiritual Intelligence and its impact on Need for Achievement and Goal Orientation among students do not vary according to demographic factors. This study makes plays a prominently indispensable and crucial role in making the students understand more about the concept of spiritual intelligence in a more comprehensive and wider perspective. It also assists them in learning and exploring to connect with their inner self and expressing it in terms of their thoughts, attitude and behaviour. This research study was undertaken only for the sole benefit of College students. Students have to undergo enormous amount of stress in order to succeed in today’s competitive environment. When students learn to focus on the inner aspects of them and rediscover themselves through self-assessment and eventually connect with themselves in a deeper and comprehensive level. Henceforth, they recognize their own learning potential and achievement styles which is a pre-requisite for achieving goals in their life. CONTENTS Chapter No. Chapter Title Page No. Chapter 1 Introduction & Literature Review 1.1 Problem Statement 9 1.2 Theoretical Concepts and Framework 9-12 1.3 Literature Review 12-15 1.4 Significance of Study 15-17 1.5 Objectives of the Study 17 1.6 Hypotheses 17-18 1.7 Scope of the Study 18 Chapter 2 Research Methodology 2.1 Research Design 19 2.2 Sampling Design 19 2.3 Data Collection Method(s) 19-20 2.4 Analysis of Data: Tools & Techniques 20-21 2.5 Limitations to the Study 21 Chapter 3 Results & Discussion 3.1 Findings of the Study 22-36 3.2 Discussion on findings of the study 36 Chapter 4 Conclusions 37 Chapter 5 Suggestions & Directions for Future Research 5.1 Suggestions 38 5.2 Directions for Future Research 39 References 40 Annexure Questionnaire/ Schedule 41 Chapter 1Introduction & Literature Review This chapter mainly stipulates a coherent insight about the background of the study accompanied by a well-defined problem statement. It has extracted all the existing literature corresponding to the field of study which aid as a phenomenal groundwork for acquiring a clear-cut enlightenment of the theoretical concepts and conceptual model. It furthermore dispenses the objectives, hypotheses, significance and scope of the study which demonstrates a consolidated approach to the research study undertaken. 1.1 Problem Statement In this present era of rapid advancement, the need for success has become an integral part in a student’s life which highlights the importance of incorporating aspects like ‘the need for achievement’ and ‘goal orientation’ among students which will guide them forward in their life. But unfortunately in this race for achieving success, a student’s inner strengths and spirituality fail to get recognized which are the true essence behind an individual’s success. This is where the role of ultimate intelligence (Spiritual Intelligence or SI) becomes vital, SI along with teaching us to visualize and dream about the purpose and meaning of life, it also helps in making the right decisions i.e. separating the good from the evil. Once this is truly discovered one can embrace the other necessities of life for survival. Thus SI forms the chief and primary aspect of life that bonds with one’s self resulting in other elements of achievement. This study focuses on examining the correlation between spiritual intelligence, student achievement and student goal orientation. 1.2 Theoretical Concepts and Framework In the past, there used to be a misconception that a person possessing high IQ was a genius and was destined to ultimately do anything in life, in any field of study and be extremely successful. The other non-materialistic aspects like soul, conscience, ethicality were completely disregarded. During the advent of 20th century, psychologists gave utmost importance to IQ and had practiced various techniques to measure and enhance an individual's IQ. An individual’s IQ can be fully utilized to its maximum potential by implementing various techniques such as practicing mental exercises, inculcating an improved lifestyle, incorporating balanced diet and regular intake of supplements. Researchers have proved that people with lower IQ are less happy and vice versa. In the mid-1990s, there was a drastic shift in the thought pattern of people where they started focusing more on Emotional Quotient (EQ) than IQ. EQ focuses on being aware of our feelings and establishing a connection with people in an emotional level. It includes various emotions such as happiness, empathy, patience, integrity, courage. Various research studies has exposed that EQ was the fundamental requirement for the full utilization of IQ. For reaching the pinnacle of success especially in the corporate world, EQ is a determinant factor. A couple of years ago, researchers realized that IQ and EQ were insufficient and there's more to it. And hence a revolutionary new concept came into existence known as the ultimate intelligence as claimed by researchers or Spiritual Intelligence (SI). SI measured by spiritual quotient (SQ) helps us to find the true meaning and purpose in our life and guides us to achieve it. It assists us to realize the most important aspect of our being which encompasses the intangible elements such as our soul, conscience, intuitions. The questions that evolved from Spiritual Quotient are "Who am I?", "why I am here?” and “Where am I going?". These are fundamental questions which need to be answered by every individual in order to achieve holistic excellence in life and find the true meaning of life. SQ plays a major role in seeing the unsolved issues of our lives in a more lateral way of thinking. When any misfortunes befall in our lives, spirituality helps us to overcome those situations, aspire, dream and raise ourselves in life. In today's competitive world, being successful requires various skills, potentials and determination to succeed. Everyone in the society tries to portray themselves as superior than the others. And that’s when the utmost importance of individuals adapting themselves to various techniques for achieving goals becomes very essential. Goal orientation is defined as the desire to develop the self by acquiring new skills, mastering new situations, and improving one’s competence. [ CITATION Van97 \l 1033 ]. Another important factor to be taken into consideration in order to be successful is the need for achievement. It is generally defined as a need to seek out challenges with some standard of excellence. [ CITATION McC762 \l 1033 ]. This is when the utmost need for the third Q which is the Spiritual Quotient (SQ) comes into picture. Rightly claimed as the ultimate intelligence by many researchers, SQ is the type of intelligence where people are still unaware of. SQ plays a vital role in goal orientation and need for achievement among students. If SQ can be harnessed by the college students then it would indeed hugely contribute to their academic success which would in turn enable them to acquire a bright career and future. Carrying out this research enables to examine the relationship between Spiritual intelligence, goal orientation and need for achievement among college students. This can contribute to making necessary changes for the current professional development among students in Oman. The domain of this study is to ascertain the level of SQ among students and examine its relationship with goal orientation and need for achievement among college students. According to David B King, SQ supports 4 core components: Critical Existential Thinking, Personal Meaning Production, Transcendental Awareness, and Conscious State Expansion. Critical Existential Thinking emphasizes on finding the answer for reason for our existence. Whereas Personal Meaning Production is all about determining the basic purpose in our life which in turn provides us with meaning to our life. Transcendental Awareness is the knowledge about an intangible realm apart from the tangible realm which includes our physical body. Conscious State of Expansion is entering spiritual state of consciousness usually through meditation and prayer. SI- Spiritual IntelligenceCET- Critical Existential Thinking PMP - Personal Meaning ProductionTA - Transcendental Awareness CSE- Conscious State ExpansionNFA - Need for Achievement GO- Goal Orientation Fig 1. Conceptual Model (Proposed) 1.3 Literature Review Literature Review Spiritual intelligence is the innate capacity of higher beings to recognize and rediscover themselves in a wider and comprehensive perspective. Human beings have the capability to meticulously analyse each and every decisions which they make in a more moral and ethical perspective. They are rational and flexible enough to analyse their thought processes and in turn make the right choices fully realizing the consequences of it whether it’s positive or negative. Researchers Zohar and Marshall has strongly affirmed the aforesaid by defining Spiritual Intelligence as “the intelligence with which we address and solve problems of meaning and value, 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" (Zohar & Marshall, 2004). David King(2009) has propounded the four core abilities or capacities of spiritual intelligence: “Critical Existential Thinking, Personal Meaning Production, Transcendental Awareness, Conscious State Expansion”. Spiritual Intelligence aids in Higher Order Thinking in human beings. Thinking beyond the non-materialistic intangible aspects of life puts the students in a position to be more responsible in life giving them an opportunity to perceive life in a more wider and comprehensive perspective. This eventually leads to the achievement of the overall academic, professional and holistic excellence in students’ life. Ultimately it is accompanied by the enhancement in the quality of life among students. It also plays a momentous role to comprehend the basic purpose in our life which eventually provides us with meaning to our life. Research has strongly affirmed the aforesaid. “study have clearly shown that one of the factors which has the ability to increase the level of life quality among male students is the spiritual intelligence and one of its subscale namely transcendent awareness is among the most important variables which can have a positive effect on the level of the life quality” (Ahmadi, Ahghar, & Abedi, 2013). Spiritual intelligence is pre-requisite in the achievement of goals in lives of college students and it provides students with a wider insight into the purpose of education. Attending lectures can be a very monotonous and dull task for students when they believe in the sole purpose of receiving good grades. However if the students focused more on the elements that integrated their life by enhancing their consciousness, the curiosity and passion for learning spikes up and the commitment for achieving goal remains steady. It is concluded that “Results indicated that students became more open to diverse ideas about consciousness, more self-aware, and more committed to meditation and self-reflection”(Green & Noble, 2009) “There is evidence that spiritual intelligence is a consideration for enhancing the lives of college level students” (Astin, et al., 2011; Capeheart-Meningall, 2005; Olson, 2008). In an endeavor to instigate the relationship between spiritual intelligence and goal orientation and student achievement among college students, manifold numerous research articles were scrutinized extensively which contributes a profoundly phenomenal groundwork for exploring the aforesaid relationship. The sub sequential associations with Spiritual Intelligence are illustrated below. The mental or psychological well being of a student plays a very crucial role for achieving academic excellence. Only when one is in a healthy mental state, the thought process of an individual is more cohesive, making it effective in incorporating the spiritual aspects within the person. Henceforth Spiritual Intelligence immensely aids students to be more self-determined to make decisions that are essential in their career life. “On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that enhancing spiritual intelligence will help the students to be more self-determined and independent in decision making.” (Aggarwal, 2013) The ability to develop a vision, the confidence to be able to translate to actions and specify this to others is required for the implementation of projects undertaken by the companies. Possessing leadership not only includes taking decisions but also being a mentor to followers, heeding their needs concerns ,keeping communication with them and encouraging them to offer new ideas. It is being noted that spiritual intelligence has link with transformational leadership style. “It was found that correlation exist between Spiritual Intelligence and Transformational Leadership style displayed by the students.”(Yee, Tan, Tee, Chin, & Seyal, 2013) There are marginalized people in society who lack self-sufficiency, and constantly depend on charity for their welfare having no self-confidence in themselves to even survive their life. Having psychological empowerment is required since it influences the economic, political, social, and educational, gender, or spiritual strength of individuals and communities which will make them strong to deal with struggles. It is claimed that “Pearson correlation test showed a significant and positive correlation between spiritual intelligence and psychological empowerment”(Torabi, Moghimi, & Monavarian, 2013) When people are confronted with stressful situations, they stumble back when they are very close in attaining their goals. Managing stress is one key point that needs to be mastered better. This can be done when only when one thinks peacefully and calmly trying to resolve their issues logically. “It has been revealed that people with spiritual tendencies, can better deal with a trauma, and manage the stressful situations”(Moallemi & Shahbakhsh,) Research has proved that “Spirituality can relate to mental health, happiness and subjective well being by means of affecting their coping strategies, their attribution style, their connectedness with environment and their sense of meanings.” (Laleh Babanazari, Parviz Askari, 2012) When student graduate, they commence to work in well reputed organisations and begin to dutifully perform their responsibilities, it enhances the motivation for a person to do better and exceeds the expectations of their superiors. Professional responsibilities when done sincerely and diligently, makes the vision of the students stronger to achieve their targets. It is argued that professional responsibilities enhance spiritual being. “The positive correlation between SQ and performance of professional responsibilities was shown.”(Moonaghi, Lakeh, Makarem, Esmaeili, & Ebrahimi,) When it comes to student achievement, one needs to put in a lot of effort and be persistent, sincere, dedicated constantly to reach their objective. However if they enhance their spiritual intelligence and emotional intelligence, their goals are clearer to them and the purpose and meaning of every step they take is understood more clearly. “Growth and promotion of the emotional and spiritual intelligence can be considered as methods for improving students’ academic achievement.”(Promotion, 2013) Spiritual intelligent plays a pre-eminent role in determining the various identity achievement styles among students. When students learn to focus on the inner aspects of them, they recognize their own learning potential and identity achievement styles which are a pre-requisite for achieving goals in their life. “The analyses data by regression showed that identity styles are predicted by spiritual intelligence.” (Badri, Ahmadi, Ghaderi, Branch, & Branch, 2013) However gender is not a factor for determining spiritual intelligence. Henceforth, on the basis of the aforesaid, it can be apparently, unquestionably and undoubtedly observed that Spiritual Intelligence is an indispensable and profoundly essential factor and most definitely a pre-requisite for student achievement and goal orientation among College students. Therefore, Spiritual Intelligence is most certainly a prognosticator of Students Achievement and Goal Orientation. 1.4 Significance of Study Spiritual intelligence has enormous significance to various segments of people in the society as follows: 1) Students Spiritual Intelligence (SI) has a tremendous positive impact on every student’s life. Through this research study undertaken, a sense of awareness about Spiritual Intelligence is inculcated in the mindset of students. Spiritual Intelligence helps the students to know their fundamental purpose in life which in turn provides meaning to their life. Spiritual Intelligence helps students to tackle challenging situations successfully by connecting themselves to a higher force (God) through meditation or prayer. In fact Spiritual Intelligence makes students more goal oriented as they recognize their responsibilities in life by knowing themselves more in depth and identify the aspects of themselves that are deeper than their physical body which plays a vital role in their career development. It also enhances their need for achievement. After the optimization of Spiritual Intelligence, students can successfully tackle stressful situations pertaining to academics. 2) Academicians Through this research study, Academicians can determine the Spiritual Quotient of students which would enable the teaching faculties to adopt various programs for developing and enhancing the SQ level in the students which would highly contribute to student effectiveness which would hence make them more goals oriented. Academicians learn to become more empathetic towards students and their peers making them flexible which in turn lead to achievement of professional excellence. 3) Parents Parents have a misconception that high IQ is a prerequisite in a child’s life for excelling in all aspects of his/her life. Through this research study, parents obtain a coherent insight about the ultimate intelligence, i.e.: “Spiritual intelligence”. This will play a vital role in parents understanding their children better and realizing that enhancing the Spiritual intelligence of their child can certainly have a huge impact in their life. 4) Government From this research article, government can obtain a clear-cut enlightenment about Spiritual Intelligence which will help them recognize the various categories of students in their nation. This will help the government to implement various programs for providing the right job opportunities for the most appropriate candidates which will in turn result in the social and economic growth of the country. Increasing the Spiritual Intelligence of people can immensely benefit the government as they will have more productive citizens who are more ethical and moral. And this will lead to minimization of crime rate in the country as well. 1.5 Objectives of the Study To examine the relationship between spiritual intelligence and student need for achievement. To examine the relationship between spiritual intelligence and goal orientation of a student. To ascertain if there is any significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its relationship with need for achievement and goal orientation among respondents on the basis of select demographic variables. The study posits that spiritual intelligence is effective and vital towards an individual’s development. It focuses on the evidence that spiritual intelligence contributes towards the achievement and success of the career of college students. Realization of the importance of spiritual intelligence will lead to the implementation of various measures which will nurture the students for becoming a better individual. 1.6 Hypotheses H1: Spiritual intelligence has a significant impact of on goal orientation among college students. H2: Spiritual intelligence has a significant impact on need for achievement among college students. H3: There is no significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its impact on need for achievement and goal orientation with reference to the gender of college students. H4: There is no significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its impact on need for achievement and goal orientation with reference to the age group of the college students. H5: There is no significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its impact on need for achievement and goal orientation with reference to the nationality of the college students. H6: There is no significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its impact on need for achievement and goal orientation with reference to the education level of the college students. H7: There is no significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its impact on need for achievement and goal orientation with reference to the candidacy of the college students. 1.7 Scope of the Study College students have taken into consideration for ascertaining the relationship between spiritual intelligence and the need for achievement along with goal orientation of students. The understanding of dimensions of Spiritual intelligence can be critically undertaken in such a way to benefit the students. Gaining a deep insight into Spiritual intelligence will further aid in providing measures to raise themselves to be more enhanced individuals. This study has been undertaken on college students in and around Muscat region in Sultanate of Oman. Chapter 2Research Methodology 2.1 Research Design A research design is a systematic plan scrutinizing the problem in a detailed manner reflecting the various variables involved. It is a causal research design filtering the cause and effect relationship of variables that take place. Through this report, the positive relationship of student achievement and goal orientation of the students with respect to Spiritual Quotient (SQ) is measured through quantitative analysis. This study will shed a light and will help boost the self confidence of students in the long run making it effortless to approach their goals. 1 2 2.2 Sampling Design Sampling design which was used for this research study is purposive sampling technique as it was relatively easier to gather data, manage time constraints and implement cost minimization. The questionnaire was based on The Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory (SISRI-24) and Integrated Spiritual Intelligence Scale (ISIS). The sample consisted of both Undergraduate (UG) and Post Graduate (PG) students. 2.3 Data Collection Method(s) The data for this study was collected from primary sources. To obtain the necessary data for determining the spiritual intelligence level, a structured non-disguised self-reported questionnaire based on SISRI-24 and ISIS scale was administered with the college students. Questionnaire comprised of 54 items where 22 items were based on The Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory (SISRI-24) scale where four core components of SQ were employed for the research. The four core components of SQ include Critical Existential Thinking, Personal Meaning Production, Transcendental Awareness, and Conscious State Expansion. The next 32 items were based on Goal Orientation and Need for Achievement. Table 1 Description of constructs used in the questionnaire Item No. Variable name Source No. of items 1, 3, 5, 12, 16 Critical Existential Thinking [ CITATION Dav09 \l 1033 ] 5 7, 10, 14, 18, 21 Personal Meaning Production [ CITATION Dav09 \l 1033 ] 5 2, 6, 9, 13, 17, 19, 20 Transcendental Awareness [ CITATION Dav09 \l 1033 ] 7 4, 8, 11, 15, 22 Conscious State Expansion [ CITATION Dav09 \l 1033 ] 5 25 – 40 Need for Achievement (Jackson Personality Research Form,- Goal Orientation (Button, Mathieu & Zajac, 1996) 16 2.4 Analysis of Data: Tools & Techniques The data collected from the sample respondents was fed into the SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) and SmartPLS for further statistical analysis. The reliability of the instrument (scales) was checked using cronbach alpha. The significance of relationship between the constructs in the model was validated through PLS model. The Composite Reliability, Average Variance Extracted (AVE), Cronbach Alpha were calculated for each of the latent variables. The t-statistics significance was found out for each of the path coefficients after bootstrapping. 2.5 Limitations to the Study Since purposive sampling is being used, the chosen respondents in the research study undertaken may only be the representative sample of the entire population. Research articles on the subject available in foreign languages (other than English) were not taken into consideration. Due to time constraints, the researchers were not able to gather a vast amount of information for the detailed in-depth studying of spiritual intelligence and also the data collection was not very extensive. Chapter 3Results & Discussion The data was collected from the students at WCAS added up to a sample size of 220, which was subsequently keyed into SPSS for further statistical analysis. The chapter projects the findings in the following sequence: Frequency distribution table of all the demographic variables, Crobach’s alpha value, Descriptive statistics of all the dimensions of the construct Spiritual Quotient and the t-statistics significance between each construct in the proposed model. 3.1 Findings of the Study Table 2 Gender Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Male- Female- Total- Fig. 2 respondent statistics based on gender Fig. 3 respondent statistics based on age group It is observed that most of the respondents in the research survey fall under the age group of 20-30 (59.1%). Table 4 Nationality Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Omani- Non_Omani- Total- Fig. 4 respondent statistics based on nationality It can be noted that greater number of respondents are Non-Omanis (59.1%) as compared to Omanis. Table 5. Education Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid School Level- Foundation- Certificate Level- Diploma Level- Under Graduation(UG- Post-Graduation(PG- Total- Fig. 5 respondent statistics based on education level The majority of the respondents of the research study are undergraduate students (60.5%). Table 6 Candidacy Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Fulltime- Part-time- Total- Fig. 6 respondent statistics based on candidacy Majority of respondents in the research survey are full time students (94.1%). The t-statistics values obtained through SPSS gave us insights into comparison of different groups based on mean values of concerned statistics. The null hypothesis is rejected if the significant (two tail test) gives a value less 0.05 and is not rejected if the value is greater than 0.05. The t-statistics results obtained from groups classified on the basis of different demographic variables of the respondents are as follows: Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Mean Equal variances assumed 2.060 - .088 .129 .075 -.019 .278 Equal variances not assumed - .091 .129 .076 -.020 .279 Table 7 t-statistics results on the basis of gender There is no significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its impact on need for achievement and goal orientation between male and female respondents (α=0.088). Table 8 t-statistics results on the basis of age group Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Mean Equal variances assumed .000 .996 -.437 218 .663 -.035 .081 -.195 .124 Equal variances not assumed -- .666 -.035 .081 -.197 .126 There is no significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its impact on need for achievement and goal orientation between respondents of different age groups (α=0.663). Table 9 t-statistics results on the basis of nationality There is no significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its impact on need for achievement and goal orientation between Omanis and Non-Omanis (α=0.506). Table 10 t-statistics results on the basis of educational level There is no significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its impact on need for achievement and goal orientation between undergraduates and postgraduates (α=0.177). Table 11. t-statistics results on the basis of candidacy Independent Samples Test Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Mean Equal variances assumed .997 - .078 .278 .157 -.031 .589 Equal variances not assumed - .071 .278 .142 -.026 .584 There is no significant difference in the spiritual intelligence level and its impact on need for achievement and goal orientation between full time and part time students (α=0.078). Fig. 7 PLS results for proposed Research Model Fig. 8 PLS results for proposed Research Model after bootstrapping Table12. Results summary for PLS model (refer Fig. 7). Latent Variable Indicators Loadings Average Variance Extracted (AVE) Composite Reliability Cronbach Alpha Critical Existential Thinking (CET) - 3 0.737 5 0.409 12 0.594 16 0.575 Personal Meaning Production (PMP- 10 0.652 14 0.570 18 0.620 21 0.783 Transcendental Awareness (TA- 6 -0.144 9 0.582 13 0.685 17 0.561 19 0.550 20 0.655 Conscious state expansion (CSE- 8 0.636 11 0.674 15 0.686 22 0.531 Need for achievement (NFA- 24 0.573 25 0.645 26 0.521 27 0.597 28 0.466 29 0.423 30 0.516 31 -0.469 32 -0,480 33 -0.463 34 -0.587 35 -0.511 36 -0.393 37 -0.325 38 -0.114 Goal orientation (GO- 40 0.625 41 0.658 42 0.694 43 0.703 44 0.712 45 0.693 46 0.668 47 0.531 48 0.610 49 0.660 50 0.520 51 0.746 52 0.609 53 0.623 54 0.645 Composite reliability is an indicator of internal consistency and the value should be higher than 0.70. Table 12 indicates that the values for composite reliability for all latent variables except Need for Achievement are more than 0.70. The Cronbach alpha for Need for Achievement scale is also quite low -). Transcendence awareness has the strongest effect on student’s Spiritual Intelligence (0.854) followed by Personal meaning production on Spiritual Intelligence (0.831). In order to test the significance of the standardized regression weights for effects obtained using PLS and depicted in PLS (refer Fig. 7), bootstrapping was carried out. The t-statistics values obtained after bootstrapping (samples=200) were examined as an indicator of significance of standardized regression weights obtained in PLS results. The bootstrapping results (refer Fig. 8) revealed that Transcendence awareness had the strongest effect on student’s Spiritual Intelligence (t statistic=26.670), followed by effect of Personal meaning production on student’s Spiritual Intelligence (t statistic=25.852). The effect of Critical existential thinking (CET) on student’s Spiritual Intelligence, effect of Conscious state expansion (CSE) on student’s Spiritual Intelligence and the effect of Spiritual Intelligence on student’s goal orientation were also found to be significant. Table 13 Path coefficients (refer fig 8) Original Sample (O) Sample Mean (M) Standard Deviation (STDEV) Standard Error (STERR) T Statistics (|O/STERR|) SI -> CET- SI -> CSE- SI -> GO- SI -> NFA- SI -> PMM- SI -> TA- 3 3.2 Discussion on findings of the study From the frequency distribution tables represented above of all the demographic variables used in this research study, it clearly reveals the following information: The majority of respondents who participated in our research survey were females (55.9%). It is observed that most of the respondents in the research survey conducted falls under the age group of 20 - 30(59.1%). It can be perceived that majority of the respondents of the research study are undergraduate students (60.5%). It can be noted that greater number of respondents are Non-Omanis (59.1%) as compared to Omanis. Majority of respondents in the research survey are full time students (94.1%). Based on the results obtained through PLS-SEM, five hypotheses, have been supported at 95% confidence level (t statistic > 1.96, refer Fig. 8), whereas one hypotheses couldn’t be supported. The significant relationships obtained as a result of this study are as follows: SI -> CET SI -> CSE SI -> GO SI -> PMM SI -> TA Chapter 4Conclusions As the number of respondents were small i.e. 220 samples comprising of 215 samples of UG students and 5 samples of PG students, therefore bootstrapping was carried out to have 200 bootstrap samples for effective path analysis. The different factors making up the Spiritual Intelligence construct, viz.; Critical Existential Thinking, Personal Meaning Production, Transcendental Awareness, and Conscious State Expansion have been observed to make significant contribution to the present level of Spiritual Intelligence among both Under Graduate and Post Graduate students. The results revealed a significant positive impact on those factors constituting the Spiritual Intelligence and Goal Orientation of students. The chosen data sample was not strong enough to capture the significant relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Need for Achievement among College students. Fig 9 Proposed research model results Relationship is significant at α = 0.05 Relationship is not significant at α = 0.05 Chapter 5Suggestions & Directions for Future Research 5.1 Suggestions In this rapidly evolving era, where students strive towards success and orient their goals accordingly, the role played by a student’s inner strengths and spirituality in achieving the same is often overlooked. It was found that spiritual intelligence has a significantly positive impact on the goal orientation of students. By enhancing students’ spiritual intelligence, their self awareness escalates towards moral values which eventually increases their sense of responsibility and ultimately plays a significant role in achieving their goals in life. It also made the students realise their self-worth and the purpose of their existence, their actions and consequences motivating them to be a more responsible individual. Thus in this era, where study of Spiritual Intelligence and its results are gaining importance, educational institutions can utilize the instruments of Spiritual intelligence to study the capabilities, potential, weakness of individual students. This will not only benefit the educational institutions to mould the students in the right direction but also help in recognizing their hidden talents and interests. This in turn aids the higher education and career orientation of students to be shaped according to their potentials and abilities and not mislead or influenced by external sources. Measuring spiritual intelligence of students at beginner level will help sculpt out a productive generation of zeal and spiritual intelligence significantly impacts achievement and goal orientation of students. Spiritual intelligence and its relationship with need for achievement and goal orientation is not restricted only to academics, it paves way for individual development and excelling in diverse fields like workplace, society, family etc. Therefore the scope of its operation is diverse, challenging, and significant to human life. 4 5 5.2 Directions for Future Research From a futuristic point of view, further extensive research studies can be carried out which will play a significant role in gathering vast amount of information and which is a pre-requisite in detailed in-depth study of Spiritual Intelligence. Since the collection of data was only pertaining to students at WCAS, further research studies on Spiritual Intelligence can be carried out in other educational institutions in Oman to examine whether Spiritual Intelligence is a pragmatic and beneficial prognosticator for measuring Goal Orientation and Need for Achievement among college students. The relationship of Spiritual Intelligence with other variables such as Leadership, Organizational Commitment, and Ethicality etc can also be examined and studied. Furthermore, numerous researches can be conducted in educational institutions in Oman to enlighten and create awareness among the general public about Spiritual Intelligence. Educational Institutions can also organize various workshops, seminars and lectures on the remarkable concept of Spiritual Intelligence. References Aggarwal, R. (2013). A Study of Mental Health of students in relation to their Spiritual Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence, 1(1), 1–8. Ahmadi, A., Ahghar, G., & Abedi, M. R. (2013). The relationship between spiritual intelligence and taking responsibility with life quality, 2(3), 391–400. Badri, M., Ahmadi, K., Ghaderi, D., Branch, B., & Branch, S. (2013). The relationship between emotional intelligence and spiritual intelligence with identity achievement styles in the girls of second grade in high school in Tehran in-, 4(10), 75–78. Green, W. N., & Noble, K. D. (2009). Fostering Spiritual Intelligence : Undergraduates ’ Growth in a Course About Consciousness, (1999), 26–48. Laleh Babanazari, Parviz Askari, M. M. H. (2012). Spiritual Intelligence and Happiness for Adolescents in High School, 9(3), 2–5. Moallemi, S., & Shahbakhsh, B. (n.d.). Spiritual Intelligence, Resiliency, and Withdrawal Time in Clients of Methadone Maintenance Treatment - International Journal of High Risk Behaviors and Addiction - - Kowsar. Moonaghi, H. K., Lakeh, M. A., Makarem, A., Esmaeili, H., & Ebrahimi, M. (n.d.). Spiritual Intelligence affect Professionalism in Medical Faculty Members Moonaghi Educational Research in Medical Sciences Journal. Promotion, H. (2013). World of Sciences Journal ISSN :- Year : 2013 Pages : 45-51 The Relationship between Emotional Intelligence , Spiritual Intelligence , and Students ’ Academic Achievement. Torabi, M., Moghimi, S. M., & Monavarian, A. (2013). Investigating the Relation between Spiritual Intelligence and Psychological Empowerment among Nurses of Faghihi Hospital in 2012, 2(August), 539–543. Yee, S., Tan, M., Tee, S., Chin, S., & Seyal, A. H. (2013). The Relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Transformational Leadership Style among Student Leaders, 2013. doi:10.5171/2013. Annexures Questionnaire Measuring the Spiritual Quotient (SQ) and examining its relationship with goal orientation and the need for achievement among students The questionnaire below is a part of the research study undertaken to measure the "Spiritual Quotient" of the students. Your input is highly valuable as the validity of the results depends on obtaining accurate responses, and thus your sincere co-operation in this regard is solicited. Please be assured that the information shared by you will be kept confidential and will be used solely for academic purpose(s). For questions 1-22, please score all the items on a scale from 1 to 5 based on the general frequency of your behavior over the past 6 to 12 months. 1 – Not at all true of me 2 – Not very true of me 3 – Somewhat true of me 4 – Very true of me 5 – Completely true of me For questions 23-54, please score all the items on a scale from 1 to 6 based on the general frequency of your behavior over the past 6 to 12 months 1. Strongly Disagree 2. Disagree 3. Slightly Disagree 4. Slightly Agree 5. Agree 6. Strongly Agree 23 People should be more involved with their work. يجب على الناس أن يكونوا أكثر عمقاً في عملهم. go- I enjoy difficult work. أنا أستمتع بالعمل الصعب. . - I will not be satisfied until I am the best in my field of work. أنا لن أكون راضيا, حتى أكون أفضل في مجال عملي . time-proven wisdom- I would work just as hard whether or not I had to earn a living others. أود العمل الصعب فقط بينما لا أريد أن التعلم من الآخرين في كسب العيش - My goal is to do at least a little bit more than anyone else has done before. هدفي على الأقل أن أعمل أكثر من أي شخص قد عمل من قبل. - I often set goals that are very difficult to reach. أنا في كثير من الأحيان أضع اهداف يصعب الوصول إليها- As a child I worked a long time for some of the things I earned. في طفولتي عملت وقت طويل للحصول على الأشياء - I don’t mind working while other people are having fun. لا أمانع العمل في الوقت الذي يستمتع فيه الاخرون بوقتهم- I seldom set standards which are difficult for me to reach. نادرا ما أضع معايير صعب الوصول إليها بالنسبة لي- I have rarely done extra studying in connection with my work. نادرا ما أضع دراسة إضافية لها ارتباط بعملي- I try to work just hard enough to get by احاول ان أعمل بجهد بما فيه الكفاية. - I do not let my work get in the way of what I really want to do. أنا لا اترك عملي في الحصول على م كنت أريد القيام به - In my work I seldom do more than is necessary. في عملي أنا نادرا ما أفعل أكثر مما هو ضروري- People seldom think of me as a hard worker. الناس نادرا ما يعتبرونني عاملا مجدا - It doesn’t really matter to me whether or not I become one of the best in my field of work. (R) ليس مهما بالنسبة لي أن أصبح واحدا من الأفضلية في مجال عملي . - I am not really certain what I want to do or how to go about doing it. لست متأكدا حقا بما أريد القيام به أو كيفية التوجه نحو القيام بذلك. - The opportunity to do challenging work is important to me. الفرصة للقيام بتحديات العمل مهمة بالنسبة لي. - When I fail to complete a difficult task, I plan to try harder the next time I work on it. عندما أفشل لإكمال مهمة صعبة، أخطط لبذل جهد أكبر في المرة القادمة التي سأعمل بها في المهام نفسه. - I prefer to work on tasks that force me to learn new things. افضل العمل على المهام التي تجبرني على تعلم أشياء جديدة. - The opportunity to learn new things is important to me. الفرصة لتعلم أشياء جديدة هي جدا مهمة بالنسبة لي. - I do my best when I’m working on a fairly difficult task. أنا أبذل قصارى جهدي عندما أعمل على مهمة صعبة إلى حد ما- I try hard to improve on my past performance. أحاول بشدة تحسين أدائي من أدائي السابق. - The opportunity to extend the range of my abilities is important to me. الفرصة لتوسيع نطاق قدراتي هي مهمة بالنسبة لي. - When I have difficulty solving a problem, I enjoy trying different approaches to see which one will work. عندما تكون لدي صعوبة في حل مشكلة، أنا أستمتع في محاولة أساليب مختلفة لمعرفة أي من الطرق سوف تعمل- I prefer to do things that I can do well rather than things that I do poorly. أنا أفضل أن أفعل الأشياء التي يمكنني القيام بها بشكل جيد بدلا من الأشياء التي أقوم بها بشكل سيئ- I’m happiest at work when I perform tasks on which I know that I won’t make any errors. أكون سعيدا في العمل عندما أؤدي المهام التي أعلم أنني لن أخطئ بها . - The things I enjoy the most are the things I do the best. الأشياء ألتي أستمتع بها أكثر هي الاشياء التي اقوم بها بشكل أفضل - The opinions others have about how well I do certain things are important to me. آراء الآخرين حول كيفية أن أفعل أشياء معينة بطريقة جيدة هي مهمة بالنسبة لي . - I feel smart when I do something without making any mistakes. أشعربالذكاء عندما أفعل شيئا من دون أي أخطاء - I like to be fairly confident that I can successfully perform a task before I attempt it. أحب أن أبدو شديد الثقة بأنني سأنجح قبل القيام بالعمل. - I like to work on tasks that I have done well on in the past. أحب العمل على المهام التي سبق وأن نجحت بها في الماضي- I feel smart when I can do something better than most other people. أشعر بالذكاء عندما أستطيع أن أفعل شيئا أفضل من معظم الناس الآخرين . 1 2 3 4 5 6 Please fill in the required details. *************** Thank you for your co-operation ***************