Altruism as a motivation to volunteer

Abstract Voluntarism is often explained as ‘doing good works’, in the Judaeo-Christian tradition. Yet research in social psychology and economics generally minimizes altruism as a motivation for volunteering. This paper investigates the existence of an altruistic motive to volunteer. Empirical research based on Backer's (1974) utility interdependence hypothesis provides evidence for an altruistic motive across many types of voluntary activity.

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