Search Results (8)

The motivational dimensions of volunteer tourists have been a focal point of scholarly debate, closely aligning with their prosocial orientations. Limited attention has been given to examining these relationships through the lens of identity formation among young tourists. To address this gap, this study conducted a two-wave longitudinal investigation into the linkage between volunteer tourists’ self-determined motivation and their prosocial orientation, with identity processing styles serving as a mediator. The sample (n = 291) consisted of freshmen and sophomores participating in a volunteer teaching program during the summer of 2024. We measured the variables of interest both before and after their attendance. In addition to direct effects, our findings observed two significant indirect pathways: (1) Wave 1 autonomous motivation was positively associated with an informational identity style at Wave 1, which predicted Wave 2 other-oriented helping tendency; and (2) Wave 1 controlled motivation was positively related to a normative identity style at Wave 1, which accounted for self-oriented helping propensity at Wave 2. Furthermore, the first relationship was uni-directional, as the coefficient for the reverse pathway (i.e., Wave 1 other-oriented helping → Wave 1 informational identity style → Wave 2 autonomous motivation) was not significant. In contrast, the second relationship was bi-directional, wherein Wave 1 self-oriented helping was positively associated with a normative identity style at Wave 1, which subsequently predicted Wave 2 controlled motivation. Taken together, our study contributes to the literature on altruistic motives, prosocial behavior, identity development, and volunteer tourism. Full article

With the HEXACO model of personality, this study examined the relationship between HEXACO traits (i.e., honesty–humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience) and teaching commitment among 2031 Chinese pre-service teachers. The results show that all HEXACO traits positively predicted teaching commitment, with extraversion and agreeableness being the most pronounced predictors. Also, this study investigated whether teaching motivation, including intrinsic motivation, altruistic motivation, and extrinsic motivation, could explain the relationship between HEXACO traits and teaching commitment. The results supported the mediational role of teaching motivation, with intrinsic motivation showing the strongest mediational effect. For extraversion and openness to experience, a full mediation model was supported, while for the other four HEXACO traits, a partial mediation model was validated. The theoretical and practical implications of this study for teacher education are discussed. Full article

In the current study, we evaluated the students’ foreign language lexical and grammatical skills in the course based on the peer teaching methodology and analyzed the effect of their altruistic and egoistic behaviors on learning results. This experiment was conducted in a groups of senior students majoring in linguistics. The total number of participants accounted for 197 students (101 students in reference groups and 96 in exposure groups); the difference between the reference and exposure groups was that the undergraduates in the latter were to prepare a fragment of a lesson, create exercises, and act in the capacity of a teacher during the course. To evaluate students’ foreign language lexical and grammatical skills, the diagnostic test was conducted at the beginning and at the end of the experiment. Apart from comparing the diagnostic and final tests, we also circulated a questionnaire which checked the students’ egoistic and altruistic tendencies. The data appeared to be quite noisy; therefore, we processed them with a tool which proves effective when it comes to solving such problems, i.e., neural networks. According to the results on learning outcomes, students improved their English proficiency in the exposure groups to a greater extent than in the reference groups. At the same time, the results of the psychological tests revealed that the higher the students’ training level, the less altruistic they are. Also, it was detected that the more altruistic learners’ progress in outcomes was higher than those of the more selfish students, regardless of the way in which the learning process was organized. Moreover, the statistical data proved the efficiency of the peer teaching methodology for students’ majoring in linguistics, despite their psychological characteristics. Full article

The second language acquisition (SLA) field has recently seen heightened interest in the study and application of positive psychology (PP). Emotion regulation is one of the concepts that has been stressed in PP. Several studies in PP have delved into how controlling one’s emotions improves second language learning/teaching. One of the concepts that has slipped the minds of researchers in the field is altruistic teaching. Unlike egocentric acts, altruistic teaching acts are performed to improve others’ well-being. Despite their importance in causing positive emotional effects, no study has investigated the impact of altruistic teaching acts on learners’ emotion regulation. To bridge this gap, the present study sought to investigate the effect of learners’ altruistic teaching on their emotion regulation. The study followed a sequential explanatory comparison group pre-test–post-test design. One hundred forty-one English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners were recruited for this intervention study and were divided into experimental and control groups. Learners in the experimental group performed altruistic teaching by teaching their peers how to write essays in English, whereas learners in the control group did group work tasks on English essay writing. The results of independent-sample t-tests and repeated-measures ANOVA showed that altruistic teaching significantly impacts EFL learners’ emotion regulation. The results of qualitative data pointed to five themes, including enjoyment, self-esteem, bonding, devotion, and progress. Overall, the results suggested that altruistic teaching impacts learners’ emotion regulation by enhancing their enjoyment, self-esteem, bonding, devotion, and progress. The paper has theoretical and pedagogical implications for SLA research and practice. Full article

Teachers, particularly in developing contexts, were vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic. As natural parental figures for students, they had to reconcile the dual role of ensuring the safety and health of students and their own and their family’s well-being. The external crisis of COVID-19 heightened the negative experiences of teachers in their work environments during both online and physical instruction. This qualitative phenomenological study involving thirty (30) secondary school teachers in Ghana took a comprehensive and fresh look at how COVID-19 impacted the work motivation of teachers. It was found that teachers suffered a great deal of stress in the wake of the pandemic and had to face mounting concerns about their working conditions. The low morale of teachers precipitated by COVID-19 made them develop attrition intentions. However, intrinsic and altruistic traits such as passion, the feeling of responsibility, and the desire to contribute to society and foster student development made teachers resilient towards the deleterious effects of the pandemic to promote optimal teaching. Future studies should investigate the installation of support structures that strengthen the motivation of teachers in unforeseen crises. Full article

In addition to teaching and research, the “third mission” has become one of the major societal challenges faced by higher education institutions worldwide. This is related to the university’s efforts to contribute to the economic and social development of the community in which they operate. One of the major concepts focused on this issue is university social responsibility (USR). This study aimed to compare students’ perceptions of and attitude toward USR in two different countries, India and Croatia, and contribute to the research gap in cross-cultural aspects of USR. Since students are the most important stakeholders of the university and today’s students are known as Generation Z–altruistic, caring about the environment and social issues on one hand, and knowing that social responsibility is highly contextual regarding environment—it makes sense to study and compare students from two different countries. The research was conducted at Indian and Croatian universities, with a sample of 1340 respondents. It is based on Carroll’s pyramid of social responsibility regarding levels of USR (economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic) and the ISO 26000 standards regarding areas of USR. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, correlation, and regression analysis indicated some differences in perceptions of USR in the two countries but also the significant impact of knowledge about USR and having a course on social responsibility built into the curriculum on perceptions and attitude toward USR. The results show that universities in both countries need to focus on their third mission—specifically, contributing to local community development in creating their USR policies. Full article

Although both altruistic and ecological behaviors can be considered prosocially driven behaviors, our psychological understanding of what motivates action in either the human or ecological domains is still in its infancy. We aimed to assess connection to nature and connection to humans as mediators of the relationship between prosocial propensity and prosocial behaviors in both the ecological and human domains. This study used empathy as an indicator of an individual’s prosocial propensity. The data for the study was collected through surveys in Russian (841 participants) and Spanish (418 participants). The study demonstrated that an individual’s prosocial propensity can be actioned into ecological (nature-related) behavior through connection to nature. Similarly, an individual’s prosocial propensity can be actioned into altruistic (human-related) behavior through connection to humans. However, the present study also demonstrates that an individual’s prosocial propensity can be directed to humans through a connection to nature. Thus, altruistic and ecological behaviors are two related classes of behavior, driven by the same prosocial propensity of the individual. This study is an important step towards generating scientific support for the claim that traditionally separate teaching of prosocial and environmental subjects should be combined into a single educational approach. An integrated approach will contribute to a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary effort to create a society that is both ecologically and socially sustainable. Full article

Non-sustainable food choices are responsible for many global challenges, such as biodiversity loss and climate change. To achieve a transformation toward sustainable nutrition, it is crucial to implement education for sustainable development (ESD), with the key issue “nutrition”, in schools and teacher training. Biology teachers are crucial for promoting ESD competences. Thus, the main aim of the study is to investigate the social and environmental psychological factors that may affect the intention of student biology teachers to eat sustainably as an integral part of their action competence needed for teaching this topic effectively. We conducted a paper-pencil questionnaire (N = 270, M_age = 22.9; SD = 2.8) based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and expanded the model by integrating environmental concern and nature relatedness. A path model is reported to show the relationships between the variables. The results show that the extended TPB model is suitable for predicting the intention to eat sustainably. Nature relatedness and altruistic concern positively predict attitudes and the intention to eat sustainably. This study suggests further research on the importance of (student) teachers’ nutritional behavior, as a possible determinant of the intention to teach this topic in their future school career. Full article