Abstract
The aim of the study was to test variables that explain long-term commitment to volunteering among volunteers in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. Long-term commitment to volunteering was tested by the participants’ evaluation of the stability, consistency, and intensity of their volunteering over time. Two theoretical frameworks served for explaining commitment to volunteering: the social-structural approach and the psychological characteristics approach. The sample was comprised of 504 Jewish participants: 173 men and 331 women. The data were collected via structured questionnaires distributed by nonprofit volunteer organizations. The most significant contribution to explaining long-term commitment to volunteering, in all its forms, was for psychological characteristics reflected in emotions during the pandemic and in the motives for volunteering, the volunteer's gender, level of education, and tendency to volunteer during routine times. Volunteer organizations should focus on cultivating a large and motivated population of volunteers to maintain long-term volunteering during emergencies and in routine times.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 794-816 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2022 The Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues.
Funding
The study was supported by the Israeli National Council for Volunteering and by the Israeli Ministry of Science and Technology. I thank Ronit Bar and Liora Arnon from the Israeli National Council for Volunteering for their kind cooperation during the various stages of the research.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Israeli National Council for Volunteering | |
| Ministry of science and technology, Israel |