The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between the satisfaction and personality of student-counseling volunteers.
To achieve this purpose, personality test and the test of the satisfaction in volunteer service were conducted to 3...
The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between the satisfaction and personality of student-counseling volunteers.
To achieve this purpose, personality test and the test of the satisfaction in volunteer service were conducted to 310 volunteers who are registered in the Student-Counseling Volunteer's Association of Changwon-si, Gyeongsangnam-do. Of these 310 volunteers, responses from 296 were analyzed to reveal the following:
First, of the sub-factors composing student-counseling volunteer's personality, the highest scoring sub-factor was conscientiousness, followed by agreeableness. The lowest scoring subfactor, on the other hand, was neuroticism. In terms of the percentage of the respondents, conscientiousness accounts for 31.8%, 24.3% for agreeableness, and lowly 1.4% for neuroticism. In the verification of differences between personality and general matters of the individual, there is significant differences in agreeableness according to duration of volunteer service and volunteer experience at other institutions; in conscientiousness according to education background; in openness to experience according to education background and duration of volunteer service; in extraversion according to religion; in neuroticism according to volunteer experience at other institutions.
Second, the satisfaction of student-counseling volunteer was fairly high. Of the satisfaction sub-factors, the highest scoring sub-factor was need to experience, followed by need for social contact, need to express social responsibility, need for social approval in that order. By contrast, the lowest scoring sub-factor was need to provide future returns. In the verification of differences between the satisfaction and general matters of the individual, the duration of volunteer service and volunteer experience at other institutions makes significant differences in the satisfaction. So volunteers of four or more years of volunteer service and volunteer experience at other institutions showed the highest satisfaction.
Third, the relationship between personality and the satisfaction in volunteer services statistically had no significant difference in the verification. But the satisfaction of volunteers with extraversion was the highest. The satisfaction of volunteers with two or more personalities was also high, but the other sub-factors similarly have a relatively low effect on the satisfaction.
As for the correlation between personality sub-factors and the satisfaction, agreeableness and the satisfaction revealed a significant and high positive correlation. While conscientiousness, openness to experience, and extraversion also revealed a significant and relatively low positive correlation with the satisfaction in volunteer services, neuroticism showed no significant correlation with the satisfaction.
Of the five personalities, those which affect the satisfaction the most are in order of agreeableness, extraversion, and openness to experience, indicating 24.6% explanatory power.
Implications of these research are as follows:
Unlike the existing methods, a new method of testing that utilizes 5-factor personality traits can be applied to a defined group consisting of volunteer counselors. Through this new method individual personalities, the relationship between the satisfaction and personality, and factors influencing the satisfaction can be identified. Thereby the range of generalization in counseling volunteer's research was widened. In addition, needs of student-counseling volunteers can be identified through the degree of satisfaction in each satisfaction sub-factor, and then this data can be used in considering how to recruit, educate, and arrange a new student-counseling volunteer and to increase volunteer's activity efficiency and the satisfaction.