Assessing volunteer motives: a comparison of an open‐ended probe and Likert rating scales

The purpose of the present study was to compare the motives of volunteers (career, esteem, protective, social, understanding, and value) as assessed by an open‐ended probe and the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) which employs a Likert rating scale. One‐hundred‐and‐twenty‐nine individuals, who volunteered for an organization that focuses on episodic volunteering in the community, completed both measures of volunteer motives and reported their frequency of volunteering for the organization. The Spearman rank correlation between the rankings of the six volunteer motives in the two distributions was 0.71. The maximum variance shared between the same motive as assessed by the two methods was 0.14. Frequency of volunteering for the organization was predicted by the value (positive predictor) and social (negative predictor) VFI scale scores. A post hoc analysis of the data from the open‐ended probe revealed three additional motives for volunteering—enjoyment, religiosity, and team building. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Role of Autonomy Support and Autonomy Orientation in Prosocial Behavior Engagement

Two studies examined individual and environmental forces that affect engagement in prosocial behavior. Self-determination theory was used to derive a model in which autonomy orientation and autonomy support predicted satisfaction of three core psychological needs, which in turn led to engagement in prosocial activities. In Study 1, college students reported their engagement in various prosocial activities, and completed measures of autonomy orientation, parental autonomy support, and general need satisfaction. In Study 2, volunteer workers completed measures of autonomy orientation, work autonomy support and need satisfaction at work. The number of volunteered hours indicated the amount of prosocial engagement. Results across the studies showed that autonomy orientation was strongly related to engagement in prosocial behavior, while autonomy support was modestly related. Need satisfaction partially mediated the effect of autonomy orientation, and fully mediated the effect of autonomy support. Interestingly, autonomy support predicted lower volunteer turnover. Implications for how prosocial behavior can be motivated are discussed.     

Daily motivation of volunteers in healthcare organizations: relating team inclusion and intrinsic motivation using self-determination theory

The work of volunteers is indispensable for the well functioning of healthcare organizations, and for maintaining the quality of care in times of austerity. As feelings of intrinsic motivation stimulate volunteer well-being and their long-term engagement, we study how team inclusion relates to volunteers’ intrinsic motivation during their activities. We hypothesize that volunteers’ perceptions of inclusion are positively related to intrinsic motivation, via the satisfaction of their basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. To test our hypothesis, we conducted a daily-diary study, obtaining a final sample of 43 volunteers and 204 completed diaries. Multilevel path analyses showed that team inclusion was positively related to volunteers’ intrinsic motivation during their activities. Subsequent mediation analyses revealed that competence and relatedness need satisfaction mediated this relationship. Thus, when volunteers feel part of the team with which they complete their activities, they experience intrinsic motivation because feeling included stimulates their feelings of being competent and being related to others.     

西方志愿者行为研究述评

志愿者行为是在组织背景下, 个体经过深思熟虑之后, 自愿对主动寻求帮助的对象实施的一种长期且无偿的帮助行为; 其形成和发展可以用功能理论、特质理论和多因素模型来解释。志愿者行为的测量工具主要有志愿功能量表、志愿精神问卷和志愿者行为问卷。研究者对人口统计学特征、人格变量、动机变量及组织因素等志愿者行为的前因变量及志愿者身心健康、社会收益等志愿者行为的结果变量的探讨比较深入, 但在概念明晰、理论整合、测量工具、取样探索等方面还有待进一步研究。     

Social Networks as a Factor in Volunteering Among Elderly Japanese with Lower Socioeconomic Status

We investigated the effect of social networks on volunteering, which is known to be beneficial for people and society, among elderly Japanese of lower socioeconomic status. Western studies have demonstrated that social networks boost volunteering among wealthy people because of the norm that they should help the less fortunate. However, wealthy East Asians do not share this norm. Therefore, socioeconomic variables and volunteering tend not to be significantly related in Japan. We hypothesized that social networks would be more important to volunteering among the Japanese elderly, especially among people of a lower socioeconomic status. A total of 768 respondents (319 men, 432 women, 17 sex unspecified; M_age = 73.99 years, SD = 7.40 years) completed the survey. The results indicated that social networks were positively related to volunteering only among people with lower financial status. This result suggests that social networks can increase opportunities and help less advantaged elderly people to reap the benefits of volunteering.     

Coping with occupational uncertainty and formal volunteering across the life span

Common wisdom suggests that individuals confronted with occupational uncertainty (e.g., job insecurity and difficulties with career planning) may withdraw from volunteering. We argue that volunteering may be useful to workers in some career stages and that stage-appropriate coping with occupational uncertainty may increase individuals' readiness to volunteer. In Study 1, we used cross-sectional and 1-year follow-up data from Germany that covered three age groups: 16–29 (N_T1 = 1253, N_T2 = 224), 30–43 (N_T1 = 1560, N_T2 = 371), and 56–75 (N_T1 = 518, N_T2 = 215). High engagement and low disengagement in coping with occupational uncertainty were associated with concurrent volunteering in the youngest group but not in the other groups. Over 1 year, high disengagement reduced the likelihood of starting volunteering in the youngest group and increased this likelihood in the oldest group. Study 2 used an independent, cross-sectional German sample that included two age groups: 20–29 (N = 326) and 30–40 (N = 367). Using a different measure of volunteering, Study 2 partly replicated the cross-sectional findings from Study 1. Results suggest that individual agency is a decisive link between occupational uncertainty and the readiness to volunteer, particularly among young labor market entrants.     

Beyond Skills and Structure: Justice Dispositions as Antecedents of Young Citizens' Volunteering and Political Participation

Community involvement is usually attributed to opportunity structures and individuals' ability to be involved. Building on psychological justice research, this paper proposes that justice dispositions add to explaining why young citizens become active in their communities or not. Furthermore, it is argued that justice dispositions help to understand why most studies find only moderate relationships between youth volunteering and forms of political involvement. In a sample of 321 young Swiss volunteers, this study shows justice centrality and belief in a just world to predict the extent of volunteering and political participation, even after controlling for civic skills and opportunity structures. However, scrutinising the motivations to volunteer, self‐oriented motivations (enhancement, social, career and understanding) more strongly affected the level of volunteering than motivations related to justice dispositions (political responsibility and social responsibility). These findings have implications for the attraction and retention of volunteers as well as for the politics of volunteering and community development in general. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

What predicts Australian university students' intentions to volunteer their time for community service?

University students represent one target population with great potential to serve as volunteers. The primary focus on describing the characteristics of students who choose to volunteer, however, has resulted in limited understanding of the psychosocial factors impacting on students' decisions to volunteer. To bridge this gap, we used an extension of a well‐known theoretical framework, the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), to predict students' intentions to volunteer for community service. Using content and thematic analysis, we explored also students' motivations and constraints for volunteering. Students (N = 235; M age = 22.09 years) self‐reported their attitude, normative influences, control perceptions, moral obligation, past behaviour, demographic characteristics, and intentions for volunteering via questionnaire. Regression analyses showed that the extended TPB explained 67% of the variance in students' volunteering intentions. In qualitative analyses, themes primarily represented the factors contributing to low efficacy for volunteering (e.g., time constraints). Control perceptions and perceived moral obligations related to volunteering represent important future targets to encourage student volunteering for organisations providing critical services for those most in need.     

Religion,Volunteering, and Educational Setting: The Effect of Youth Schooling Type on Civic Engagement

Research on civic engagement shows that volunteering rates decline as young people move from adolescence into emerging adulthood. Using panel data spanning this period of the life course, we examine the impact of secondary schooling type—public, Catholic, Protestant, private nonreligious, and homeschool—on sustaining volunteering into emerging adulthood. We apply a framework that posits pathways between secondary schooling and sets of opportunities to volunteer embedded in institutions and social networks. We also posit a link between schooling type and durable motivational dispositions to volunteer. Results indicate substantial differences by schooling type, although our measures of opportunity structure and motivation do not adequately account for these differences. Those educated in Protestant secondary schools are considerably more likely than other young people to continue to volunteer, even accounting for potential spurious influences. Those schooled at home or in private nonreligious settings are significantly less likely to continue volunteering. We conclude by discussing two alternative accounts that should be addressed in further research: one focused on the role of habituated social practices and the other focused on differences in organizational efforts to link adolescent volunteering to emerging adult volunteering.