Mediating Role of Psychological Hardiness and Perceived Social Support on the Relationship between Spiritual Intelligence and Happiness in the Elderly Women

Introduction: Given the importance of happiness in old age, it is important to propose and test a multivariate model for relations between its predictor factors. In the present study, the conceptual model of the relationships between spiritual intelligence, psychological hardiness, perceived social support, and happiness was tested in elderlies. Method: The research design was correlational. A sample of two hundred and eleven old woman, were selected through convenient sampling from four cities in Mazandarn province, Iran in the summer of 2016. All participants were asked to complete the Revised Oxford Happiness Inventory, The Spiritual Intelligence Self-Report Inventory, Ahvaz Hardiness Scale, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. The suggested model was tested through covariance-based structural equation modeling and data analysis was performed using the SPSS-22 and Amos-20. Results: The mean age of the sample was 66.83 (SD= 2.72) years old. Using maximum-likelihood estimation and bootstrap procedure, results from structural equation modeling showed that in the elderly women, spiritual intelligence through the mediating role of psychological hardiness and perceived social support, had positive and significant effect on happiness (p<.05). Conclusion: According to the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that in elderly, higher levels of spiritual intelligence can predict higher happiness. Meanwhile, psychological hardness as a personal factor and perceived social support as an environmental factor can clarify the mechanism of the effect of spiritual intelligence on happiness. In other words, spiritual intelligence has a positive effect on the happiness through increasing psychological hardiness and, consequently, increasing perceived social support. These results can be used to design counseling programs for elderly people.