Okun Morris, Infurna Frank J, Hutchinson Ianeta
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2016 May;71(3):439-44. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbu159. Epub 2014 Nov 21.
Previous research indicates that volunteer satisfaction and enjoyment do not exert direct effects on the cessation of volunteering by older adults. This study examined whether satisfaction with and enjoyment of volunteering indirectly affect volunteer cessation via hours volunteered.
Our sample consisted of participants in the Americans' Changing Lives study (N = 380) who were 65 years old and older and who volunteered at Wave 1. Volunteer satisfaction, volunteer enjoyment, hours volunteered, and several covariates were assessed at Wave 1, and volunteer cessation was assessed 3 years later at Wave 2.
Volunteer satisfaction and volunteer enjoyment were positively associated with hours volunteered, and more hours volunteered was associated with decreased likelihood of volunteer cessation. The indirect effects of volunteer satisfaction and volunteer enjoyment on volunteer cessation via hours volunteered were -.023 (p = .059) and -.036 (p = .015), respectively.
The dynamics of volunteer cessation are important because a volunteer shortage is forecasted and because the benefits of volunteering may attenuate when volunteering stops. Future research should test the proposed causal sequence using longitudinal data with at least 3 waves.
先前的研究表明，志愿者的满意度和愉悦感对老年人停止志愿服务没有直接影响。本研究考察了志愿服务的满意度和愉悦感是否通过志愿服务时长对停止志愿服务产生间接影响。
我们的样本包括“美国人生活变化”研究中的参与者（N = 380），他们年龄在65岁及以上，且在第一波调查时参与了志愿服务。在第一波调查中评估了志愿者满意度、志愿者愉悦感、志愿服务时长和几个协变量，并在3年后的第二波调查中评估了停止志愿服务的情况。
志愿者满意度和志愿者愉悦感与志愿服务时长呈正相关，志愿服务时长增加与停止志愿服务的可能性降低相关。志愿者满意度和志愿者愉悦感通过志愿服务时长对停止志愿服务的间接效应分别为-.023（p = .059）和-.036（p = .015）。
停止志愿服务的动态变化很重要，因为预计会出现志愿者短缺，而且停止志愿服务时，志愿服务的益处可能会减弱。未来的研究应该使用至少三波的纵向数据来检验所提出的因果顺序。
