Muskan Gumber
CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru
Salome Divya Joseph, SRM University, Andhra Pradesh.
Pages:111-119
Service-Learning is an educational framework used to encourage the application of
academic learning and related theoretical aspects in a field setting. The insight of
being helpful to others and simultaneously learning in the process results in a feeling of
fulfilment and contentment. This study aimed to understand whether the PERMA Model
of the undergraduate students differed based on their engagement in Service-Learning
Programs. Introduced by Martin Seligman in 1984, The PERMA Model is a model of
wellbeing. The five pillars of this model are Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationship,
Meaning and Accomplishment. A total of 134 responses (67 students who had done
Service-Learning and 67 who had not) were collected from undergraduate students from
various universities across India. Since the data was not found to be normally distributed,
a non-parametric test, i.e., Mann-Whitney U Test was used to test the hypotheses. It was
found that there is no significant difference between the PERMA Model of the students
who had done Service-Learning from those who had not. In the group of students who
had done Service-Learning, males were found to have significantly higher Positive
Emotion and Overall Wellbeing as compared to females. In the group of students who
had not done Service-Learning, males had significantly higher Positive Emotion and
Meaning as compared to females. The plausible explanations for these findings along
with the limitations, implications and future scope of this study have been discussed..
Keywords: service-learning, volunteering, wellbeing, positive psychology, PERMA Model