ERIC Number: EJ990174
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Aug
Pages: 12
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0090-4392
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Available Date: N/A
Sense of Cohesion among Community Activists Engaging in Volunteer Activity
Levy, Drorit; Itzhaky, Haya; Zanbar, Lea; Schwartz, Chaya
Journal of Community Psychology, v40 n6 p735-746 Aug 2012
The present article attempts to shed light on the direct and indirect contribution of personal resources and community indices to Sense of Cohesion among activists engaging in community volunteer work. The sample comprised 481 activists. Based on social systems theory, three levels of variables were examined: (1) inputs, which included personal resources (self-esteem, sense of mastery, and sense of coherence); (2) throughputs, which included community indices (organizational commitment, leadership competence, and representation); and (3) outputs, i.e., change in the community which enhances community cohesion. Path analysis revealed interesting results: organizational commitment, representation, and leadership competence fully mediated between self-esteem and community cohesion; and sense of coherence had a direct positive association with organizational commitment. Moreover, sense of mastery and sense of coherence contributed directly to community cohesion. The Discussion presents an analysis of these findings. (Contains 1 figure.)
Descriptors: Social Systems, Path Analysis, Systems Approach, Volunteers, Activism, Change Agents, Predictor Variables, Social Cognition, Group Dynamics, Social Change, Extraversion Introversion, Interpersonal Competence, Questionnaires, Community Characteristics, Individual Characteristics, Community Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Adult Basic Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
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Author Affiliations: N/A