The contribution of personality variables, attitudes towards anumals and the scope of volunteering to future orientation among adolescents volunteering in a therapeutic riding center

The current research was conducted in the therapeutic horse riding Centre in Israel among adolescent volunteers. Its goal was to test the relationship between personality variables (self-esteem and the feeling of control over one's life), attitudes towards animals and the scope of volunteering, towards future orientation among adolescent volunteers. Different studies have explored the connection between the variables above and future orientation.

The stage of Emerging Adulthood is defined by Arnett (Arnett, 2000, 2014) as a developmental stage of adolescents between the ages of 18-19. The healthy development of young adults is related to positive future outlook (Zeira & Dekel, 2005), which is influenced, among other factors, by community involvement which can be manifested by community volunteer work (Peterson, Speer, & McMillan, 2008; Zanbar, Kaniasty, & Ben-Tzur, 2018). In order for this developmental stage to be healthy, adolescents must believe in their ability to influence their own future, and must have ambition and plans for their future (Zeira & Dekel, 2005). Thus volunteering may be a positive influence on the future outlook of adolescents.

The study involved 126 volunteers aged between fourteen and twenty. The volunteers filled in several quantitative questionnaires, each of which concerned different variables. Regarding the variable of future outlook, a new questionnaire was formed by integrating two different questionnaires; the first "My Future" (Zeira & Dekel, 2005) and the second "Future Expectations Scale for Adolescents" (McWhirter & McWhirter, 2008). Regarding the dependent variables, including the variable of scope of volunteering, the volunteers were given a demographic questionnaire composed of open questions to be completed. In addition, the research participants were given the "self-esteem" questionnaire developed by Rosenberg (1965). Regarding the variable of "feeling in control of one’s life" the participating volunteers were given the "mastery scale" questionnaire developed by Pearlin & Schooler (1978). The variable of "Attitudes towards Animals" was tested by the Pet attitude scale (Templer et al., 1981).

For the purpose of examining the hypotheses of the study relating to the connections between the variables, Pearson tests were performed, which enable finding a link between the independent variables and the dependent variable. To examine which of the variables have the highest contribution and what their joint contribution is to the dependent variable, regression tests were performed.

In this study, a direct correlation was found between the personality variables (self-esteem and sense of control in life), and future orientation among adolescent volunteers. In addition, the study found a positive correlation between attitudes towards animals and future orientation among adolescent volunteers. There was no correlation found between the scope of volunteering, and future orientation among adolescent volunteers.

The current research has a theoretical and practical contribution. On the theoretical level, there is a need for wider research, especially in light of the growing popularity of equine assisted therapy. On the practical level, this is the first time the current variables are researched in the surroundings of a therapeutic riding center. If the study finds that the tested variables contribute to the adolescent volunteer's future outlook, practical recommendations and advice will be able to be given to different programs to whom it would be relevant.