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Volunteerism and Mortality among the Community-dwelling Elderly
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Older residents (N 5 1972) in California were investigated prospectively for association of volunteering service to others and all-cause mortality. Potential confounding factors were studied: demographics, health status, physical functioning, health habits, social support, religious involvement, and emotional states. Possible interaction effects of volunteering with religious involvement and social support were also explored. Results showed that 31 percent (n 5 630) of respondents volunteered, about half (n5289) for more than one organization. High volunteers ([.greaterequal]2 organizations) had 63 percent lower mortality than nonvolunteers (age and sex-adjusted) with relative hazard (RH) 5 0.37, confidence interval (CI) 5 0.24, 0.58. Multivariate adjustment moderately reduced difference to 44 percent (RH 5 0.56, CI 5 0.35, 0.89), mostly due to physical functioning, health habits, and social support. Unexpectedly, volunteering was slightly more protective for those with high religious involvement and perceived social support. After multivariate adjustment, any level of volunteering reduced mortality by 60 percent among weekly attenders at religious services (RH 5 0.40; CI 5 0.21,0.74). Lower mortality rates for community service volunteers were only partly explained by health habits, physical functioning, religious attendance, and social support.
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... The theory explains that volunteering experience may influence psychological health by helping volunteers develop supportive social relationships. Through relationships with recipients and other volunteers, they can obtain emotional and instrumental support, improving psychological well-being (Oman et al., 1999). ...
... Furthermore, while previous literature has offered little discussion of causality, leading to multiple interpretations of this relationship, our findings provide substantial evidence regarding the causal effect of volunteering on the psychological Our findings also bear theoretical implications to the social benefit theory. As people with disabilities are often viewed as those being helped, helping others may have them experience more enhanced psychological benefits, including social integration (Berkman & Syme, 1979), self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997), meaningfulness (Pargament, 2001), and even physical activeness (Oman et al., 1999). The present study found that volunteerism was associated with psychological benefits among volunteers with physical disabilities, which is consistent with (Andrews, 2005;Bruce, 2006;Lindsay, 2016;Miller et al., 2003). ...
Volunteering not only benefits nonprofit organizations but also may contribute to volunteers’ well-being. This study examines the benefits of volunteering on the psychological well-being of persons with physical disabilities. Method: Using a sample of 3,440 individuals drawn from national survey data in South Korea, we applied propensity score matching (PSM), a quasi-experimental design that reduces potential bias in models using multiple regression. Results: Our findings revealed the positive effect of volunteering on the psychological well-being of people with physical disabilities. Volunteer participants (treatment group) showed significantly better psychological well-being than non-volunteers (control group). Conclusion: Empirical evidence from this study supports the benefits of volunteering for those with physical disabilities, indicating that participating in such prosocial behaviors may play an important role in their psychological well-being.
... In this case, the stage of primary volunteer socialization is not a necessary precondition for an actor to engage in activities for the benefit of others. Altruism (and sublimation) as a defence mechanism has in this case a therapeutic effect, as it makes it possible to alleviate negative emotions and feelings (Freud, 1948;see also Mirowsky, Ross, 1989;Schütze, 1997;Oman, Thoresen, McMahon, 1999). In this case, the actor may decide to 'broaden the field of activity' or embark on professionalization, but they may also feel satisfied with acting on a limited scale, as close contact with a small number of people can also bring relief from suffering and significantly reduce the feeling of isolation. ...
The article is intended to reconstruct the career stages of volunteers. As a result of the biographical data analysis, three stages of the volunteering career were outlined: preparation, institutionalization, and, potentially, professionalization. The conditions and contexts of their occurrence were also reconstructed. Secondly, the patterns of volunteering careers were described, namely, the ‘structured action scheme’ with its ‘axiological’ and ‘pragmatic’ variants; a ‘post-trajectory’ pattern, and the pattern of ‘mature participation’ and ‘biographical metamorphosis’. In this qualitative sociological study, transcriptions of narrative biographical interviews were analyzed. The procedures of the classic version of the grounded theory methodology were applied. Some concepts developed by Fritz Schütze in the field of the biographical analysis were also used.
... Egy másik vizsgálatban az önkéntességgel összefüggő időskori halálozási arányban bekövetkezett csökkenés erősebb összefüggést mutatott az önkéntességben való részvétellel, mint a testmozgás vagy az intenzív vallásgyakorlás tényezőinek ugyanerre gyakorolt hatásával (Oman, Thoresen, & McMahon, 1999). Egy másik kutatás (Brown és mtsai, 2003) eredményei rámutattak, hogy az éppen gyászfolyamatban érintett, ugyanakkor önkéntes munkát végző idős személyeknek alacsonyabb volt a halálozási aránya egy évvel azután, hogy házastársuk meghalt, mint azoknál, akik nem vállaltak önkéntes munkát. ...
Az önkéntes munkavégzés egy olyan proszociális viselkedésforma, amely hatással van úgy az önkéntesség végzője, mint haszonélvezője pszichológiai és szociális jóllétére, fizikai egészségére és fiziológiai mutatóira is. Tanulmányunk célja feltárni, majd szisztematikus áttekintő tanulmány formájában ismertetni az önkéntesség fizikai és mentális egészséggel való kapcsolatáról az utóbbi évtizedekben született legfontosabb hazai és nemzetközi empirikus vizsgálatok eredményeit. A kutatások eredményei alapján az önkéntesség és a jóllét kapcsolata kétirányú: a legtöbb önkéntes jólléte már az önkéntesség kezdetekor magasabb, ugyanakkor maga a tevékenység végzése is bizonyíthatóan kedvező hatással van a személy fizikai, pszichológiai és szociális jóllétére, amely egyéni különbségeket mutat az önkéntesség időtartamával, gyakoriságával, típusával és a személy egyéb jellemzőivel (pl. életkor, egészségi állapot) interakcióba kerülve. A kutatók jelentős része egyetért abban, hogy az önkéntesség alacsonyabb depresszióval, funkcionális korlátozottsággal és mortalitási rátával jár együtt, amely összefüggés időskorban mutatkozik a legerősebbnek. A mentális egészségre gyakorolt hatás okai között a pszichológiai (pl. énhatékonyság, önbecsülés, élettel való elégedettség) és szociális (a társas integráció és a támogató rendszer bővülése) erőforrások gyarapodását, a pozitív hangulati állapotok növekedését, valamint a negatív hangulati állapotok csökkenését azonosították a vonatkozó vizsgálatokban. A fizikai jóllét növekedése hátterében a megnövekedett fizikai aktivitást találjuk, amelynek folyományaként egy kedvezőbb hormonális, immunrendszeri és kardiovaszkuláris profil azonosítható. Ezen mechanizmusok révén az önkéntesség az egészséges idősödés egyik legfontosabb közvetítőjévé válhat, így közegészségügyi jelentősége mind prevenciós, mind pedig intervenciós szempontból kiemelkedő.
Postmaterial spiritual psychology posits that consciousness can contribute to the unfolding of material events and that the human brain can detect broad, non-material communications. In this regard, this emerging field of postmaterial psychology marks a stark departure from psychology's traditional quantum measurements and tenets. The Oxford Handbook of Psychology and Spirituality codifies the leading empirical evidence in the support and application of postmaterial psychological science. Sections in this volume include: personality and social psychology factors and implications; spiritual development and culture; spiritual dialogue, prayer, and intention in Western mental health; Eastern traditions and psychology; physical health and spirituality; positive psychology; and scientific advances and applications related to spiritual psychology. With articles from leading scholars in psychology, medicine, physics, and biology, this text is an interdisciplinary reference for a rapidly emerging approach to contemporary science.
Zaburzenia depresyjne oraz syndrom wyczerpania sił w grupie uczniów to zjawiska,
które w swoim przebiegu cechują się długim czasem trwania oraz stopniową eskalacją symptomów. Dotychczasowe wyniki badań potwierdziły, że obydwa powyższe zjawiska stanowią istotne czynniki utrudniające a nawet blokujące rozwój jednostki. Jednocześnie obydwa wiążą się z utratą zasobów umożliwiających efektywne funkcjonowanie w środowisku i radzenie sobie z wyzwaniami. Jednym z takich zasobów jest umiejętność zachowania równowagi
pomiędzy różnymi perspektywami temporalnymi. Celem przeprowadzonego projektu badawczego było sprawdzenie mediacyjnej roli wypalenia szkolnego w relacji pomiędzy perspektywą temporalną a poziomem depresji u adolescentów. Badaniami objęto grupę 355 uczniów (w tym 61,6% dziewcząt) z III klas szkół ponadpodstawowych (średnia wieku 18.5). W badaniu wykorzystano trzy narzędzia psychologiczne tj. skalę wypalenia szkolnego dla młodzieży SSBS, pełną wersje Kwestionariusz Perspektywy Temporalnej Zimbardo i Boyda oraz skalę depresji Kutchera dla Młodzieży. Uzyskane dane potwierdziły występowanie istotnych związków między wskaźnikami perspektywy temporalnej a depresją i wypaleniem szkolnym u uczniów. Wyniki analizy mediacyjnej ujawniły, że przeszła perspektywa temporalna oraz fatalistyczna wypalenie szkolne. Wykazano również, że koncentracja na doraźnych hedonistycznych celach nabiera istotnego znaczenia dla nasilenia depresji dopiero po uwzględnieniu w modelu poziomu wypalenia szkolnego. Przyszła perspektywa czasowa jedynie pośrednio była związana z poziomem depresji poprzez mediator. Uzyskane dane sugerują konieczność projektowania oddziaływań pomocowych skierowanych do młodzieży doświadczającej depresji i wypalenia szkolnego, uwzględniających kształtowanie efektywnego zarządzania perspektywą temporalną
Humans experience emotional benefits from engaging in prosocial behavior. The current work investigates factors that influence the experience of happiness from giving to others in early childhood. In three studies with 5‐year‐olds (N = 144), we find that young children are happier from giving resources to others than from receiving resources for themselves (Study 1) and investigate when children are most happy from giving. In Study 2, children were happier when they could see the beneficiary's positive reaction, suggesting that empathizing with the beneficiary's positive emotion contributes to happiness (consistent with the concept of vicarious‐joy). In Study 3, children were happier after they gave resources than when they watched someone else give resources, indicating that being responsible for prosocial action contributes to children's happiness (consistent with the concept of warm‐glow). These results provide a critical step toward understanding when children experience happiness from giving and a foundation for investigating happiness as a mechanism supporting early prosociality.
Research on the stress-buffering functions of social support is equivocal. The purpose of this study was to suggest that part of the reason for these contradictory findings may be due to the fact that researchers have misspecified the relationship between stress and support. Instead of always being an effective coping resource, this study tested the view that there are limits to the beneficial effects of assistance provided by others and that beyond a certain level support may actually exacerbate the noxious impact of stress. Data from a recent nationwide survey of older adults support this more complex perspective. More specifically, the data suggest that although emotional support initially reduces the effects of chronic financial strain on depressive symptoms, further increments in emotional assistance are associated with increased psychological distress.
Hypotheses concerning the specific contexts in which an altruistic personality might be most apparent were investigated. College students completed questionnaires tapping components of an altruistic personality, emotionality, and social desirability. At a 2nd session, the emotional evocativeness and ease of escape from the helping situation were experimentally manipulated. Ss were exposed to a distressed woman, completed state sympathy and personal distress indexes, and were given an opportunity to assist the woman. High scorers on dispositional altruism were expected to assist most when escape was easy, particularly when the distress cues were obvious. Altruistic and emotionally reactive persons were also expected to help most in a psychologically “weak” environment. Both predictions were supported. The relations between helping and the other predictors were also examined.
From W. B. Cannon’s identification of adrenaline with “fight or flight” to modern views of stress, negative views of peripheral physiological arousal predominate. Sympathetic nervous system (SNS) arousal is associated with anxiety, neuroticism, the Type A personality, cardiovascular disease, and immune system suppression; illness susceptibility is associated with life events requiring adjustments. “Stress control” has become almost synonymous with arousal reduction. A contrary positive view of peripheral arousal follows from studies of subjects exposed to intermittent stressors. Such exposure leads to low SNS arousal base rates, but to strong and responsive challenge- or stress-induced SNS-adrenal-medullary arousal, with resistance to brain catecholamine depletion and with suppression of pituitary adrenal-cortical responses. That pattern of arousal defines physiological toughness and, in interaction with psychological coping, corresponds with positive performance in even complex tasks, with emotional stability, and with immune system enhancement. The toughness concept suggests an opposition between effective short- and long-term coping, with implications for effective therapies and stress-inoculating life-styles.
The relationship between social and community ties and mortality was assessed using the 1965 Human Population Laboratory survey of a random sample of 6928 adults in Alameda County, California and a subsequent nine-year mortality follow-up. The findings show that people who lacked social and community ties were more likely to die in the follow-up period than those with more extensive contacts. The age-adjusted relative risks for those most Isolated when compared to those with the most social contacts were 2.3 for men and 2.8 for women. The association between social ties and mortality was found to be independent of self-reported physical health status at the time of the 1965 survey, year of death, socioeconomic status, and health practices such as smoking, alcoholic beverage consumption, obesity, physical activity, and utilization of preventive health services as well as a cumulative index of health practices.