The motivation and social, emotional, and behavioral skill antecedents to youth volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic

Sewell, Madison Nicole

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/113840 Copy

Description

Title

The motivation and social, emotional, and behavioral skill antecedents to youth volunteering during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author(s)

Sewell, Madison Nicole

Issue Date

2021-11-19

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Napolitano, Chris

Committee Member(s)

• Perry, Michelle
• Roberts, Brent

Department of Study

Educational Psychology

Discipline

Educational Psychology

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• volunteering
• social, emotional, and behavioral skills
• motivation
• COVID-19
• adolescence

Abstract

The disruptions to community functioning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic spurred individuals to action. This empirical study investigated the motivational and social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skill antecedents of youth volunteers (N = 262) engaged in a university-wide volunteering initiative to ameliorate the negative community impacts of COVID-19. At the onset of the program, we measured motivation and eight SEB skills that the literature suggested may be associated with volunteering. Volunteering outcomes were assessed 10-weeks later. The results indicated that participants who volunteered had higher levels of perspective taking skill, abstract thinking skill, and capacity for consistency compared to those who did not track any volunteer hours. Furthermore, participants who completed the target number of hours set by the volunteering program reported higher levels of task management than participants who did not complete any volunteer hours and higher levels of stress regulation than participants who completed some volunteer hours but did not meet the benchmark. Neither altruistic motivation nor context-specific motivation was related to volunteering. These findings are the first empirical evidence suggesting that strength in particular SEB skills may be associated with civic engagement behaviors like volunteering.

Graduation Semester

2021-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/113840

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2021 Madison Sewell

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