Social Factors Related with Students’ Attitudes Towards Participating in Volunteer Work

Abstract

The study aimed to identify the social factors associated with students' attitudes towards volunteering, through exploring the extent of participants' involvement in volunteer work, identifying participants' attitudes towards volunteering, and identifying the social factors that affect participants' participation in volunteer work. The study was conducted on a purposive sample of 200 male and female undergraduate students majoring in Social Work and sociology at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University. A survey method was used to collect data. The results showed that: 52% of the participants reported previous involvement in volunteer work, 73% reported searching for volunteer opportunities and positive inclination towards volunteering. 70% of the participants had positive cognitive, behavioral, and affective attitudes towards volunteering, with female students being more inclined towards volunteering than male students. 96% of the participants believed that volunteer work was important for the community, and 93.5% reported feeling satisfied when thinking about or engaging in volunteer work. 55% of the participants sought to receive a certificate of appreciation for their volunteer work, and 64.5% preferred to receive moral incentives for their volunteering. The study recommends investing in young people's time to participate in volunteer work, encouraging and motivating participants to engage in volunteer work, honoring participants who engage in volunteer work, making volunteer work a requirement for graduation, and activating volunteer work within the university.