Civic engagement in the Indonesia health sector: The role of religiosity, empathy, and materialism attitude

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to understand the impact of religiosity on civic engagement in the health sector through giving advocacy for people with AIDs, mental health, cancer and disability.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors achieve this aim by proposing a structural equation model, which was derived based on literature. The data collection involved an on-line purposive sampling survey, which targeted young people who intend to work in the health sector. The survey asked about the experience and perception of 610 respondents in Indonesia.

Findings

The results indicate that the respondents with high religiosity were identified to be more caring towards those who suffer from mental health, AIDs, cancer and disability. However, the highly religious were less motivated by empathy in conducting civic engagement in the health sector. In this study, the impact of religiosity on civic engagement was found to be stronger for those who identified with low materialism.

Originality/value

The study contributes to the discussion on altruistic theory by challenging the widespread assumption that feelings of empathy drive civic engagement. The results extend the discussion on how to promote civic engagement in the health sector for young people with high materialism attitude.

Citation

Pratono, A.H., Djoemadi, F.R., Avanti, C., Sinaga, N.F.N.T.B. and Maharani, A. (2019), "Civic engagement in the Indonesia health sector: The role of religiosity, empathy, and materialism attitude", International Journal of Health Governance, Vol. 24 No. 4, pp. 244-260. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHG-10-2018-0057