Van Willigen M
Department of Sociology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2000 Sep;55(5):S308-18. doi: 10.1093/geronb/55.5.s308.
Studies often fail to adequately test the causal relationship between volunteering and well-being. Yet the media and empirical research have focused attention on the impact of volunteering on the well-being of elderly persons. This study addresses two questions: First, does volunteering improve the psychological and physical well-being of elderly persons? Second, do elderly volunteers experience different benefits than younger adults?
Using nationally representative panel data, I assessed the long-term impact of volunteering on the life satisfaction and perceived health of persons aged 60 and over. I then compared ordinary least squares regression results for seniors with those for younger adults.
I found that older volunteers experienced greater increases in life satisfaction over time as a result of their volunteer hours than did younger adult volunteers, especially at high rates of volunteering. Older adults experienced greater positive changes in their perceived health than did younger adult volunteers.
The type of volunteer work in which older and younger adults engage may be part of the reason for these differential effects. But the context in which older and younger adults volunteer and the meaning of their voluntarism are more likely explanations. Researchers should take into account volunteer commitment when studying volunteering's effect on well-being, not simply volunteer role.
研究常常未能充分检验志愿服务与幸福感之间的因果关系。然而，媒体和实证研究已将注意力集中在志愿服务对老年人幸福感的影响上。本研究探讨两个问题：第一，志愿服务是否能改善老年人的心理和身体健康？第二，老年志愿者与年轻成年人获得的益处是否不同？
利用具有全国代表性的面板数据，我评估了志愿服务对60岁及以上人群生活满意度和自我感知健康状况的长期影响。然后，我将老年人的普通最小二乘法回归结果与年轻成年人的结果进行了比较。
我发现，随着时间的推移，老年志愿者因其志愿服务时长而在生活满意度上的提升幅度大于年轻成年志愿者，尤其是在高志愿服务率的情况下。老年志愿者在自我感知健康方面比年轻成年志愿者经历了更大的积极变化。
老年和年轻成年人从事的志愿工作类型可能是造成这些差异效应的部分原因。但老年和年轻成年人志愿服务的背景及其志愿服务的意义更有可能是解释因素。研究人员在研究志愿服务对幸福感的影响时应考虑志愿者的投入程度，而不仅仅是志愿者角色。
