Michell, Deirdre M. (2009) Perceived Communal Mastery and Community Cohesion as Discriminators of Volunteer Engagement and Outcomes of Frequency of Volunteer Activity in Two Rural Australian Towns. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Volunteerism is acknowledged as an essential element of the social fabric of any community and factors related to residents engaging in such activity is important to further community development. This study aims to investigate if rural adult residents’ perceived communal mastery, community cohesion and length of residency could discriminate volunteers from non-volunteers. Also of interest, is whether there are significant differences in self-reports of communal mastery and community cohesion in relation to frequency of volunteer activity?
Participants were 156 adults in two rural South East Queensland towns. Measures included the Communal Mastery Scale (CMS), the Neighbourhood Cohesion Instrument (NCI), and length of residency. A paper-based questionnaire package was randomly distributed to residents of the towns. There were no significant differences between towns on demographic characteristics and data were collapsed into one sample.
Discriminating variables were communal mastery, length of residency and NCI subscales, sense of community, neighbouring, attraction to community. A direct discriminant function analysis revealed 71.8 percent of adults were correctly classified, accounting for almost 19 percent of the variance, a small to moderate effect. These findings supported the hypotheses that residents’ scores on the Communal Mastery Scale and subscales of NCI and length of residency could discriminate volunteers from non-volunteers. However, only neighbouring, sense of community and communal mastery, in that order loaded above the more conservative alpha of .45. Attraction to community and length of residency did not reach significance.
A multivariate analysis of variance was performed to explore differences in perceived communal mastery and community cohesion (sense of community, neighbouring, attraction to community) as a function of frequency of volunteer activity with three levels, very often, fairly often, and occasionally. A significant but small overall effect (8% of the variance) supported the hypotheses that there would be a significant difference in perceived communal mastery and community cohesion for those who volunteer more frequently than those who volunteer less frequently. However, univariate analysis of variance with Bonferroni correction revealed communal mastery to be the only significant variable accounting for 12 percent of the variance.
Discussion considers the discriminating features of communal mastery and community cohesion components and identifies associations amongst them with volunteer engagement. The importance of residents’ perceptions and experiences of the community, in relation to participation and promotion of volunteerism is discussed; for instance, supportive networks, available lifestyle resources and flexibility of volunteer participation. Also reflected on are the demands on time, job satisfaction and social aspects in relation to frequency of volunteer activity.
|
Statistics for this ePrint Item |
| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Pretty, Grace |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Psychology) |
| Date Deposited: | 08 Jan 2026 06:41 |
| Last Modified: | 08 Jan 2026 06:41 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52579 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Archive Repository Staff Only |
