Personal and institutional factors as determinants of civic engagement among university students

Background The study evaluated the civic engagement model within a specific Pakistani cultural context. This study aims to examine the personal and institutional factors, contributing to civic engagement behaviors. Method The purposive sample consisted of 307 university students aged between 18 and 26 years from the University of Sargodha. The reliability of all the scales used in this study was above 0.70. Results The results supported the proposed model, indicating that institutional efficacy and sense of student control significantly contribute to explaining civic engagement that includes advocacy, direct action, and organizational participation. The results provide valuable insights into the relationships among attitudinal factors, civic engagement behaviors, and the influence of gender within our cultural context. The strength of the association between variables is shown by the standardized path coefficients ( β ). Results revealed that advocacy plays a role as mediator in the relationship between institutional efficacy and direct action. The study found a significant positive path coefficient ( β ) between student control and advocacy, indicating that individuals with a sense of control are more likely to engage in civic participation. Additionally, student control predicted organizational participation, leading students to actively participate in student organizations. Gender differences in the study demonstrate that males have a higher positive indirect effect of institutional efficacy on direct action through advocacy than females, and the positive direct effect of advocacy on organizational membership is more prominent for males. Conclusion The study found that institutional efficacy and student control significantly influence advocacy, direct action, and organizational participation that define civic engagement, thus supporting the existing civic engagement model. The study extended the civic engagement model to incorporate mediation effects and investigated it in a specific cultural setting, which can be very useful for educators, lawmakers, and community organizers.