Adolescents’ perception of the aged, self-concept and locality as predictors of willingness to help the aged in a Nigerian sample

Abstract

The study investigated adolescents’ perception of the aged, self-concept and locality as predictors of willingness to help the aged. Two hundred and eighty (280) adolescents (140 males and 140 females) randomly sampled from State College Ikot Ekpene and Uyo High School (urban); African Comprehensive Secondary School and Atakpo Community Secondary School (rural) in Akwa Ibom State participated in the study. Age range was 14 to 19 years, with mean age of 16.5 years. Three instruments: Adolescents’ perception of the aged scale, self-concept scale and Willingness to help the aged scale were used for data collection. Linear regression was used for data analysis. The results showed that adolescents’ perception of the aged significantly predicted willingness to help the aged (B=.47, p<.05). The result also showed that self-concept and locality did not significantly predict willingness to help the aged. The implication and limitations were discussed and suggestions were made for further study.

Keywords: Bystander-intervention, social –responsibility, self-concept, Gender, Adolescents, willingness