Spiritual Intelligence, Burnout and Quality of Life among Middle-Aged Adults

Abstract

This study examines the relationships between spiritual intelligence (SI), burnout, and quality of life (QoL) among middle-aged working individuals (22-35 years old). Participants were from various industries. The objective is to investigate the potential correlations and gender disparities among the variables and explore their implications for interventions to enhance QoL and reduce burnout in this population. The results indicate a negative correlation between SI and QoL, suggesting that individuals with higher levels of SI tend to report lower levels of QoL. However, no significant correlation was found between burnout and SI, indicating that spirituality may not necessarily serve as a protective factor against burnout. Gender disparities were observed for SI and burnout, with differences noted between males and females. However, no significant gender differences were found in QoL.

Introduction

I. INTRODUCTION

Finding meaning and purpose in the present is also important for having an excellent standard of quality of life. It is not solely about having money or success. We can transcend our egocentric viewpoint and establish connections with the more expansive structures that provide fulfillment and significance in our lives thanks to spiritual intelligence. Spiritual intelligence makes finding a purpose and significance in our work possible, which can boost motivation and prevent burnout.

A. Spiritual Intelligence

The term "spiritual intelligence" refers to the capacity to access and use one's consciousness's transcendent and spiritual qualities to promote one’s development, meaningful connections with others, and global understanding. It entails developing the ability to see how everything is interrelated, to acknowledge and relate to a higher force or purpose, and to nurture an awareness of inner calm, wisdom, and compassion. The theory of multiple intelligences, advanced by Howard Gardner, postulates the existence of a variety of intelligence, which includes intra and inter-personal intelligence alongside spiritual intelligence. It believes that spiritual intelligence entails the capacity to comprehend one's self, others, and one's own meaning and purpose in life. The four main elements of the model of spiritual intelligence put forth by Danah Zohar and Ian Marshall are critical existential thinking, the creation of one's own meaning, transcendental awareness, and conscious state expansion. In accordance with this theory, people who possess substantial amounts of spiritual intelligence have the capacity to ponder the significance and significance of life, find inner tranquility, and establish connections to a deeper spiritual reality. These theories contend that spiritual intelligence entails an advanced combination of psychological, cognitive, and behavioral skills that allow people to engage with the spiritual dimensions of life, discover their purpose and significance, and live according to their morals and beliefs.

B. Burnout

Burnout is a psychological illness brought on by prolonged exposure to stress and overwork. A state of emotional, physical, and mental weariness known as burnout is brought on by persistently high levels of stress. It is characterized by a feeling of exhaustion, cynicism, or alienation from relationships or jobs, and a diminished sense of self-efficacy or success. Any sector of life, such as employment, school, caregiving, or interpersonal relationships, can experience burnout.The reasons and processes that cause burnout are attempted to be explained by a number of ideas.

The MBI model, created by Christina Maslach and Susan Jackson, is the most well-known concept. This model proposes the following aspects of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. To be emotionally spent and overburdened is to be emotionally exhausted. Depersonalization is the term for having an unfavorable or cynical view of others, such as customers, co-workers, or patients. Reduced personal accomplishment is a way of saying that one feels less successful or productive.

The Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model is another hypothesis of burnout that contends that burnout is caused by an imbalance between job demands and job resources. Additional theories of burnout include the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, which contends that the loss or threat of resources like job security, autonomy, and social support can lead to burnout. The Self-Determination Theory contends that people can become burned out when their fundamental needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness are not met at work or in their interpersonal relationships. It can be helpful for people and organizations to establish measures for avoiding and controlling burnout and improving well-being if they are aware of the various theories and descriptions of the condition.

C. Quality of Life

An individual's general sense of well-being, contentment, and satisfaction with their existence is referred to as their quality of life. Scholars from a variety of fields, including economics, psychology, sociology, and public health, have investigated the idea of quality of life. According to Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, a person's quality of life is directly correlated with their capacity to satisfy their fundamental physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization requirements. According to the capability approach, rather than just having access to funds or being able to fulfill basic necessities, a person's quality of life is defined by their capacity to do and be the things they value. According to the subjective well-being theory, a person's subjective sensations of joy, engagement, and purpose in life are what most significantly influence how happy they feel. Social Indicators Research comprises methods that make use of measurement data to evaluate several facets of a person's quality of life, including income, schooling, health, and social connections. Positive psychology places a strong emphasis on the value of joyful, thankful, and satisfied feelings and experiences in enhancing a person's general quality of life.

Overall, the idea of quality of life is intricate and varied, and several theories highlight various elements that affect it.

D. Spiritual Intelligence, Burnout, and Quality of Life in Working Middle-Aged Adults

As it may provide people with a feeling of meaning, purpose, and connection to something deeper than themselves, spiritual intelligence may serve as a protective factor against burnout. Considering that spiritual intelligence may lead to a stronger sense of well-being, pleasure, and life satisfaction, it may also be positively correlated with quality of life. This may be especially true for those who believe that their employment has significance and purpose and is consistent with their spiritual views and ideals. Overall, among working middle-aged individuals, there is an intricate relationship among the variables that may be impacted by a number of variables. According to some research, the correlation between the considered variables may differ depending on gender. Women had a greater score in SI than men among healthcare professionals, according to a study that has been published in the journal Regarding Religion and Health. Spiritual intelligence was additionally positively correlated with quality of life and inversely linked alongside burnout for both genders.  However, women had a stronger correlation between spiritual intelligence and their quality of life than men. While there was no statistically significant difference between the genders in terms of managers' overall spiritual intelligence, there were nevertheless gender differences in particular elements of spiritual intelligence, according to a different study that was released by the Journal of Business Ethics. Men scored higher regarding the transcendental awareness component, while women scored higher on the compassion and empathy components. The study also discovered that both genders had a positive relationship between spiritual intelligence and job satisfaction, yet the relationship was greater for men than for women. To fully comprehend the connection between gender as well, as the mentioned variables, more research is generally required.

II. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Thomas (2023) This study investigated 142 staff members of a nonprofit human services organization in a Northeastern state using a quantitative, cross-sectional approach. No correlation between burnout and SI was found in the statistical investigation. The study also showed the significance of treatments on personal meaning formation, conscious state expansion, self-care, physical exercise, reducing work pressures, enhancing workplace resources, and maximizing time for the prevention of burnout.

Pishghadam, Yousofi, Amini, & Tabatabayeeyan (2022) in their study, studied a sample of 270 EFL teachers used to investigate the relationship among the aforementioned constructs and were measured using three scales. At the individual level, it was discovered that reactance and burnout were positively correlated, while spiritual intelligence and reactance and burnout were negatively correlated. As a result of the procedure, it was also discovered that spiritual intelligence transmitted the relationship between reactance and burnout.

Kumar and Kumari (2018) goal of this study is to review and investigate how SI affects a person's quality of life. And how possessing it assists individuals in places to live better lives selected the research from 2003 to 2016 in order to achieve the study's objectives. This study discovered a significant and positive relationship between the independent and dependent variables

Akbari and Hossaini (2018) aimed to better understand how emotional regulation functions as a mediator in the connections between burnout, spiritual intelligence, and quality of life as well as spiritual health. All of the factors showed a significant conjunction according to the hierarchical regression analysis and Sobel's test. The facets of quality of life, mental health, and burnout are all complicated and nonlinearly related to spiritual health. This relationship could be impacted by emotional regulation.

Zhaleh and Ghonsooly (2017) in their study aimed to look into the relationship between EFL teacher's spiritual intelligence and their level of burnout in order to highlight the crucial role that EFL teachers play in both the academic achievement of students in particular and the success of educational systems in general. The findings showed a strong inverse association between the burnout degree of the EFL teachers and their spiritual intelligence. Additionally, it reported the correlations between the various sub-scales of the variables. This demonstrated that there were no statistically significant variations in the subjects' burnout and spiritual intelligence between the male and female participants.

Mufti (2016) aimed to ascertain the relationship between QoL professionals and spiritual intelligence among the University of Gujarat's faculty and administrative staff. The University of Gujarat's 150, professionals (teachers and administrative staff) were chosen using the Convenient Sampling technique. SISRI-24, King and ProQOL, and Stamm (2009) were the instruments used to collect the data. The study found a highly significant relationship between professional quality of life and spiritual intelligence among the University of Gujarat's faculty and administrative staff.

Pant and Srivastava (2014) in their study in Haridwar, Uttarakhand (India), a study is being done on 50 college students at the UG and PG levels. Examining spiritual intelligence, mental health, and life quality, as well as relationships. From the science dormitory at Gurukula Kangri

University in Haridwar, 50 college students representing the arts and sciences are chosen using the purposive sampling approach. With the aid of SPSS Pearson correlation is utilized to investigate relationships. The study's conclusions showed a significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and mental health, a significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and quality of life, and a significant relationship between mental health and quality of life among students.

III. METHODOLOGY

A. Aim

To study the relationship between spiritual intelligence, burnout, and quality of life among middle-aged working adults.

B. Objective

1. To study the gender differences between spiritual intelligence, burnout, and quality of life among working middle-aged adults.
2. To study the relationship between spiritual intelligence and burnout in working middle-aged adults.
3. To study the relationship between spiritual intelligence and quality of life among working middle-aged adults.
4. To study the relationship between spiritual intelligence, burnout, and quality of life among working middle-aged adults.

C. Hypothesis

H1: There will be gender differences in spiritual intelligence, burnout, and quality of life among working middle-aged adults.

H2: There will be a significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and burnout in working middle-aged adults.

H3: There will be a significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and quality of life in working middle-aged adults.

H4: There will be a significant relationship between spiritual intelligence, burnout, and quality of life in working middle-aged adults.

D. Research Design

The study is comparative and quantitative in nature, with data collection based on standardized tests for all the variables undertaken. The data collected was analyzed with the use of various statistical analysis techniques such as descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and t-tests for seeing any gender differences within the study with the help of SPSS software. A descriptive analysis was conducted to summarize the data. The findings will provide valuable insights into how spirituality can influence the quality of life and help individuals with burnout, which could have implications for working middle-aged adults in workplace policies and interventions.

E. Sample

The study employed a sample size of 100 participants, comprising 50 males and 50 females. The inclusion criteria for the study fall under the age group of 22-35 years. The sampling technique utilized in the study was purposive sampling.

F. Procedure

The procedure involved two phases. The first phase comprises participants filling out three questionnaires. The questionnaires provide data on the participants' levels of spiritual intelligence, burnout, and quality of life. Participants were motivated to fill out the questionnaire. In the second phase, the data collected from the questionnaires will be analyzed to explore the relationship between the variables among middle-aged adults. The data will be scored, and interpretation will be made on the effectiveness of spirituality on quality of life and burnout. This analysis will provide valuable insight into the relationship between these variables and interpret whether there are any gender differences and interpret to inform interventions aimed at promoting mental health and well-being in this population.

G. Ethical Consideration

Participants informed permission will be obtained. Debriefing will be conducted following the data collected from the participants, even if deception was utilized. Participants won't be coerced into participating in the study if they decide they don't want to during the interim period. Participants’ personal information will be held in strict confidence and used solely for research purposes.

IV. RESULT

Table 1

Descriptive Statistics of Spiritual Intelligence, Burnout, and Quality of Life

Descriptive statistics provide information about the central tendency and variability of a variable. This indicates that the average SI score is 159.47 and the scores vary around this mean by about 15.987 points. This indicates that the average Burnout score is 52.27 and the scores vary around this mean by about 15.452 points. This indicates that the average QoL score is 86.24 and the scores vary around this mean by about 12.748 points. The N value for each variable indicates the number of observations (participants) for that variable. In this case, there were 100 participants who completed measures of SI, Burnout, and QoL.

Table 2

Group Statistics for Spiritual Intelligence, Burnout and Quality of Life of Males and Females

For SI, the mean score for males is 156.56 and the standard deviation is 13.505. For females, the mean score is 161.54 and the standard deviation is 17.06. For Burnout, the mean score for males is 49.76 and the standard deviation is 5.923. For females, the mean score is 53.64 and the standard deviation is 19.44. For QoL, the mean score for males is 84.02 and the standard deviation is 15.008. For females, the mean score is 88.92 and the standard deviation is 9.113. The N value for each group indicates the number of observations for that group. In this case, there were 50 male and 50 female participants.

Table 3

Correlation between Spiritual Intelligence and Quality of Life among working middle-aged adults

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The table shows the correlation between SI and QoL. The correlation coefficient between SI and QoL is -0.260, which indicates a significant and negative correlation between the two variables. The p-value associated with this correlation coefficient is 0.009, which is less than 0.01, indicating that the correlation is statistically significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). This means that there is evidence to suggest that the correlation between SI and QoL is not likely due to chance, but rather reflects a true relationship between these two variables.

Table 4

Correlations between Spiritual Intelligence and Burnout among Working middle-aged adults

 The table shows the correlation between SIS and Burnout. The correlation coefficient between SIS and Burnout is 0.157. The p-value associated with this correlation coefficient is 0.116, which is greater than 0.05, indicating that the correlation is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

For SI, the t-value is -1.618 and the p-value is .109. This indicates that there is no significant difference between the mean SI scores. For Burnout, the t-value is -1.350 and the p-value is .182. This indicates that there is no significant difference between the mean Burnout scores. For QoL, the t-value is -1.973 and the p-value is .052 (just above the conventional threshold of .05). This suggests that there may be a significant difference between the mean QoL scores, but further investigation is needed to confirm this. The independent samples t-tests indicate that there is no significant difference between the mean SI and Burnout scores. There may be a significant difference between the mean QoL scores, but further analysis is needed to confirm this.

V. DISCUSSION

This study aimed to investigate the relationship between spiritual intelligence, burnout, and quality of life among middle-aged working adults. The study includes 100 participants distributed evenly between an equal number of males and females i.e. 50 each, who completed measures of spiritual intelligence, burnout, and quality of life using the reliable and valid test measures names – Spiritual Intelligence scale by KS Misra, Maslach burnout inventory and WHOQOL-BREF respectively for the undertaken variables. In Table 1, Descriptive statistics revealed that the mean score for SI was 159.47 (SD = 15.987), for burnout was 52.27 (SD = 15.452), and for QoL was 86.24 (SD = 12.748). Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between SI and QoL (r = -.260, p = .009), indicating that individuals with higher levels of SI tended to have lower levels of QoL. However, there was no significant correlation between SI and burnout (r = .157, p = .116). Further analysis was conducted to explore gender differences in SI, burnout, and QoL referring to Table 2 in accordance with H1, the Group statistics revealed that females had a higher mean score for SI (M = 161.54, SD = 17.060) compared to males (M = 156.56, SD = 13.505). On the other hand, males had a higher mean score for burnout (M = 49.76, SD = 5.923) compared to females (M = 53.64, SD = 19.446). However, there was no significant difference in the mean score for QoL between males and females. Independent samples t-test revealed no significant difference between males and females in terms of SI, burnout, and QoL. The findings of this study suggest that there is a negative relationship between SI and QoL among working middle-aged adults, referring to Table 3 in accordance with H2 indicating that higher levels of SI are associated with lower levels of QoL got rejected. However, there was no significant correlation between SI and burnout (table 4) with respect to H3. These results are consistent with previous research that suggests that spirituality may not always be a protective factor against burnout.Hypothesis H4 stated that there will be a significant relationship between all the 3 variables – SIS, quality of life, and burnout in working middle-aged adults. The table shows that there is a significant correlation at 0.01 level among all three variables. It reveals that all the 3 variables are correlated. Furthermore, gender differences were observed in SI and burnout but not in QoL. However, no significant difference was found between males and females in terms of variables.

VI. LIMITATIONS

The limitations may originate from methodology or research design limitations. The sample selected was relatively diverse with regard to geographic region. The sample size was inconsequential. It is possible that with additional time, other variables that function as factors affecting the variables would have been examined, leading to a more definitive study. Each researcher, it must be said, has a due date for doing their work. Time constraints occasionally could have a negative impact on the study.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this study found a significant negative correlation between spiritual intelligence (SI) and quality of life (QoL) among working middle-aged adults, suggesting that higher levels of SI are associated with lower levels of QoL. However, there was no significant correlation between SI and burnout. Gender differences were observed in SI and burnout, but not in QoL, with females having higher mean scores for SI and males having higher mean scores for burnout. Nonetheless, no significant difference was found between males and females in terms of SI, burnout, and QoL. Furthermore, there was a significant correlation at 0.01 level among all three variables, namely SI, burnout, and QoL. These findings have important implications for understanding the relationship between spirituality, burnout, and QoL among working middle-aged adults.

References

[1] Akbari M, Hossaini SM. The Relationship of Spiritual Health with Quality of Life, Mental Health, and Burnout: The Mediating Role of Emotional Regulation. Iran J Psychiatry. 2018 Jan;13(1):22-31. PMID: 29892314; PMCID: PMC5994229. [2] Mufti, Sarah & Saif, Ayesha & Tariq, Maryam & Tariq, Mehwish & Naz, Iram. (2019). Relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Professional Quality of Life among Professionals of University of Gujrat. European Academic Research. 4. 1527-1537. [3] Pant, Naveen & Srivastava, Sk. (2014). Effect of spiritual intelligence on mental health and quality of life among college students. 4. 208-215. [4] Pawar, Badrinaraya. (2009). Individual spirituality, workplace spirituality and work attitudes: An empirical test of direct and interaction effects. Leadership & Organization Development Journal. 30. 759-777. 10.1108/01437730911003911. [5] Pishghadam, R., Yousofi, N., Amini, A., & Tabatabayeeyan, M. S. (2022). Interplay of psychological reactance, burnout, and spiritual intelligence: A case of Iranian EFL teachers. Revista de Psicodidáctica (English ed.), 27(1), 76-85. [6] Thomas, A. D. (2023). The Relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Burnout in a Northeastern Nonprofit Human Service Organization (Doctoral dissertation, Wilmington University (Delaware)). [7] Zhaleh, Kiyana & Ghonsooly, Behzad. (2019). Investigating the Relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Burnout among EFL Teachers. 10.13140/RG.2.2.18225.74089

Copyright

Copyright © 2023 Varnika Malkoti, Dr. Zuby Hasan. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.