M.

THIRUMURUGAN
MBA, VIT BUSINESS SCHOOL, VIT UNIVERSITY, VELLORE
+91 9994786697
iamthirumurugandon@gmail.com

INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL WELFARE

ACTIVITIES BY YOUTHS AND THEIR
ASSOCIATED PERSONALITY DIMENSION
ABSTRACT

Youth are the most important and dynamic segment of the population in any country. It is
believed that developing countries with large youth population could see tremendous growth, provided
they invest in young people’s education, health and protect and guarantee their rights. This paper is focus
on how youngness and personality dimension influence the social welfare.

KEYWORDS: social welfare activities, youths, personality dimension

INTRODUCTION

A developing country like India has huge opportunities and challenges with the globalization and
rising of knowledge economy. United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) State of the World’s
Population report says that India has world’s largest youth population with 356 million 10-24 year-old,
whopping 28 percent of the total population. The youth potential not only to meet its own manpower
needs but it can also cater to the manpower demand of other nations. India is set to experience a dynamic
transformation as the population explosion of the past turns into a demographic dividend. India has to
reap the demographic dividend. However, the benefits are subject to addressing the social and spatial
inequalities.

CONCEPT OF YOUTH

Each period of a human’s life has its different features. Childhood is known for its innocence,
Adolescence for spurt in growth and for its characteristic enthusiasm of energy, aggressiveness, the will to
fight and overcome difficulties and to do brave activities. It is the uncertain period of man’s life when
enthusiasm is in peak, and man has active and vigorous co-operation of the body to fulfil his dreams,
good or bad. (Jagdish chander, 2001) described the period of youth as “characterized by the spirit of
adventure and the shine of energy, tempered by a growing sense of responsibility and maturity. A man in
the span of his youth can thus make a lasting contribution to the cause of understanding the inner and
outer nature, invention, courage, creative art and architecture and bring to bear his energy on the toughest
issues of life, and find keys to their solution. This period on man’s life is, therefore, of unspeakable
significance”.
 “Age is basically a biological factor, contributes to social differentiation. It distributes privileges,
and responsibilities, rights and duties, in term of separate statuses. Age statuses, like sex statuses are
ascribed and not achieved. In almost all societies following age groups are recognized: 1- infancy 2-
childhood 3- adolescence 4- adulthood 5- old age (Rao, 2001, p.281). However, from historical times in
India, the subject of “Youth” has been largely ignored. The “youth” stage of a person’s life was generally
considered as unimportant and not of much use for society.

This belief remains largely unchanged even today. Thus, India’s youth form a neglected and
vulnerable segment of society. Chapter-One 5 Youth are a nation’s strength. Their characteristic energy
and capabilities support the body politic. They are the backbone of an institution (Jagdish chander, 2001,
p. 126). But they also form a sensitive age group that harbour dreams for important social changes. The
development of nations is fully dependent on the abilities of youth. The power of youth must be positively
utilized in all areas like education, trade, business, etc. and integrated with moral value education to
spread peace and welfare throughout the world.

PERSONALITY DIMENSION

Figure 1: Big five personality dimension

1. Openness to experience

Individuals with openness to experience are generally very active, have a tremendous
inclination towards creativity and aesthetics and listen to their heart i.e. follow their inner
feelings. Such individuals are generally open to new learnings, skill sets and experiences. People
who score high on openness are quite broadminded and modern in their outlook as compared to
individuals who score low on the same parameter. Such individuals are conservative, reluctant to
changes and have a traditional approach in life.
2. Conscientiousness

As the name suggests, individuals with a Conscientiousness personality trait listen to

their conscience and act accordingly. Such individuals are extremely cautious and self disciplined.
They never perform any task in haste but think twice before acting. People with this personality
trait are generally methodical and tend to become perfectionists in the long run. People who score
high on conscientiousness are proactive, goal oriented and self disciplined. They strive hard to
accomplish goals and objectives within the stipulated time frame. Individuals who score less are
little laid back and are not much goal oriented.

3. Extraversion and Introversion

Carl Jung popularized both the terms - “Extraversion” and “Introversion”.

a. Extraversion: Extraversion refers to a state where individuals show more concern

towards what is happening outside. Such individuals love interacting with people around
and are generally talkative. They do not like spending time alone but love being the
centre of attraction of parties and social gatherings. Such individuals love going out,
partying, meeting people and often get bored when they are all by themselves. They
admire the company of others and hate staying alone.

b. Introversion: Introversion, on the other hand refers to a state when an individual is

concerned only with his own life and nothing else. Such individuals do not bother about
others and are seldom interested in what is happening around. They prefer staying back at
home rather than going out and spending time with friends. Such individuals speak less
and enjoy their own company. You would never find them in meetings, clubs, parties or
social get-togethers. They generally do not have many friends and tend to rely on few
trusted ones.

4. Agreeableness

Agreeableness is a personality trait which teaches individuals to be adjusting in almost all

situations. Such individuals do not crib and face changes with a smile. They accommodate
themselves to all situations and are friendly and kind hearted. People who score high on
agreeableness are ready to help others and flash their trillion dollar smile whenever a problem
arises. Individuals who score low on agreeableness on the other hand find difficulties in adjusting
with others and are little unfriendly.

5. Neuroticism

Neuroticism is a trait where individuals are prone to negative thoughts such as anxiety, anger,
envy, guilt and so on. Such individuals are often in a state of depression and do not how to enjoy life. They
always look at the negative sides of life and find extremely difficult to cope up with stress.
DISCUSSION

Extraversion and agreeableness is the two personality dimension which strongly influence the
social welfare activity of the human being. But still this will give rise to another argument that “why
especially youth with this personality dimension will strongly influence the social welfare activity”.

The technique used to gather useful data from youth participants is called "spider mapping" or
"graphing." It shows the depth and breadth of social capital and how the various connections are
interdependent and simultaneously distinct. The beauty, however, is that the youth is central to these
networks and is the glue that bonds and bridges these disparate relationships. Figure 2 represents the
Community Connections Made by Youth

Figure 2: Community Connections Made by Youth

CONCLUSION

Before conclusion, it should be noted that this study has some limitations and thus the results
should be taken with caution. Although the association between age (youngness) and personality
dimension was very high, future work would be needed to address social activities with few more
attributes. Such work could also include other attribute (e.g. level of income of the family). It would also
be of interest to compare changes in personality dimension to those of other professionals and students
following other degrees. In this way, the possibility of these changes being produced by a maturation
effect could be investigated.

REFERENCES

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4. https://www.legacyintl.org/highlights/the-power-of-youth/

5. https://targetstudy.com/articles/power-of-youth-in-india.html

6. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/50918/6/06_chapter%201.pdf

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