Spiritual Intelligence: Editorial Introduction

There has been a developing interest in spiritual intelligence from various points of view, including psychometric research and a practical self-help literature. Our approach here is primarily a theoretical one, building on the previous work of Robert Emmons. We reject the proposal that there is a separate spiritual intelligence that meets the criteria set out by Howard Gardner in his multiple intelligences framework. Nevertheless, we suggest that spiritual processing has distinctive characteristics, and that it is a deep form of processing concerned with ultimate meaning and significance. The current understanding of intelligence is tributary to a paradigm shift in the late 19th century. Spiritual intelligence connects better with earlier assumptions about intelligence, especially those found in the theological literature.