Factors associated with formal volunteering among retirees

Michelle I. Jongenelis (), Liyuwork Mitiku Dana (), Jeni Warburton (), Ben Jackson (), Robert U. Newton (), Zenobia Talati () and Simone Pettigrew ()
Additional contact information
Michelle I. Jongenelis: The University of Melbourne
Liyuwork Mitiku Dana: Curtin University
Jeni Warburton: LaTrobe University
Ben Jackson: University of Western Australia
Robert U. Newton: Edith Cowan University
Zenobia Talati: Curtin University
Simone Pettigrew: Curtin University

European Journal of Ageing, 2020, vol. 17, issue 2, No 10, 229-239

Abstract: Abstract The present study developed and tested a comprehensive multivariate model designed to assess the relative importance of various factors found or proposed in previous research to be associated with engagement in volunteering among 799 fully retired Australian older adults (62% female; mean age = 71.92 years (SD = 6.69)). Engagement in volunteering in the 12 months preceding the study and a range of sociodemographic, psychological, physical, social, and attitudinal variables were measured. Respondents’ perceived personal responsibility to volunteer was found to be especially important in the tested model. This variable was directly associated with engagement in volunteering and acted as an important mediator between the following variables and volunteering engagement: personal growth, social connectedness, religious attendance, self-rated health, and depression. Efforts to increase volunteering engagement among older adults may therefore need to target perceptions of their responsibility to volunteer. Especially important focus areas for future strategies may include increasing social connectedness, facilitating personal growth, and improving self-rated health.

Keywords: Healthy aging; Attitudes; Perceived value; Perceived personal responsibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-019-00539-5 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:17:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10433-019-00539-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer ... iences/journal/10433

DOI: 10.1007/s10433-019-00539-5

Access Statistics for this article

European Journal of Ageing is currently edited by Marja Aartsen, Susanne Iwarsson and Prof. Dr. Matthias Kliegel

More articles in European Journal of Ageing from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().