Psychological, Emotional and Social Wellbeing and Volunteering: A Study on Italian and Ukrainian University Students

Online ISSN: 2056-2969 2 Psychological, Emotional and Social Wellbeing and Volunteering: A Study on Italian and Ukrainian University Students Published in the Youth Voice Journal, November 2018 http://youthvoicejournal.com/ © IARS 2018 Submission date: 30/07/2018 Abstract Aim of the study was to assess the relationship between psychological, emotional and social wellbeing and volunteering in a sample of University students. A further aim was to assess the similarity of the relationship between these constructs in Italy and Ukraine. The sample includes 104 Italian and 122 Ukrainian University students, male and female. Results show overall higher level of social wellbeing and volunteering among the Italian students. Volunteering is positively correlated with social wellbeing in both countries. The correlation between psychological and emotional wellbeing and volunteering is stronger among the Italian students. The results confirm that the level of participation in the volunteer activities is slightly higher among the Italian students compared to the Ukrainian peers. The hypothesis of difference in types of volunteering activities between countries was not confirmed. The multiple regression analyses performed for explanation of the variance of emotional, psychological and social wellbeing, showed that, in combination with all aspects, social participation correlated in fact higher with social wellbeing than with emotional or psychological wellbeing. However, contrary to the expectations, social attitude correlated higher with emotional or psychological wellbeing. Although, overall correlations were low, most of correlation differences between social, emotional and psychological wellbeing were comparatively distinct. Results also partly supported the hypothesis concerning the correlation between social, emotional and psychological wellbeing and volunteering. Social wellbeing in the main predictor of volunteering for both nation samples, and emotional wellbeing indirectly affects volunteering of the Italian students. Findings of the research further approve the positive correlation between social wellbeing and volunteering and partly support the positive association between psychological and emotional wellbeing and volunteering in the researched samples, confirming existing conceptualization. Implication of results will be discussed.