The Latent Classes of the Volunteer Satisfaction Index and Volunteering during the Pandemic in Singapore

Joonmo Son (), Leika Mesa (), Yu Ping Wong () and Mark Stanford ()
Additional contact information
Joonmo Son: National University of Singapore
Leika Mesa: National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre
Yu Ping Wong: National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre
Mark Stanford: National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2025, vol. 178, issue 2, No 4, 685-706

Abstract: Abstract The retention of volunteers amid the COVID-19 pandemic was a grave concern for voluntary associations worldwide. Due to governmental restrictions on face-to-face social interactions, voluntary associations had to curtail traditional volunteer activities and thus experienced a significant reduction in their workforce. Therefore, who stayed in or left the volunteer fields during the Pandemic is crucial for the nonprofit sector. A plausible mechanism is the degree of volunteer satisfaction that may affect whether volunteers continue working for the public good despite harsh external conditions. We employed data from the Individual Giving Survey from Singapore. The survey was conducted between April and September 2021 amid the Pandemic. The study applied a Latent Class Analysis to the Volunteer Satisfaction Index. The LCA located five subgroups of volunteers as follows: (1) highest overall volunteer satisfaction (14%), (2) high Participation Efficacy and Group Integration satisfaction (13%), (3) high Organizational Support satisfaction (10%), (4) medium Participation Efficacy (19%), and (5) low overall satisfaction (44%). Regression analyses were applied to five outcome measures of volunteer behaviors and intentions, taking the latent volunteer satisfaction classes as the main independent variables. The results indicate that those with the highest overall volunteer satisfaction were more likely to maintain their volunteer status during the Pandemic, volunteer more frequently and recently, intend to volunteer in the future, and intend to encourage others to volunteer. In conclusion, volunteer satisfaction was a key factor that prevented volunteers from ceasing civic engagement during the Pandemic.

Keywords: Volunteer satisfaction index; Volunteer behaviors; Volunteer intentions; Pandemic; Latent class analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-024-03510-9 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:soinre:v:178:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s11205-024-03510-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11135

DOI: 10.1007/s11205-024-03510-9

Access Statistics for this article

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement is currently edited by Filomena Maggino

More articles in Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().