Helping Attitude among NSS Volunteers and Non-Volunteer Adolescent Students

Abstract

This study examined the differences in the helping attitudes of adolescent students. Samples were selected through purposive sampling. The samples were adolescent students. The primary aim is to know about the effect of volunteerism on helping attitudes. The secondary aim is to know about gender differences in helping attitudes. Samples of volunteering students were taken from NSS volunteers of different higher secondary schools in the Thrissur district of Kerala, non-volunteering students were also taken from the same institutes. Samples consist of 200 higher secondary school students 100 from the male and female population, also 100 each from volunteering and non-volunteering students. The prediction was adolescent male students and adolescent female students show a significant difference in helping attitudes. And also, volunteering and non-volunteering adolescent shows deference in helping attitude. The scale used to measure helping attitude is Gary S. Nickell Helping Attitude scale (HAS). The data were subjected to Mean and ANOVA. The study revealed that female adolescents possess a better helping attitude than male adolescents. It was also found that volunteering adolescent students and non-volunteering adolescent students do not differ significantly on helping attitude. Also found that volunteering and non-volunteering female adolescent students have better helping attitudes as compared to volunteering/non-volunteering male counterparts. NSS volunteers are expected to have more positive attitudes, thus results show no difference between common students and volunteers, so implementing pieces of training for NSS volunteers for making them more prosocial is needed.