Gender-specific differences in motivations, perceptions of barriers, and emotional responses in volunteering among secondary school students

Abstract

Volunteering among secondary school students is a key context for civic engagement and personal development. Grounded in self-determination and gender socialisation theory, this quantitative study examined gender differences in volunteering among adolescents from the Dolna Orava region (Slovak Republic). A randomly selected sample of 639 students (262 males, 377 females; 14-20 years old) from all five local secondary schools completed a self-constructed questionnaire that assessed volunteering motivation, perceived barriers, and emotional responses related to volunteering. Non-normality (Kolmogorov-Smirnov) justified nonparametric analysis (Mann-Whitney U). Females showed significantly higher volunteering motivation than males and reported a higher perception of barriers. Regarding emotions, females scored higher on positive connotations (admiration, respect, satisfaction), while males scored higher on negative connotations (envy, repulsion, fear). All reported differences were statistically significant (typically p < 0.001). These findings suggest that targeted school- and community-based interventions should consider gender-specific dynamics when fostering youth volunteering. As data were collected exclusively in the Dolna Orava region, results are preliminary and not generalisable beyond this area.