PLACE ATTACHMENT AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS RELATED TO COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THROUGH SERVICE-LEARNING

Marvin G. Lovett
University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley
Yeong Nain Chi
University of Maryland Eastern Shore
ABSTRACT
By participating in community engagement through service-learning, college students are
able to engage in active learning, grow and develop personally; help meet community needs, and
learn the importance of civic responsibility. This study examines the perceptions of college
students, majoring in business administration, regarding their place attachment to the local
community and to identify groups exhibiting common patterns of responses as an indicator of
potential participation in community engagement through service-learning. The results of the
study indicate that the majority of students surveyed demonstrated a consistent significant level of
place attachment with positive mean scores for place identity and/or place dependence overtime.
The association between place identity and perceptions of the local community implies that as
respondents’ emotional attachment to the local community increased, their latitude of acceptance
concerning encounters with other participants was more narrowly defined. This finding also
implies that these participants have more concrete expectations concerning the local community
and would like to participate in community engagement and service-learning opportunities.