Abstract:
Traditions of Eudaimonism and Altruism advocate helping behavior and community
engagement as sources of psychological and social wellness. Previous literature
concludes inconsistent impact of the altruistic phenomena of Service-learning and
Civic engagement in predicting psychological wellbeing in the student sample. Little
is known about their impact in Pakistan where the phenomena of Service-learning and
Civic Engagement are being prioritized alongside higher education. This research is
aimed at studying the impact of service-learning and civic engagement on the
psychological wellbeing and its components among students. 276 undergraduates
from Islamabad, in service learning (n=119) and non service learning group (n=157)
consented to participate and completed Ryff’s Psychological Wellbeing (PWBS)
Scale (Ryff, 1996) and Civic Engagement (CES) Scale (Doolittle & Faul, 2013).
Results revealed both Civic Attitude and Civic Behavior components of Civic
Engagement as significantly predicting increase in Psychological Wellbeing and its
components, except Autonomy. Service-learning remained non significant in
predicting increase in Psychological Wellbeing and its components; rather completing
the course predicted significant decrease in Personal Growth of students. Striking
gender differences in Psychological Wellbeing across Service-learning and non
Service-learning group are discussed in context of traditional gender role socialization
in the region. Limitations and recommendations for practice and research are also
discussed. These findings emphasize the need to evaluate the current service-learning
curriculum design and practice to foster psychological wellbeing in students, and
inform future research in Service-learning and role of cultural norms in dictating
Psychological Wellbeing of the two genders in Pakistani context.
