Validating the Persian Integrated Spiritual Intelligence Scale within an Islamic Context

Abstract

The present study explored the reliability and construct validity of the 82-item Integrated Spiritual Intelligence Scale (ISIS) designed by Amram and Dryer (2008) in Iran. To this end the ISIS was translated into Persian by employing schema theory and administered to nine hundred and fourteen undergraduate and graduate students majoring in various fields in five universities in Mashhad. The participants’ responses were submitted to principal axis factoring and Varimax with Kaiser Normalization resulting in the extraction of twenty one factors having items with at least one acceptable loading, i.e., Holistic, Positive, Detached, Purposeful, Committed, Metaphysical, Integrative, Perceptive, Receptive, Assiduous, Fragile, Prudent, Hollow, Self-Discerning, Other-Dependent, Self-Cognizant, Materialistic, Resistant, Naturalistic, Concessional, and Sensual. While fourteen factors confirm the presence of spiritual intelligence in individuals, seven are reverse revealing its absence. Both confirmatory and reverse factors correlate significantly with each other. They also show acceptable levels of reliability whenever applicable.