Aspects of formal volunteering that contribute to favourable psychological outcomes in older adults

Jongenelis, Michelle I.; Jackson, Ben; Warburton, Jennifer; Newton, Robert U.; Pettigrew, Simone

doi:10.1007/s10433-021-00618-6

Original Investigation
Published: 18 April 2021

Aspects of formal volunteering that contribute to favourable psychological outcomes in older adults

European Journal of Ageing volume 19, pages 107–116 (2022)Cite this article

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Abstract

Although there is a large body of evidence documenting the benefits of engagement in formal volunteering among older people, research assessing the specific aspects of the volunteering experience that are associated with these benefits is limited. Accordingly, the objective of this study was to (i) examine the aspects of volunteering that predict improvements or declines in older people’s psychological outcomes over time and (ii) assess the extent to which demographic characteristics and time spent engaging in informal volunteering moderate the relationship between aspects of volunteering and potential outcomes. At Time 1, non-volunteering Australian older adults completed measures assessing their subjective well-being, eudemonic well-being, and psychological resources and were asked to commence volunteering. At Time 2 (six months later), participants completed the same measures and reported on their volunteering experiences. Among the 108 older adults who provided usable data at both time points (average age = 69.86 years, 64% women), the degree to which participants felt overwhelmed by their volunteer work significantly predicted declines in subjective well-being and psychological resources. The perceived importance of the cause for which participants reported volunteering and the perceived meaningfulness of the specific activities undertaken predicted improvements in these outcomes. Volunteering roles for older adults that (i) are not considered overwhelming, (ii) fulfil their desire to volunteer for a cause about which they are genuinely concerned, and (iii) involve activities perceived to be meaningful are likely to produce the favourable psychological outcomes.

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Funding

This work was supported by an Australian Research Council Discovery Grant (DP140100365). The funder played no role in study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of this article; and in the decision to submit this article for publication.

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Authors and Affiliations

Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3010, Australia
Michelle I. Jongenelis
The George Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
Michelle I. Jongenelis & Simone Pettigrew
School of Human Sciences (Exercise and Sport Science), University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Ben Jackson
La Trobe Rural Health School, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia
Jennifer Warburton
School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Australia
Robert U. Newton
The George Institute for Global Health, Sydney, Australia
Simone Pettigrew

Authors

Michelle I. Jongenelis
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Ben Jackson
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Jennifer Warburton
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Robert U. Newton
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Simone Pettigrew
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Contributions

MIJ: conceptualisation, methodology, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing—original draft, and writing—review and editing. BJ, JW, and RUN: methodology and writing—review and editing. SP: funding acquisition, conceptualisation, methodology, writing—review and editing, supervision, and project administration.

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Correspondence to Michelle I. Jongenelis.

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Jongenelis, M.I., Jackson, B., Warburton, J. et al. Aspects of formal volunteering that contribute to favourable psychological outcomes in older adults. Eur J Ageing 19, 107–116 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-021-00618-6

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Accepted: 31 March 2021
Published: 18 April 2021
Issue Date: March 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-021-00618-6

Keywords

Formal volunteering
Subjective well-being
Eudemonic well-being
Psychological resources
Older adults