Volunteer Work and Hedonic, Eudemonic, and Social Well-Being

Using two waves of panel data from the National Survey of Midlife in the United States (MIDUS), we examine the relationship between volunteer work and three dimensions of well-being: hedonic (e.g., positive mood), eudemonic (e.g., purpose in life), and social (e.g., feeling of belonging to the community). We test for the effects of volunteering measured as a binary and a continuous variable. Results show that volunteering enhances eudemonic and social well-being (but not hedonic well-being) although the number of hours contributed makes no difference. Conversely, people who have greater hedonic, eudemonic, and social well-being are more likely to volunteer and, in the case of hedonic and eudemonic well-being, volunteer more hours.

[1]  Corey L. M. Keyes,et al.  Social well-being. , 1998 .

[2]  Craig K. Enders,et al.  Missing Data in Educational Research: A Review of Reporting Practices and Suggestions for Improvement , 2004 .

[3]  G. A. Marcoulides,et al.  Advanced structural equation modeling : issues and techniques , 1996 .

[4]  B. Singer,et al.  Know Thyself and Become What You Are: A Eudaimonic Approach to Psychological Well-Being , 2008 .

[5]  J. Piliavin,et al.  Altruism and Helping: The Evolution of a Field--The 2008 Cooley-Mead Presentation. , 2009 .

[6]  T. Bohman,et al.  Predicting the Changes in Depressive Symptomatology in Later Life , 2007, Journal of aging and health.

[7]  E. Deci,et al.  On happiness and human potentials: a review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. , 2001, Annual review of psychology.

[8]  E. Renaissance Recent Studies in the , 2010 .

[9]  J. Piliavin,et al.  Health Benefits of Volunteering in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study∗ , 2007, Journal of health and social behavior.

[10]  P. Bentler Comparative Fit Indices in Structural Models , 1990 .

[11]  F. Huppert Psychological Well-being: Evidence Regarding its Causes and Consequences† , 2009 .

[12]  K. Anstey,et al.  Volunteering and psychological well-being among young-old adults: how much is too much? , 2008, The Gerontologist.

[13]  B. Gottlieb,et al.  Volunteerism, Health, and Civic Engagement among Older Adults* , 2009, Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement.

[14]  P. Thoits,et al.  Stressors and problem-solving: the individual as psychological activist. , 1994, Journal of health and social behavior.

[15]  J. Hinterlong,et al.  Effects of volunteering on the well-being of older adults. , 2003, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[16]  M. V. Willigen Differential Benefits of Volunteering Across the Life Course , 2000 .

[17]  H. Sugisawa,et al.  Productive roles, gender, and depressive symptoms: evidence from a national longitudinal study of late-middle-aged Japanese. , 2008, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[18]  J. Graham,et al.  Missing data analysis: making it work in the real world. , 2009, Annual review of psychology.

[19]  M. Hoffman Empathy and prosocial behavior. , 2008 .

[20]  M. Stokes,et al.  Volunteering and Its Relationship With Personal and Neighborhood Well-Being , 2009 .

[21]  H. Selye The Stress of Life , 1958 .

[22]  Rex B. Kline,et al.  Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling , 1998 .

[23]  J. Schafer Multiple Imputation in Multivariate Problems When the Imputation and Analysis Models Differ , 2003 .

[24]  J. S. Long,et al.  Regression models for categorical dependent variables using Stata, 2nd Edition , 2005 .

[25]  F. Handy,et al.  The role of social anxiety in volunteering , 2007 .

[26]  John Wilson,et al.  The Effects of Volunteering on the Volunteer , 1999 .

[27]  E. Greenfield,et al.  Formal volunteering as a protective factor for older adults' psychological well-being. , 2004, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[28]  Robert B. Cialdini,et al.  The economics of empathic helping: Support for a mood management motive , 1988 .

[29]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  The Hierarchical Structure of Well-being , 2022 .

[30]  G. S. Sanders,et al.  Religiosity and Mental Health: A Meta–Analysis of Recent Studies , 2003 .

[31]  A. Herzog,et al.  Individual consequences of volunteer and paid work in old age: health and mortality. , 2002, Journal of health and social behavior.

[32]  N. Morrow-Howell,et al.  Health outcomes of Experience Corps: a high-commitment volunteer program. , 2010, Social science & medicine.

[33]  D. Rubin INFERENCE AND MISSING DATA , 1975 .

[34]  E. Diener,et al.  Subjective well-being. , 1984, Psychological bulletin.

[35]  C. Keyes,et al.  Promoting and protecting mental health as flourishing: a complementary strategy for improving national mental health. , 2007, The American psychologist.

[36]  S. Sieber TOWARD A THEORY OF ROLE ACCUMULATION , 1974 .

[37]  E. Greenfield,et al.  Center for Demography and Ecology University of Wisconsin-Madison Continuous Participation in Voluntary Groups as a Protective Factor for the Psychological Well-Being of Adults Who Develop Functional Limitations : Evidence from the National Survey of Families and Households , 2009 .

[38]  Felicia A. Huppert,et al.  The Science of Well-Being , 2005 .

[39]  T. Lum,et al.  The Effects of Volunteering on the Physical and Mental Health of Older People , 2005 .

[40]  John Wilson,et al.  Volunteers: A Social Profile , 2007 .

[41]  Amitai Etzioni The New Normal1 , 2011 .

[42]  S. Post Altruism and health: Perspectives from empirical research. , 2007 .

[43]  R. Williams,et al.  Successful Aging: A Life-Course Perspective on Women's Multiple Roles and Health , 1992, American Journal of Sociology.

[44]  P. Thoits,et al.  Volunteer work and well-being. , 2001, Journal of health and social behavior.

[45]  Joann L. Robinson,et al.  Empathy and Prosocial Behavior , 2008 .

[46]  John Wilson,et al.  Who cares? Toward an integrated theory of volunteer work , 1997 .

[47]  K. Ferraro,et al.  Volunteering and Depression in Later Life: Social Benefit or Selection Processes?∗ , 2005, Journal of health and social behavior.

[48]  L. Berkman,et al.  From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium. , 2000, Social science & medicine.

[49]  John Wilson,et al.  Volunteering and depression: the role of psychological and social resources in different age groups. , 2003, Social science & medicine.

[50]  J. H. Steiger Structural Model Evaluation and Modification: An Interval Estimation Approach. , 1990, Multivariate behavioral research.

[51]  Nancy Morrow-Howell,et al.  Who benefits from volunteering? Variations in perceived benefits. , 2009, The Gerontologist.

[52]  F. Handy,et al.  Volunteering and Volunteers: Benefit-Cost Analyses , 2011 .

[53]  S. White,et al.  Volunteering in the United States, 2005 , 2006 .

[54]  P. Bentler,et al.  Comparative fit indexes in structural models. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[55]  James L. Arbuckle,et al.  Full Information Estimation in the Presence of Incomplete Data , 1996 .

[56]  L. George Still happy after all these years: research frontiers on subjective well-being in later life. , 2010, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[57]  J. Guzmán Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables Using Stata , 2013 .

[58]  C. Keyes,et al.  The mental health continuum: from languishing to flourishing in life. , 2002, Journal of health and social behavior.

[59]  F. Braceland THE STRESS OF LIFE , 1976 .

[60]  Miranda Olff,et al.  The Mental Health Impact of Volunteering in a Disaster Setting: A Review , 2010, The Journal of nervous and mental disease.

[61]  N. Morrow-Howell Volunteering in later life: research frontiers. , 2010, The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences.

[62]  D. Jeannie Habits of the Heart Individualism and Commitment in American Life , 2009 .

[63]  Joongbaeck Kim,et al.  Volunteering and Trajectories of Depression , 2010, Journal of aging and health.

[64]  L. Cahalin,et al.  Productive Activities And Subjective Well-Being Among Older Adults: The Influence Of Number Of Activities And Time Commitment , 2005 .

[65]  F. Borgonovi Doing well by doing good. The relationship between formal volunteering and self-reported health and happiness. , 2008, Social science & medicine.

[66]  C. Ryff Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. , 1989 .