Abstract:

This study sought to measure emotional resilience, optimism and emotional intelligence of students who participated in a Service-Learning Project in Maasai Community in Kenya. The survey was administered to Spanish university students before and after a Service-Learning activity in Kenya in hopes of being able to quantify emotional changes experienced because of the activity. There were 21 students total, 15 females and 6 males. The survey had 39 items, all of which used a five-point Likert-type scale and was divided into two parts. The first part of the survey was Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). The second part of the survey was the TMMS-24, Emotional Intelligence.

This instrument had three subscales, each with 8 items:
1) Attention to emotion;
2) Clarity of emotion;
3) Repair of emotion.

There are some surprising results that can be drawn from the data, among which are two variables in particular, whose pre- and post- activity values were statistically significant. Respondents, especially females, rated themselves as less able to adapt to change after having returned from Kenya. Likewise, females indicated that they were less sure of their feelings after the activity. It would be interesting to see this study replicated with more participants, and with data that would support analyzing age as well sex.

Keywords:

Service-Learning, Resilience, Emotional Intelligence.