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The moderating role of age in the relationship between volunteering motives and well-being

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Abstract

Driven by socioemotional selectivity theory, this study examined whether age moderated the associations of volunteering motives with physical and psychological well-being in a sample of Hong Kong Chinese volunteers. Volunteering motives were measured by the volunteer functions inventory. Findings revealed that even after controlling for demographic characteristics and volunteering experience, age was related to higher social and value motives but lower career motives, and moderated the associations of social and protective motives with well-being. The associations of social motives with physical well-being were positive among older volunteers, but were negative among younger- and middle-aged volunteers. While protective motives were positively related to psychological well-being among all the volunteers, such effects were stronger among younger- and middle-aged volunteers than among older volunteers. Findings highlight the role of age in determining the relationship between volunteering motives and well-being.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council Earmarked Research Grant CUHK444210. The authors thank Nga Ming Fung for the help in the collection of the data for this study.

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Correspondence to Yuen Wan Ho.

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Responsible editor: H.-W. Wahl.

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Ho, Y.W., You, J. & Fung, H.H. The moderating role of age in the relationship between volunteering motives and well-being. Eur J Ageing 9, 319–327 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-012-0245-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-012-0245-5

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