The State of Moral Intelligence of Medical Students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2022

Background: Recently, new dimensions have been recognized in the field of intelligence. One of the most important of these is moral intelligence, which has not been extensively addressed in Iran. Objectives: Moral intelligence represents the mental capacity of individuals to relate universal human principles to their values, goals, and actions. It guides all other types of human intelligence towards performing valuable work. Methods: The current descriptive cross-sectional study involved a statistical population of medical students, with a sample size of 248 people selected through random and available sampling methods. To collect data, the standard moral intelligence questionnaire by Lennik, Keel, and Jordan was used. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS-21 software, employing both descriptive and inferential statistics, including Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results: The total score of students' moral intelligence was 76.29 ± 9.80, which is evaluated as good. The area of honesty had the highest score (81.2), while the area of empathy had the lowest score (70.3). Among the indexes, keeping promises scored the highest (93.6), and admitting mistakes and omissions scored the lowest (70.5). Scores were higher among women and married individuals, and moral intelligence scores increased with advancing academic semesters. However, there were no significant differences overall, except that the empathy field had a significant relationship with age (P = 0.031), and gender had a significant relationship with the overall score of moral intelligence (P = 0.041). Conclusions: According to the total moral intelligence score of the students, which was 76.29 ± 9.80, it was determined that the moral intelligence status among the medical students of Kermanshah Medical School is in good condition.