Identity and Self -Efficacy Development of Adolescents in an Adult Sponsored Volunteer Program

The purpose of this study was to fill a current gap in the literature on the impacts of adolescents' participation in adult sponsored volunteer programs on identity formation and self-efficacy. Data were collected from 28 adolescents in grades 7-12 enrolled in an 11-week summer adult sponsored volunteer program. Participants completed pre-and posttest measures that included the Identity Style Inventory-Grade 6 (ISI-6G), the fidelity subscale of the Psychosocial Inventory of Ego Strength (PIES), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The current study proposed five hypotheses: (1) adolescents who participate in an adult sponsored volunteer program will have higher levels of the informational style of identity posttest compared to pretest; (2) adolescents who participate in an adult sponsored volunteer program will have lower levels of normative and diffuse/avoidant identity styles posttest compared to pretest; (3) adolescents who participate in an adult sponsored volunteer program will have higher levels of commitment posttest compared to pretest; (4) adolescents who participate in an adult sponsored volunteer program will have higher levels of the ego strength of fidelity posttest compared to pretest; and (5) adolescents who participate in an adult sponsored volunteer program will have higher levels of self-efficacy posttest compared to pretest. The results indicated significant findings for identity orientation, commitment, fidelity, and self-efficacy supporting hypothesis 1, 3, 4, and 5; whereas, hypothesis 2 was found to be non-significant. Additionally, the reliability of the measures assured accurate assessment of the measures. These findings make it plausible that adult sponsored volunteer programs support positive identity development and increased self-efficacy of adolescents.

Name thesis:degree_name

MA

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Learning Sciences and Human Development

Year dc:date.available

2011

Author dc:creator

• Webster, Amanda

Contributors dc:contributor

• Carol Markstrom.
• Jessica Troilo
• Nancy Wolfe-Dilgard

• Educational psychology

Identifier

https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/828

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchrepository.wvu.edu:etd-1831