Civic Engagement in Canada

A Critical Analysis of Social Media, Care for Others, and Gender on Volunteering and Donating

Abstract

Canadians continually donate their time and money to charitable and non-profit organizations. Donating and volunteering are forms of civic engagement which many choose to engage in to improve the lives of others. Existing literature regarding civic engagement lacks focus on general volunteering and donating as opposed to event-specific volunteering and donating. We used Alberta survey data (n=1208) gathered by the University of Alberta’s Population Research Laboratory to explore relationships between social media, care for others, and gender on civic engagement. Using this data, we conducted a multivariate logistic regression analysis to investigate these relationships. Our findings demonstrated that ‘following’ or ‘liking’ a community organization on social media impacts both forms of civic engagement. Next, the analysis showed that the belief regarding the importance of caring for others worse off than oneself is only related to donating. Finally, we found that gender was a significant indicator of both forms of civic engagement. The findings of this study provide important insights about the role of social media, care, and gender on civic engagement.

Faculty Mentor: Shelley Boulianne

Department: Sociology (Honours)