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Happy to Help? Exploring the Factors Associated with Variations in Rates of Volunteering Across Europe

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Abstract

The frequency of formal volunteering varies widely across European countries, and rates of formal volunteering are especially low among Eastern European countries. Why are there such large differences in volunteering rates when it is known that volunteering is beneficial for well-being? Using data from the latest round of the European Social Survey, we test three hypotheses to explain these cross-national differences in volunteering. We ask whether people in countries with low frequencies of volunteering spend more of their time on informal volunteering activities; whether they differ on socio-demographic variables which are known to be linked to volunteering rates; or whether they show less well-being benefit from formal volunteering. Contrary to the first hypothesis, we find a positive correlation between formal and informal volunteering. We further conclude that national differences in rates of volunteering cannot be fully explained by differences in the social, psychological or cultural factors associated with volunteering nor the outcome of volunteering. It is likely that contextual factors, such as a country’s historical background or institutions, determine levels of volunteering to a large extent.

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Notes

  1. A meta-analysis by Pinquart and Sörensen (2001) found that about 5–15% of people aged over 65 often feel lonely. Among those aged 80 and above this percentage increases to about 50%.

  2. The full ESS sample also includes Latvia and Romania, but these two countries were omitted from the analysis because of missing design weights.

  3. The original values were 1–4, but we recoded the items to reflect the standard coding of the CES-D.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Politics, Psychology, Sociology and International Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Anke C. Plagnol

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Well-being Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Felicia A. Huppert

Authors
  1. Anke C. Plagnol
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  2. Felicia A. Huppert
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anke C. Plagnol.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Survey Questions

1.1 Formal Volunteering (Question E 1)

In the past 12 months, how often did you get involved in work for voluntary or charitable organisations?

Response categories [original coding reversed in analysis]:

  • 01 At least once a week.

  • 02 At least once a month.

  • 03 At least once every 3 months.

  • 04 At least once every 6 months.

  • 05 Less often.

  • 06 Never.

1.2 Informal Volunteering (Question E 2)

Not counting anything you do for your family, in your work, or within voluntary organisations, how often, in the past 12 months, did you actively provide help for other people?

[same response categories as above]

Well-Being Measures

2.1 Happiness (Question C 1)

Taking all things together, how happy would you say you are?

scale from 0 (extremely unhappy) to 10 (extremely happy)

2.2 Satisfaction (Question B 24)

All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as a whole nowadays? Please answer using this card, where 0 means extremely dissatisfied and 10 means extremely satisfied.

scale from 0 (extremely dissatisfied) to 10 (extremely satisfied)

2.3 Positive Affect (Questions E 11, 13, 16, 19, 20, 22)

I will now read out a list of the ways you might have felt or behaved during the past week. Using this card, please tell me how much of the time during the past week:

  1. 1.

    you were happy?

  2. 2.

    you enjoyed life?

  3. 3.

    you had a lot of energy?

  4. 4.

    you were absorbed in what you were doing?

  5. 5.

    you felt calm and peaceful?

  6. 6.

    you felt really rested when you woke up in the morning?

Response categories: none or almost none of the time, some of the time, most of the time, all or almost all of the time.

2.4 Negative Affect (Questions E 8–10, 12, 14–15)

I will now read out a list of the ways you might have felt or behaved during the past week. Using this card, please tell me how much of the time during the past week:

  1. 1.

    you felt depressed?

  2. 2.

    you felt that everything you did was an effort?

  3. 3.

    your sleep was restless?

  4. 4.

    you felt lonely?

  5. 5.

    you felt sad?

  6. 6.

    you could not get going?

[same response categories as Positive Affect]

2.5 Accomplishment (Question E 27)

Most days I feel a sense of accomplishment from what I do.

  1. 1.

    Agree strongly

  2. 2.

    Agree

  3. 3.

    Neither agree nor disagree

  4. 4.

    Disagree

  5. 5.

    Disagree strongly

[original coding reversed in analysis]

2.6 Worthwhile (Question E 40)

I generally feel that what I do in my life is valuable and worthwhile.

[same response categories as Accomplishment]

Appendix 2

Table 5 Country groupings
Full size table

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Plagnol, A.C., Huppert, F.A. Happy to Help? Exploring the Factors Associated with Variations in Rates of Volunteering Across Europe. Soc Indic Res 97, 157–176 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9494-x

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