Abstract
This research explored the relationships among spiritual intelligence (SI), altruism, ethnocentrism, and intercultural willingness to communicate (IWTC), and how these related to the intention to help a culturally different stranger. Controlling for gender and age, the findings for the 281 student participants’ responses revealed that those with higher levels of SI tended to have higher levels of altruism and higher levels of IWTC. Regarding the intention to help, higher levels of altruism were linked to lower avoidance of interacting with a stranger while higher levels of ethnocentrism were linked to a greater likelihood of leaving without acting to help.
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank our reviewers for their thoughtful feedback, which helped us to clarify and develop this manuscript.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Kathleen D. Clark
Kathleen D. Clark (PhD, The Ohio State University) is an associate professor in the School of Communication at the University of Akron, Akron, OH, USA.
Yang Lin
Yang Lin (PhD, University of Oklahoma) is a professor in the School of Communication, University of Akron.
Virginia Maher
Virgina Maher is a master’s student in the School of Communication, University of Akron.