The Relationship between Spiritual and Cultural Intelligence with Occupational Conflict in Nurses

Job involvement affects nurses' professional attitude and behavior and increases their productivity. Since spiritual intelligence and cultural intelligence are conducive to one's behavior, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between spiritual and cultural intelligence and job involvement in nurses working in Birjand teaching hospitals.

In this descriptive correlational study, 200 nurses working in Birjand teaching hospitals were selected by convenience sampling method. Data were collected using Kanungo's Job Involvement Questionnaire, King's Spiritual Intelligence Questionnaire, and the standardized and localized Cultural Intelligence Questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS 22 software.

The results showed a positive, weak, and significant correlation between spiritual intelligence ( r = 0.16, p = 0.02) and cultural intelligence ( r = 0.20, p = 0.004). Moreover, there was a positive, weak, and significant correlation between job involvement and spiritual intelligence in its personal meaning production dimension (r = 0.17, p = 0.01) and cultural intelligence in its motivational ( r = 0.24, p = 0.001) and cognitive (r = 0.24 , p = 0.001) dimensions. However, job involvement was not associated significantly with the dimensions of critical existential thinking, transcendental awareness, and spiritual state development of spiritual intelligence, and strategic and knowledge dimensions of cultural intelligence (p > 0.05).

Given the results of the study and the relationship between occupational involvement and spiritual and cultural intelligence of nurses and considering the acquisitional nature of intellectual and cultural intelligence in nurses, it is suggested that organizational managers identify and eliminate the barriers to spiritual and cultural intelligence acquisition and pave the ground for the growth of these parameters. They can enhance staff capabilities and take steps to enhance their job engagement and performance by providing relevant educational classes in this regard and by training practical ways to enhance spiritual intelligence and cultural intelligence.