They are Doing Well, but is it by Doing Good? Pathways from Nonpolitical and Political Volunteering to Subjective Well-Being in Age Comparison

Abstract

We investigated whether higher internal control beliefs (perceived control, political efficacy) and improved social relationships (lower loneliness, social support availability) mediated the associations between nonpolitical and political volunteering and subjective well-being (SWB; life satisfaction, emotional well-being). Moreover, we examined whether these effects differed between nonpolitical and political volunteering and across age groups. We conducted longitudinal multilevel regression analyses of data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (1985–2016) in younger (14–29, n = 7,547), middle-aged (40–50, n = 6,437), and older (65–75, n = 3,736) adults (see preregistration at https://osf.io/qk6mu). Significant effects on SWB emerged mainly in older adults who reported higher life satisfaction on occasions with more frequent nonpolitical volunteering than usual but lower life satisfaction on occasions with more frequent political volunteering. The negative effect of political volunteering was mediated by higher loneliness. In younger and middle-aged adults, mixed effects of nonpolitical and political volunteering on the mediating variables and no significant effects on SWB emerged. We discuss methodological, contextual, and life-stage explanations of our findings.

Longitudinal associations of volunteering, grandparenting, and family care with processing speed: A gender perspective on prosocial activity and cognitive aging in the second half of life.

“…Taken together, our article provides only mixed support for the beneficial role of volunteering for cognitive aging, given the lack of protection against long-term decline, in contrast to earlier studies, arguing that volunteering is a promising tool to support cognitively healthy aging (Guiney & Machado, 2018). Our article joins recent studies on the association of volunteering and well-being, which have pointed out that the earlier literature may have exaggerated the positive effects of volunteering on individuals by not considering within-person associations and selection into volunteering (Bjälkebring et al, 2021;Lühr et al, 2022). We assume that the context of and motivation for the individual volunteering activity must be considered.…”

When You’re Down and Out: Who Benefits from Volunteering in Old Age?

“…I merged the categories at least once per week and daily (endorsed by very few participants) of the 5-point scale to obtain a uniform 4-point scale. The SOEP item on volunteering is often used in research on volunteering in Germany (e.g., Erlinghagen, 2010;Künemund & Schupp, 2008;Lühr et al, 2022b). Moreover, according to the SOEP data, 30.6% of this study's sample volunteered across measurement occasions (see Table 1).…”

“…Although the findings are not unequivocal, the results of several studies suggest that more vulnerable seniors (i.e., individuals with less resources, such as lower socioeconomic status, worse health, lower social involvement) benefit more from volunteering than less vulnerable seniors do (for reviews, see Anderson et al, 2014;Piliavin & Siegl, 2015). Again, stronger increases in mental health among vulnerable individuals might be attributed to compensation effects and more gains in resources: volunteering may facilitate physical activity, cognitive stimulation, and social integration (Fried et al, 2004), which particularly benefits those who otherwise do not participate in physical, cognitive demanding, and social activities (Bjälkebring et al, 2021;Lühr et al, 2022b).…”

“…Despite this reasonable explanation, recent longitudinal studies with robust designs (i.e., fixed-effects models, within-person analyses) have suggested that the effects of volunteering on mental health among older adults are surprisingly small and not significantly stronger than the effects for younger adults (Lawton et al, 2021;Lühr et al, 2022aLühr et al, , 2022b.…”

“…Like employment, volunteering implies taking a formal role in an organization; the activity is now unpaid and oriented to serve a common good (Morrow-Howell, 2010). Hence, volunteering in retirement may reestablish a formal social role and its advantages, such as perceiving it to be meaningful and having social interactions (Anderson et al, 2014;Bjälkebring et al, 2021;Greenfield & Marks, 2004;Lühr et al, 2022b;Musick & Wilson, 2003;Pavlova & Silbereisen, 2012).…”