The interplay of traits and motives on volunteering: agreeableness, extraversion and prosocial value motivation

Abstract

Social psychology and personality theorists have proposed that our understanding of prosocial behavior will be enhanced by examining the interplay of traits and motives. Th e present study was designed to test several pathways by which agreeableness, extraversion, and prosocial value motivation to volunteer infl uence volunteerism. A sample of 796 college students completed measures of the Big Five traits, prosocial value motivation to volunteer, and volunteering. Results of path analyses showed that prosocial value motivation to volunteer partially mediated the relations between agreeableness and extraversion, and volunteering. Furthermore, as agreeableness decreased, extraversion was more strongly related to prosocial value motivation to volunteer. In contrast, there was no support for the pathway in which extraversion and prosocial value motivation to volunteer jointly aff ect volunteering. Discussion focuses on the utility of examining the links among traits and motives in predicting volunteering.

Unpacking the relation between extraversion and volunteering in later life: The role of social capital

“…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).…”

“…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.…”

“…Because formal volunteering often requires extensive social interactions, scholars have posited that it is associated with being extraverted (Burke & Hall, 1986). Several studies have observed a significant association between extraversion and volunteering (Bekkers, 2005;Burke & Hall, 1986;Carlo et al, 2005;Herzog & Morgan, 1993), but see Trudeau and Devlin (1996) for an exception.Because extraversion is viewed as a product of genetics and early childhood experiences, differences in extraversion are likely to precede differences in our mediating variables and in volunteering (Swickert, Hittner, Kitos, & Cox-Fuenzalida, 2004). This mediational model is based upon the premises that (a) extraversion is significantly related to the mediators as well as to volunteering and (b) the mediators are significantly related to volunteering.…”

Volunteer entry into hospital culture : relationships among socialization, P-O fit, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction.

“…During this same period, researchers seeking to understand volunteer behavior also investigated means of volunteer motivation measurement (Clary, Synder & Ridge, 1992;Clary, Synder, & Stukas, 1996;Clary Synder, Ridge, Copeland, Staukas, Haugen et aI., 1998;Cnaan & Goldberg-Glen, 1991;). Using the measures created by these individuals, as well as measures created by others, researchers (Becker & Dhingram, 2001;Caldwell & Andereck, 1994;Carlo, Okun, Knight, de Guzman, 2004;Eley & Kirk, 2002;Finkelstein, Penner, & Brannick, 2005;Martinez & McMullin, 2004;Sherer, 2004;Nelson, Hooker, DeHart, Edwards, & Lanning, 2004;Strigas & Jackson, 2003) explored volunteer motivation in relation to several other variables.…”

“…Using the measures created by these individuals, as well as measures created by others, researchers (Becker & Dhingram, 2001;Caldwell & Andereck, 1994;Carlo, Okun, Knight, de Guzman, 2004;Eley & Kirk, 2002;Finkelstein, Penner, & Brannick, 2005;Sherer, 2004;Nelson, Hooker, DeHart, Edwards, & Lanning, 2004;Martinez & McMullin, 2004;Strigas & Jackson, 2003) explored volunteer motivation in relation to several other variables. From these investigations, we see that unpaid and paid organization members have both similar and dissimilar perceptions of organizational life.…”