This study tested the hypothesis that the relation between extraversion and volunteering by older adults is fully mediated by social capital (participation in clubs and organizations, church attendance, and contact with friends). Data for this study come from 888 adults between the ages of 65-90 years old who participated in the Later Life Study of Social Exchanges (LLSSE). In support of our hypothesis, structural equation modeling revealed that extraversion exerted (a) a significant total effect on volunteering (.122), (b) significant indirect effects on volunteering via contact with friends (.042), church attendance (.034), and clubs and organizations (females only: .042), and (c) a nonsignificant direct effect on volunteering (.010). These findings suggest that social capital provides a viable explanation for the association between extraversion and volunteering.
KeywordsChurch Attendance; Extraversion; Friends; Older Adults; Organizational Ties; Social Capital Older adults constitute an immense reservoir of human capital, and volunteering represents one of the venues for them to contribute productively to society (Butler, 2002). The demand for volunteers among future generations of older adults is forecasted to increase (Soo & GongSoog, 1998). In light of this projection, it is important to understand the dynamics of volunteering by older adults. One factor that has received scant attention from researchers is the influence of extraversion on volunteering by older adults. It is possible for personality traits to exhibit both direct and indirect effects on volunteering (Carlo, Okun, Knight, & de Guzman, 2005).Using data from the 1986 Americans' Changing Lives survey, Herzog and Morgan (1993) cast a wide net to examine the direct and indirect effects on later-life volunteering of three sets of exogenous variables-personality traits (e.g., extraversion), social-structural characteristics Send all correspondence to: Dr. Morris A. Okun, Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-1104, USA, Email: okun@asu.edu; Fax: 480.965.8544. Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. (e.g., education), and environmental factors (e.g., urbanicity)-and three sets of mediating variables-roles (e.g., work status), social participation (e.g., involvement with formal organizations), and health (e.g., functional health limitations) on volunteering by older adults. Herzog and Morgan (1993) found evidence for partial mediation of the effects of extraversion on volunteering by older adults, that is, the effect of extraversion on volunteering was reduced but ...