A study of college students involved m. community service volunteer activities found that students\u27 interpersonal values differed relative to whether they were involved through religious, Social Greek, or service organizations

Fitch, R. Thomas

English

The University of Nebraska, Omaha

University of Nebraska OmahaDigitalCommons@UNOHigher Education Service Learning1990Differences in Interpersonal Values AmongStudents Involved in Volunteer ServiceR. Thomas Fitchuniversity of georgiaFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/slcehigheredPart of the Service Learning CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the ServiceLearning at DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion inHigher Education by an authorized administrator ofDigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contactunodigitalcommons@unomaha.edu.Recommended CitationFitch, R. Thomas, "Differences in Interpersonal Values Among Students Involved in Volunteer Service" (1990). Higher Education.Paper 45.http://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/slcehighered/45Differences in Interpersonal Values A~ong Students Involved in Volunteer Service R. Thomas Fitch . 't rvice volunteer ac-A study of college students involved m com mum Y se . h h I I d.1, d relattve to w et er tivities found that students' interpersona va ues ' ,ere . t. . . S . I G ek service orgamza Ions. they were Involved through religiOUS, OC/8 re , or ·t · t'vities has received Student participation in volunteer communt Y servtce ac • increasing attention recently (Dodge, 1990). More and more campuses are establishing or expanding volunteer programs, often under the ausptces of student affairs divisions. On the national level, the Campus Compact. The Project tor Public and Community Service and the Campus Outreach Op-portunity League (COOL) have been active in promoting volunteensm on campus. . It appears that a significant minority of students are involved 1 n some type of volunteer activity at some point in their college careers. One report (In-dependent Sector, 1985) found that 43% of Americans in the age group 18-24 had volunteered in the previous 12 months. A survey of college students by the Carnegie Foundation (1984) reported that, since entering college, 29% of students had worked with a charity organization. In a stu dey at one large state university (Fitch, 1989) 16% of the students had participated in an organized volunteer activity within the previous tour weeks. Two studies based on Kohlberg's (1976) stages of moral development have shown that experience in service programs leads to greater moral develop-ment in college students. Durty (1982) followed students involved in a ser-vice program and round that they had significantly higher gains in moral development than did a control group. Gorman, Duffy, and Heffernan (1982) followed students enrolled in two courses, one which required participation in a service to the disadvantaged activity and one which had no service com-ponent. Students in the course with a service activity displayed significantly higher gains in moral development then the other students (using a pre-test/post-test control group design). A comprehensive review of the literature on personality characteristics of community volunteers was completed by Allen and Rushton (1983). They revtewed 20 studies that compared volunteers and non-volunteers and found that the former v.:ere more empathic, had more internalized moral standards. had a more poslttve attitude toward self, perceived themselves as more self-Dr. Flt~h is Assistant Professor of Counseling and Human Development Se v · u · of Georg1a, Athens, Georgia. r 1ces, mversity 36 NSLC c/o ETR Associates 4 Carbonaro Way Scotts Valley, CA 95066 :Jj '2113 efficacious and competent, and were more emotionally stable than non-volunteers. In one study involving values, Knapp and Holzberg (1 964) found that volunteers scored significantly higher than non-volunteers on the Study of Values (Allport, Vernon, & Lindzey, 1951), Religious and Social Values scales, and sigiflcantly lower on the Economic Value scale. Fitch (1987) found that college students who volunteer are not very dif-ferent from the general student population, although volunteers are also likely to be female and live on campus. Volunteers are also likely to have been influenced to volunteer by a role model in their lives (parent, teacher, friend). If campus administrators can identify the values of students involved in community service, that may provide a clue to increasing the quantity and quality of participation. Fitch (1989) found that volunteers are significantly higher than non-volunteers on the Interpersonal values of conformity and benevolence and significantly lower in· Independence. Are there different values and motivations associated with the type (vehicle) of organization through which the volunteering is accomplished? This study assesses the interpersonal values of a sample volunteers who are involved in community service activities through a variety of organizations. Method As part of a larger study on student involvement in extracurricular activities, 285 student at a large sotheastern university completed two instruments: the Survey of Interpersonal Values (SIV) (Gordon, 1976) and the Extracur-ricular Involvement Inventory (Ell) (Winston & Massaro, 1987). The SIV yields scores on six scales of interpersonal values: Support, Con-formity, Recognition, Independence, Benevolence, and Leadership. Gordon (1976, p.1) defines the scales as follows: Support (S): Being treated with understanding, receiving encouragement from other people, being treated with kindness and consideration. Conformation (C): Doing what is socially correct, following regulations closely, doing what is accepted and proper, being a conformist. Recognition (R): Being looked up to and admired, being considered im-portant, attracting favorable notice, achieving recognition. Independence (1): Having the right to do whatever one wants to do, be-Ing free to make one's own decisions, being able to do things In one's own way. Benevolence (B): Doing things for other people, sharing with others, help-ing the unfortunate, being generous. Leadership (L): Being in charge of other people, having authority over others, being In a position of leadership or power. The Ell measures both the quality and quantity of student participant in extracurricular activites. Students are asked to complete a set of questions tor each activity they have been involved in during the previous four weeks. 37 ., i . ·n volunteer com-Of the 285 students in the sample, 45 were mvolved. 1 ns through which rnunlty service activities. It was apparent that the organlzatlo ategories: (1) the involvement occurred could be easily divided into thr?e c I< Alpha Phi thos . · · · (eg Crrcle • e organizations whose marn functron rs servrce .' ·• rdinates various Ornega, the institution's umbrella volunteer group whrch coo Student Union, service activities), (2) religious organizations (e.g ... the Baptls~ose main func-t~e ~esleyan Foundation), and (3) Sacral Greek groups w vice activities. t•on IS not service but who do sponsor some communrty ser ·t th o gh a All students in the sample were Involved in a volunteer act! VI Y r. u 1 c h . d' 1 d volunteer rnvo ve-arnpus-related organization. Seven students w o rn rca e d rnent through an off-campus group were not included in the stu/ 1 d'f The research hypothesis for this study was: there are no srgnr rca.n. 1 -ferences among students Involved in community service thr.ough rehgrous organizations, social Greek organizations, and service organrzatrons on the following interpersonal values: A_ Support B_ Conformity C_ Recognition D_ Independence E- Benevolence F_ Leadership The hypothesis was tested in the null form. A series of six one way (1 X 3) analyses of variance (ANOVAs) was run with the type of organization as the independent variable and one of the SIV scales as the dependent variable for each ANOVA. Post-hoc !-tests were performed on each ANOVA with significance at the .05 level of probability. Results Of the 45 students Involved in volunteer community service, 16 (36%) did so through service organizations, 13 (29%) through social Greek organiza-tions, 10 (22 %) through religious organizations, and 6 (13 %) through some combination of the three. The average amount of time spent in volunteer ser-vice was 7.05 hours per student for the four weeks previous to completing the ElL For the purpose of analysis, the combination group of six students was not used_ The ANOVAs revealed no statistically significant differences among the three groups for the scales of Support, Conformity, or Leadership. Signifi-cant differences were found for the scales of Recognition, Independence and Benevolence. A summary of the six ANOVAS is reported in Table 1 The post-hoc !-tests which were performed for each AN OVA with ~ignifi­cant differences revealed that each of the three vehicles (groups) for involve-ment was signlflca~tly higher than the other two on one scale. The social Greek group was hrgher on Recognition, the service group was higher on Independence, and the religious group was higher on Benevolence. These results are reported rn Table 2. Discussion and Practical Implications If institutions of higher education and student affairs professionals accept the premise that volunteer community service is a valuable experience for college students, this study may have important Implications for improving the quality and quantity of student involvement in service activities. Students may become involved in volunteer activities through a variety of avenues or vehicles. This study revealed involvement through three types of organizations, each with a different purpose and focus. The values of in-volved students were different depending upon the type of organization (or vehicle) through which the service was accomplished. The higher score on the Recognition scale of the SIV tor the students In-volved through social Greek groups implies that these students are more likely to value being admired and attracting favorable notice. In addition to other reasons tor service involvement, it appears that members of Greek organizations may be Involved because they see service activities as pro-viding them with the favorable recognition they value. Student affairs profes-sional.s should be aware of this in promoting service through these organiza-tions, perhaps by providing some type of formal recognition and campus-wide reward system for service involvement by Greek students. The students involved through organizations that have service as a primary purpose scored higher than did the others on the Independence scale. This is congruent with the nature of some such organizations, which serve as coor-dinating bodies for service activities. These volunteers are allowed to serve with a high degree of independence; there is often little group cohesion or contact in such organizations. Institutions may choose to structure such um-brella coordinating bodies'so that the Independence of volunteers and poten-tial volunteers is preserved. This type of arrangement allows students to choose the time and manner of involvement without restrictions that may limit a sense of independence. The higher Benevolence score for students involved through religious groups Is understandable given the emphasis on serving others in many religious organizations and denominations. This Is also congruent with the demographic finding in one study (Fitch, 1989) that students who give a higher rating to the lmportanct of religion in their lives are more likely to be in ser-vice type activities. Certainly, institutions affiliated with religious denominations have student religious organizations, and most secular institutions also allow religious stu-dent groups to operate on campus, although with varying degrees of official recognlstion. Regardless of the type of institution, student affairs professionals can encourage service involvement of this type through an appreciation for the diversity that religious organizations provide to a campus environment. Further research on student involvement in community service Is a necessi-ty. This study It limited by Its small sample size but the statistically signifi-cant results point toward Important Implications for institutions interested In 39 providing an environment which rewards such involvement. Today's college student is sophisticat~d enough to realize whether his or her Institution values volunteer service or merely pays lip service to the idea. It is our challenge and responsibility as student development educators to strive for campus environments which reflect humanitarian values. Note: Campus Compact can be contacted at Box G, Brown University Provi-dence, Rl, 02912. COOL can be contacted at 180 18th St. NW, Suite 705, Washington, DC, 20006. References Allen, N.J., & Rushton, J.P. (1983). Personality characteristics of community mental health volunteers: A review. Journal of Voluntary Action Research, 12 (1), 36-49. Allport, G.W., Vernon, P.E., & Lindzey, G. (1951). A study of values. Cam-bridge, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching (1986). Carnegie survey of undergraduates. Washington, DC: Author. Dodge, S. (1990). Colleges urge students to do community service work; some even require it. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 36 (38), 1. Duffy, J.P. (1982). Service programs: Do they make a difference? Momen-tum, October, 33-35. Fitch, A.T. (1989). Differences among community service volunteers, extracur-ricular volunteers and non-volunteers on the college campus. Unpublish-ed manuscript. Fitch, R.T. (1987). Characteristics and motivations of college student com-munity service volunteers. Journal of College Student Personnel, 28, 424-431. LV. (1976). Survey of interpersonal values: Examiner's manual. (2d ed.). Chicago: Science Research Associates. , M., Duffy, J., & Heffernan, M. (1982). Service experiences and the -moral development of college students. (ERIC Document Reproduction SenJI/c 'e No. ED 233 173). Boston:' Boston College. Sector (1985). Americans volunteer 1985. Washington, DC: (1976). Moral stages and moralization: The cognitive-approach. In T. Lickona (Ed.), Moral development and York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. J.D. (1964). Characteristics of college students service to mental patients. Journal of Consulting ~assaro. A.V. (1987). Extracurricular involvement !oven-assessing intensity of student involvement. Journal •rsormel, 28, 169-175. Table 1. Summary of Analyses of Variance for Vehicle of Service Activity Involvement: SIV Scales Source dl MeanSquare F·Ratlo p Support Scale Vehicle of Involvement 2 17.23 0.84 .45 Error 36 20.63 Conformity Scale Vehicle of Involvement 2 3.95 0.15 .86 Error 36 26.64 Recognition Scale Vehicle of Involvement 2 181.77 7.04 .00 Error 36 25.81 Independence Scale Vehicle of Involvement 2 206.01 5.07 .01 Error 36 40.60 Benevolence Scale Vehicle of Involvement 2 244.25 8.27 .00 Error 36 29.55 Leadership Scale Vehicle of Involvement 2 31.78 0.85 .44 Error 36 37.34 41 ..,. , Service = 17.95 Religious = 17.88 Service = 18.44 Religious = 12.40 Service = 18.94 Rel"lgious = 26.00 Table 2 Post-hoc t·test for SIV Scales with Significant Differences onANOVAs Recognition Means Religious = 17.88 Greek = 20.78 t df p t df 0.28 24 0.78 ·3.15 27 ·3.77 21 Independence Means Religious = 1 7.88 Greek = 11 .46 t df p t df 2.45 24 0.02 2.85 27 0.35 21 Benevolence Means Religious = 26.00 Greek = 17.08 t df p t df -3.94 24 0.00 0.83 27 4.48 21 p 0.00 0.00 p 0.01 0.73 p 0.42 0.00 

Differences in Interpersonal Values Among Students Involved in Volunteer Service

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Differences in Interpersonal Values Among Students Involved in Volunteer Service

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