Suchergebnisse

Die motivationalen Grundlagen des planvollen, unterstützenden Hilfeverhaltens im Rahmen ehrenamtlicher Tätigkeiten werden untersucht. Dabei wird von einem funktionalen Ansatz ausgegangen, also von der Annahme, dass die Ausübung einer ehrenamtlichen Tätigkeit einen bestimmten psychologischen Zweck verfolgt. Der funktionale Ansatz berücksichtigt motivationale Prozesse als Grundlage für verschiedene psychologische Phänomene und betont, dass Einstellungen und Handlungen zweckorientiert und zielgerichtet sind. Des Weiteren unterstreicht der funktionale Ansatz die Wichtigkeit einer Übereinstimmung zwischen individuellen Motivationen und Umweltbedingungen, die die Möglichkeiten bereitstellen, diesen Motivationen zu entsprechen. Auf der Basis von theoretischen Überlegungen und faktoranalytischen Untersuchungen werden sechs funktionale Motivationen hergeleitet (Werte, Verständnis, Karriere, Soziales, Schutz, Verbesserung). In einem weiteren Schritt werden diese funktionalen Motivationen in ihrer Bedeutung für ehrenamtliche Tätigkeiten untersucht. Es konnte gezeigt werden, dass funktionale Motivationen bedeutsam sind mit Blick auf die Aufnahme einer ehrenamtlichen Tätigkeit, hinsichtlich der Ausübung der Tätigkeit sowie bezüglich der Fortführung der Tätigkeit. Faktoren, die in Abhängigkeit der funktionalen Motivation wirksam werden, sind zum einen die Art der Werbung für ein Ehrenamt (Aufnahme), zum zweiten die Arbeitszufriedenheit sowie die resultierende Leistung bzw. Arbeitsqualität (Ausübung) und letztlich die Absicht zur kurz- oder langfristigen Hilfe bzw. die tatsächliche Dauer der Tätigkeit (Fortführung). Abschließend werden die Handlungswirksamkeit von funktionalen Motivationen sowie deren individuell zu spezifizierende Vielfalt diskutiert.

The present investigation used responses to Independent Sector's 1992 national survey of giving and volunteering in the United States to address several questions about the motivations of volunteers. Drawing on the functional approach to volunteers' motivations, and its operationalization in the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI), relations between motivations and various aspects of volunteer behavior were examined, along with associations of motivations and demographic variables. Analyses revealed that current volunteers and nonvolunteers differed on motivations; people with different volunteering histories revealed different motivational patterns; unique combinations of motivations were associated with different types of volunteering activities; and motivational differences were associated with different demographic groups. The implications of these findings for understanding the nature and function of the motivations to volunteer, and the applications to the practice of volunteerism, are discussed.

The functional approach to volunteerism holds that outcomes from volunteering (e.g., satisfaction and intentions to remain a volunteer) are a function of the match between a volunteer's motivations and affordances to meet those motivations found in the environment (i.e., the volunteer activities, position, or organization). In this article, the authors introduce an index for calculating a volunteer's total number of matches across six motivational categories identified by past research. They demonstrate that this index predicts outcomes better than motives or affordances alone and as well as any univariate match index (i.e., in a particular motivational category). Following logic about strong and weak situational contexts, the authors demonstrate that the magnitude of the total matches effect may be greater when organizational contexts are less structured and smaller when contexts are more structured. They discuss theoretical and practical benefits of this total match index.

Volunteerism is a key form of community involvement that can provide both physical and mental health benefits for volunteers as well as positive outcomes for the community. However, volunteers become involved for different reasons and recent studies suggest that other-oriented volunteers may accrue greater health benefits than self-oriented volunteers. To investigate this possibility, we surveyed 4,085 Australian volunteers about their motivations using the Volunteer Functions Inventory, together with their well-being using measures of self-esteem, well-being, self-efficacy, social connectedness, and social trust. As predicted, these individual differences in well-being proved to be differentially associated with other-oriented and self-oriented motivations. Furthermore, other-oriented motives were positively correlated, and self-oriented motives were negatively correlated, with satisfaction and intentions to continue. We discuss implications of these patterns for organizations that work with volunteers.

There is a significant body of research that examines the antecedents and consequences of population-level disparities in physical activity engagement. However, there are still vast gendered inequalities with women missing out on the associated health benefits of physical activity compared to men. The purpose of this study is to foster a deep understanding of the 'fear of judgement' experienced by physically inactive women to develop policy and practice that can attend to this issue. The theory of reflexive embodiment, rooted in the interactionist tradition, provides the theoretical underpinning for the work as it highlights how women's bodies are influenced by the gaze of others. Results demonstrate that women feel judged for the way their bodies look and move during exercise, for prioritising physical activity over family duties, and that these sensations are influenced by the networks of people in activity spaces. The impact of judgement affects women's mental and physical wellbeing. It leads to the cessation of physical activity, creates worries about restarting various forms of activity and shapes how and where women undertake exercise.

Context The use of conservation detection dogs (CDDs) is an established, highly efficient means by which data on cryptic and low-density plant and animal species can be collected in a relatively cost-effective way. Nonetheless, the time and resource costs associated with purchasing, training, and maintaining CDDs can be prohibitive, particularly for smaller organisations seeking to contribute to environmental work. A volunteer-based model of CDD training and deployment could make highly skilled teams more accessible to such groups, but little is known about why volunteers might choose to participate in such a program or what factors might maintain their motivation. Aims We previously reported on the effectiveness of a volunteer-based model of CDD training that began with 19 dog-handler teams. In the current study, we identify owner-reported motivations for, and satisfaction with, engaging in this 3 year program. Methods We used a combination of quantitative data from established questionnaires and qualitative data from semi-structured interviews to explore functional motivational themes among volunteers. Key results We identified six functional motivational themes in participants. Overall, volunteers tended to be initially motivated by a desire to engage in a meaningful activity with their dog. Handlers often reported engaging in iterative goal-setting and attainment through successive project stages, a strengthening of the dog–owner relationship and a growing tendency to place more emphasis on environmental/conservation-related goals as the program developed. Conclusions Suitable volunteers and their pet dogs can be trained as skilled CDD-handler teams. Importantly, teams can continue to participate in a volunteer-based program and contribute to conservation efforts for up to 4 years or longer, if their motivations and goals of participation can be facilitated through participation. Implications This is important information as training volunteer CCDs requires a substantial investment in terms of time and other resources. Only by focusing on factors which foster an optimal recruitment strategy and then enhance program satisfaction and participant retention, are such programs likely to be cost-effective in the longer term.