From Spiritual Intelligence to Psychoecological Resilience: Pathways to Ecological Sustainability

Abstract

Growing awareness of environmental change has been accompanied by ecological anxiety, a psychological response that can lead to distress, avoidance, or disengagement. This conceptual paper introduces psychoecological resilience, the capacity of individuals to adapt psychologically and behaviourally to ecological adversity, and questions which inner capacities allow such resilience to emerge. Spiritual intelligence is proposed as a foundational capacity underlying psychoecological resilience. Through meaning-making, ecological ethics, interconnectedness with nature, and transcendental awareness, spiritual intelligence is argued to support two connected pathways: adaptive coping, which helps individuals reappraise and regulate ecological stress, and sustainable behaviour, which turns care for nature into action. These pathways reinforce one another and together contribute to ecological sustainability, with psychoecological resilience appearing as the dynamic expression of this process. The paper presents a conceptual model of these relationships and discusses its implications. Future research is recommended to test this conceptual framework, thereby contributing to the growing literature on sustainable behavioural practices. By linking inner resources to outer action, the framework offers a starting point for research and practice on psychological adaptation to ecological change.