Die Begriffe „Ehrenamt“ und „Bürgerschaftliches Engagement“ werden oft als Synonyme benutzt. Das Ehrenamt ist im Kern eine bürgerliche Einrichtung des 19. Jahrhunderts, um angesehenen und gut situierten Bürgern öffentliche Aufgaben ohne Honorar für das Gemeinwohl zu übertragen (vgl. Freiwilligenarbeit und private Wohlfahrtskultur in historischer Perspektive, in: A. Zimmer u.a.: Engagierte Bürgerschaft. Traditionen und Perspektiven. Opladen 2000). Bürgerschaftliches Engagement ist hingegen ein Überbegriff und benennt die Gesamtheit freiwilligen Engagements für oder auch gegen etwas.

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The aim of this Master's thesis is to describe the motives and opinions on volunteering among university students, whether they volunteer or not. The theoretical part deals with the basic concepts and the most important information from this area and form the basis for practical part of this thesis. The practical part is processed by a questionnaire and focuses on the situation in volunteering among university students and detects whether there is any link between chosen subject of study and relation to volunteering. In the final summary of the research and thesis the benefits of thesis are evaluated and recommendations for practice are formulated.

Volunteering and service-learning (a pedagogical practice that combines volunteering with university-level courses) are associated with positive academic, psychological, and prosocial development in university students. Taking part in service-learning and volunteering is generally assumed to contribute to student development (Chapter 1), although little is known about students’ characteristics on entry into service-learning, specifically in comparison to volunteering or non-volunteering students. Characteristics of students who participate in service-learning or volunteering are shaped by institutional factors (Chapter 2) and are in turn related to developmental outcomes (Chapter 3). The unique motives for university student volunteering, particularly self-oriented motives such as career and understanding have likewise received little attention (Chapter 4). This thesis is structured in five chapters. Chapter 1 is an overview of key theoretical and practical issues in volunteering and service-learning research, including volunteering and service-learning in Canada and at the University of Ottawa. Chapter 2 is a study of 266 university students enrolled in developmental psychology courses offering elective service-learning. A model of institutional structuring of volunteering and service-learning was developed to examine students’ characteristics at entry into service. The study identified a novel subset of service-learners (service-learners with no prior volunteering engagement) that have yet to be examined in the literature. Chapter 3 is a longitudinal study, using the same sample as Chapter 2, testing developmental change using multi-level linear modelling (students nested in courses) to examine academic, psychological, and prosocial change over one semester, however, few changes were found. Chapter 4 examined volunteering motivations and prosocial tendencies among 270 undergraduate students, with the goal of testing the impact of motivations on wellbeing. Supporting past research, the study demonstrated that other-oriented volunteer motives are associated with well-being, however, some self-oriented volunteer motives (career and understanding motives) were positively associated with well-being contrary to expectations and previous research. Chapter 5 integrates the overall findings from each chapter in a general discussion, exploring: novel contributions of this thesis to the research literature, theoretical and practical issues raised in this dissertation, the connection between results and issues raised in the research literature, and limitations of the results with suggestions for future directions.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This dissertation contains three essays examining empathy and its implications for prosocial behavior and arts engagement. Empathy here refers to both compassion and concern for others (emotional empathy) and the understanding of the feelings and needs of others (cognitive empathy). Empathy is fundamental to our social life, and this dissertation explores its implications for two essential components of social life: prosocial behavior and arts engagement. Chapter 2 examines how three dimensions of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI; Davis, 1983)—empathic concern, perspective taking, and personal distress—are associated with charitable giving, and whether these associations vary across charitable causes. Using data from a nationally representative sample of American adults, the study confirms that the three IRI dimensions are associated with charitable giving in different ways. Chapter 3 focuses on the interplay of trait empathy and people’s tendencies to diversify (spread out) their prosocial behavior. By analyzing data from two samples of American adults, this study reveals that people with higher empathic concern (emotional empathy) versus higher perspective taking (cognitive empathy) have distinct patterns in how they spread out their monetary gifts, but trait empathy is not associated with the distribution of time spent in helping others.

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Young adults benefit from forming meaningful relationships with older adults through participation in intergenerational programs. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of an intergenerational volunteer program with people living with dementia on various university student characteristics. During an eight to twelve-month period, university students connected virtually or in person with a person living with dementia residing in the community or within a long-term care facility. Six scales were administered to assess changes in empathy, mood, psychological well-being, sensitivity to justice, and attitudes towards older adults and community service. Results demonstrated that young adults experienced adverse challenges during their volunteering experiences which could be attributed to impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the challenges, students were able to reduce their negative attitudes towards older adults. Findings generated from this study enhance our understanding of university students’ experiences volunteering virtually in meaningful one-on-one continued interaction with a person living with dementia although more research is still needed under less stressful global crises.

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This thesis investigates the effect that a variety of demographic, educational, cognitive, and health-related variables have on civic engagement. Civic engagement is defined as a combination of frequency of volunteering and feelings of political efficacy. International survey data from 34 countries are used to provide a cross-national view of the predictors of civic engagement. We use canonical correlation analysis to investigate the widespread effects of predictor variables on both facets of civic engagement (volunteering and political efficacy) and the effects that are linked to only one facet. Furthermore, we use country-level socio-demographic data to link patterns of civic engagement of potentially marginalised groups to the representation those groups have at the community level and the political level. Our results highlight the importance of cognitive skills and skill building resources in supporting engaged citizens: literacy skill, numeracy skill, educational attainment, and number of books in the home are found to be strong predictors of civic engagement across all countries. The present thesis contributes to knowledge by employing a common measure of civic engagement across all countries, using an analysis method that allows and accounts for variance shared by multiple facets of civic engagement, and by investigating civic engagement across a wide variety of countries. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / This thesis investigates the factors that affect how involved someone is in their community or society. This involvement is known as civic engagement, which we define as a combination of levels of volunteering and political efficacy (the belief that one can affect politics). A wide variety of potential influencing factors are considered, including literacy and numeracy level, education, health level, and immigration and language background. We use data from an international survey to investigate the effects of these variables on levels of civic engagement in 34 countries. We use a statistical method that highlights how our variables of interest influence civic engagement as a whole, and how the variables specifically influence levels of volunteering or political efficacy. By analyzing the effects of the variables across diverse countries and measures of civic engagement, we shed new light on the factors that promote civic engagement around the world.

Few countries can boast of having the culture of volunteering seen in the United States. In explaining this phenomenon, many empirical studies have found religiosity significant in predicting volunteering behaviors among young adults, adults, and the elderly. However, teens (13 – 17 years) have not attracted much attention from researchers, though they possess the time and resources most needed to volunteer. Using data from the National Study on Youth and Religion (NSYR) Wave 1, this study examines the relationship between volunteering and teens’ private (religious salience and religious experience) and collective religiosity (religious tradition, church attendance, and youth group participation). Parental variables and teen demographics are also tested using a three-stage ordinal logistic regression. Regarding individual religiosity, the results suggested a significant relationship between teens’ religious experiences and volunteering. In addition, parents can induce volunteering by encouraging their teens to volunteer and participate in religious youth groups.