Operationalized spirituality as spiritual intelligence and personal growth in school-aged adolescents: An analysis from the vivesae scale
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Keywords
Spirituality, Spiritual intelligence, Personal growth, School leadership, Adolescence, Integral education
Abstract
Spirituality, understood from a non-confessional perspective and operationalized as spiritual intelligence (SI), represents a key dimension of human development that enhances selfregulation, resilience and overall well-being during adolescence. However, its predictive influence on personal growth competencies has been scarcely explored in Latin American educational contexts. This study aimed to quantify the predictive influence of spirituality, through its internal and relational dimensions, on the development of personal competencies linked to personal growth, while adjusting for leadership conditions. A quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional, correlational-predictive design was used within a post-positivist paradigm. The sample consisted of 80 students from grades 9 to 11 enrolled in two private institutions with public agreements in Soledad, Atlántico (Colombia). The VIVESAE Scale, an original instrument theoretically grounded in Zohar and Marshall (2001), Robitschek (1998, 2012), and Bass & Avolio (1994), was validated through expert judgment (S-CVI/Ave = 0.956; AC1 = 0.908) and pilot test. Statistical analyses using SPSS and JASP 18 revealed that spirituality strongly predicted personal growth (β = 0.912; R² = .579; p < .001), remaining significant after controlling for leadership (Δ = +5.01; p = .017). The relational dimension showed a smaller, marginal effect (β = 0.223; p = .042). In the interviews (ATLAS.ti), SI–Spirituality/Meaning accounted for 62.91% of references (vs. 16.55% Personal Growth, 15.89% School Leadership, and 4.64% Applied Ethics); in the structured observation (n = 60), high rates were recorded for service/ empathy (90%), resilience (90%), conflict resolution (90%), inclusive leadership (83.3%), and ethical decisions (78.3%), with gaps in ethical language (35%) and life-project reflection (40%). This triangulated evidence indicates that higher spiritual development is associated with empathy, self-awareness, and cooperative leadership, confirming spirituality (as Spiritual Intelligence) as a significant predictor of personal growth and a formative axis to strengthen integral education in Latin America.
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William Giovanni Pacheco De Pauliz, University of the Atlantic, Colombia
University of the Atlantic – SUE Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia
Etilbia Isabel Conrado Sanjuán, University of the Atlantic, Colombia
University of the Atlantic – SUE Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia
Roberto Figueroa Jiménez, University of the Atlantic, Colombia
PhD. University of the Atlantic – SUE Caribe, Barranquilla, Colombia