There is abundant research on how to enhance the social responsibility of university students, most of which attribute the development to observational learning from role models or to value comparisons in social exchanges. Different from these perspectives, this study posits that the expansion–construction of emotional experiences in social interactions is a key mechanism, and Volunteer engagement is one of the contexts that can provide rich Emotional experience. A grouped comparative analysis with 5,088 university student volunteers found no significant difference in social responsibility of university students between groups defined by Volunteer Service Participation (i.e., having participated vs. not). In other words, participating in Volunteer engagement alone does not directly increase students' social responsibility. Further cross-sectional survey with group comparison (N = 4,498) and SEM mediation in a volunteer subgroup showed that the intensity of Emotional experience during Volunteer engagement is positively and significantly associated with social responsibility, and that emotional intelligence and relational embeddedness play a dual mediating role between them. This provides an affective activation pathway for enhancing students' social responsibility through Volunteer engagement. Based on these findings, universities can take action on three fronts: (1) design and cultivate emotionally engaging volunteer experiences to enhance affective arousal mechanisms; (2) integrate emotional intelligence development into volunteer service frameworks; and (3) strengthen relational embedding in volunteer activities to foster long-term social responsibility.
Jian et al. (Wed,) studied this question.