There has been an increasing trend among companies to hire business executives from a variety of streams, especially from the broad stream of humanities and social sciences, and not just the stream of management and business studies. This reflects the increasing awareness about the role of multiple perspectives on the functioning of businesses. In such a scenario, individuals should be assessed in terms of multiple intelligence characteristics, rather than measuring them unidimensionally in terms of Intelligence Quotient (IQ). This study focuses on understanding the demographic patterns of multiple intelligence characteristics amongst postgraduate management students. It also considers the factor structure of multiple intelligence characteristics to assess their interrelationships.

Intelligence has always been accorded an important place in the area of research. Studies on beliefs about intelligence span over the late 19th and early 20th centuries (Romanes, 1892; Baldwin, 1895; and Hobhouse, 1915). Galton (1870) was perhaps the first psychologically-oriented scientist to try to measure the intellect directly.

During the following half century, many of the most gifted and influential psychologists concerned themselves with the nature of human intelligence. Binet and Simon (1916) and Terman (1916) developed the first general purpose intelligence tests. Yerkes et al. (1915) and Wechsler (1939) created their own influential instruments. By the late 1970s, there was emphasis on theoretical and research aspects of intelligence (Sternberg, 1977; 1982; and 1985; Dehn and Schank, 1982; Scarr and Carter-Salzman, 1982; Snow, 1982; Baron, 1985; Brown and Campione, 1986; Hunt, 1986; and Jensen, 1986). The concept of intelligence has been the subject-matter of research for long and still continues to be relevant.

Arguing that ‘reason, intelligence, logic and knowledge are not synonymous’, Gardner (1983) proposed a new view of intelligence. In his Theory of Multiple Intelligences, Gardner (1983; 1987a; and 1987b; and Walters and Gardner, 1985) expounded the concept of intelligence to include such areas as music, spatial relations and interpersonal knowledge in addition to mathematical and linguistic ability, and formulated a list of seven intelligences. This new outlook on intelligence differs greatly from the traditional view which usually recognizes only two intelligences, verbal and computational. According to Gardner (1983), the seven intelligences are described below.

Logical-mathematical intelligence consists of the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.

Linguistic intelligence involves having a mastery of language. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively manipulate language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically. It also allows one to use language as a means to remember information.

Organizational Behavior Journal, Non-Governmental Organizations, NGOs, Service Orientation, Community-Based Organizations, Human Resources, Environmental Protection, Training Programs, Performance Management, Financial Management, Fund Raising Techniques, Nonresidential Training Programs, Performance Measurement.