Comparing Religious, Moral, and Spiritual Intelligence as Correlates and Mediators of Death Anxiety and Life Satisfaction

Prior research highlights the buffering roles of religion, morality, and spirituality in death anxiety. However, the distinct contributions of religious, moral, and spiritual intelligence remain underexplored. This cross-sectional survey (n = 737; Age = 18–80 years, mean age = 26 years; Females = 62%) examined whether religious, moral, and spiritual intelligence mediate the relationship between death anxiety and life satisfaction, and whether these mediation pathways differ by gender through gender-stratified mediation analyses. Spiritual intelligence was the strongest buffer in death anxiety (B = −1.084, SE = .102, β = −.416, t (733) = −10.670, p < .001) and mediated fully between death anxiety and life satisfaction (indirect effect = −0.120, p < .001, 88.3% mediated). Multi-group mediation confirmed these patterns across genders. These findings highlight the central role of spiritual intelligence in sustaining wellbeing and resilience compared to moral or religious intelligence.