Honors College Theses
Publication Date
4-20-2015
Major
Exercise Science (B.S.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Daniel R. Czech
Abstract
Volunteerism in the undergraduate years can enhance students’ academic development, civic responsibility, and life skills (Astin & Sax, 1998). Whether a student volunteers in high school can be a predictor of continued volunteerism in college and later in life (Planty & Regnier, 2003; Astin & Sax, 1998). Participants of this study were 283 college students enrolled in first year seminar courses at a large university in the Southeastern United States. Participants completed a questionnaire developed by Gage and Thapa (2012) which included the Volunteer Function Inventory (Clary et al. 1998) that served to investigate the volunteering characteristics and volunteering motivations of college students, as well as the relationship between volunteerism in high school, required volunteerism in high school, and volunteerism in college. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and Pearson Correlation. Results showed that there was no significant correlation between required volunteerism in high school or required volunteerism in high school and volunteerism in college. Results also indicated that students are more interested in volunteering time and skills contributions for organizations, particularly those involved in human services. On average, students scored higher on values and career motivational functions than other motivational functions.
Recommended Citation
Bastien, Amanda C., "An Examination of Volunteer Motivations and Characteristics Between Required Volunteer Service and Non-Required Volunteer Service in College Students: An Exploratory Study" (2015). Honors College Theses. 94.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/honors-theses/94
