Spirituality and Academic Performance: Exploring the Interplay for Students

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the association between students' spirituality level at Caraga State University and their academic performance. Spiritual health and life orientation were assessed using the Spiritual Health and Life Orientation Measure (SHALOM) developed by John Fisher, while academic performance was measured in terms of Grade-Point Average (GPA). A descriptive-correlational research design was employed, involving 366 randomly selected participants through stratified random sampling with colleges as strata. Descriptive statistics, including averages and percentages, were utilized to assess the participants' spirituality level and academic performance. Additionally, Pearson's R Correlation test was applied to investigate the relationship between spirituality and academic performance. The results indicated that the participants at Caraga State University generally exhibited good spirituality, with an average score of 4.23. Most students demonstrated very good academic performance. The study found a positive, yet weak correlation between students' spirituality and academic performance, which was not statistically significant, with a coefficient of 0.049 and a p-value of 0.347. This weak and insignificant relationship can be attributed to the majority of students having a consistently high level of spirituality. The findings suggest that promoting spirituality within the school environment remains beneficial, as it does not adversely impact education. Furthermore, spirituality appears to be non-discriminatory, as both academically-inclined and non-academically-inclined students place equal value and importance on spirituality. Therefore, fostering spirituality in the university setting may contribute positively to students' holistic development.