IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jhappi/v23y2022i4d10.1007_s10902-021-00471-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Differential Associations Between Volunteering and Subjective Well-Being by Labor Force Status: An Investigation of Experiential and Evaluative Well-Being Using Time Use Data

Author

Listed:
  • Heng Qu

    (Texas A&M University)

Abstract

Abundant research has found that volunteering is associated with better subjective well-being, and the benefits of volunteering vary by individual characteristics. However, most research is based on evaluative well-being that measures how people perceive their lives overall, rather than experiential well-being that measures how people feel at the moment. Using data from the American Time Use Survey Well-being Module, this study examines whether formal volunteering is associated with daily experiential well-being (i.e. happy, sad, stress, tired, pain, meaning, net affect, U-index) and whether the associations vary by labor force status. The findings demonstrate that volunteering is generally associated with improved daily experience for those not in labor force but not the unemployed individuals. This study contributes to the growing research on individual differences in the relationship between volunteering and subjective well-being and provides both theoretical and policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Heng Qu, 2022. "Differential Associations Between Volunteering and Subjective Well-Being by Labor Force Status: An Investigation of Experiential and Evaluative Well-Being Using Time Use Data," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 1737-1770, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:23:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10902-021-00471-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10902-021-00471-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10902-021-00471-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10902-021-00471-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Hansen & Marja Aartsen & Britt Slagsvold & Christian Deindl, 2018. "Dynamics of Volunteering and Life Satisfaction in Midlife and Old Age: Findings from 12 European Countries," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-15, May.
    2. Maria K. Pavlova & Rainer K. Silbereisen, 2012. "Participation in Voluntary Organizations and Volunteer Work as a Compensation for the Absence of Work or Partnership? Evidence From Two German Samples of Younger and Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 67(4), pages 514-524.
    3. Stephan Meier & Alois Stutzer, 2008. "Is Volunteering Rewarding in Itself?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 75(297), pages 39-59, February.
    4. Emily A. Greenfield & Nadine F. Marks, 2004. "Formal Volunteering as a Protective Factor for Older Adults' Psychological Well-Being," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 59(5), pages 258-264.
    5. Alan B. Krueger & Andreas I. Mueller, 2012. "The Lot Of The Unemployed: A Time Use Perspective," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 765-794, August.
    6. Yanni Hao, 2008. "Productive Activities and Psychological Well-Being Among Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 63(2), pages 64-72.
    7. Andreas Knabe & Steffen Rätzel & Ronnie Schöb & Joachim Weimann, 2010. "Dissatisfied with Life but Having a Good Day: Time-use and Well-being of the Unemployed," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(547), pages 867-889, September.
    8. Ricky N. Lawton & Iulian Gramatki & Will Watt & Daniel Fujiwara, 2021. "Does Volunteering Make Us Happier, or Are Happier People More Likely to Volunteer? Addressing the Problem of Reverse Causality When Estimating the Wellbeing Impacts of Volunteering," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 599-624, February.
    9. Marieke Van Willigen, 2000. "Differential Benefits of Volunteering Across the Life Course," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 55(5), pages 308-318.
    10. Musick, Marc A. & Wilson, John, 2003. "Volunteering and depression: the role of psychological and social resources in different age groups," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 259-269, January.
    11. Martin Binder, 2015. "Volunteering and life satisfaction: a closer look at the hypothesis that volunteering more strongly benefits the unhappy," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(11), pages 874-885, July.
    12. Yoko Sugihara & Hidehiro Sugisawa & Hiroshi Shibata & Ken Harada, 2008. "Productive Roles, Gender, and Depressive Symptoms: Evidence From a National Longitudinal Study of Late-Middle-Aged Japanese," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 63(4), pages 227-234.
    13. William Pavot & Ed Diener, 1993. "The affective and cognitive context of self-reported measures of subjective well-being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 1-20, January.
    14. Arthur A. Stone & Stefan Schneider & Alan Krueger & Joseph E. Schwartz & Angus Deaton, 2018. "Experiential Wellbeing Data from the American Time Use Survey: Comparisons with Other Methods and Analytic Illustrations with Age and Income," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 136(1), pages 359-378, February.
    15. Binder, Martin & Freytag, Andreas, 2013. "Volunteering, subjective well-being and public policy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 97-119.
    16. Pamela D. Pilkington & Tim D. Windsor & Dimity A. Crisp, 2012. "Volunteering and Subjective Well-Being in Midlife and Older Adults: The Role of Supportive Social Networks," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 67(2), pages 249-260.
    17. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger, 2006. "Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, Winter.
    18. Dolan, Paul & Peasgood, Tessa & White, Mathew, 2008. "Do we really know what makes us happy A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 94-122, February.
    19. Hong, S.I. & Morrow-Howell, Nancy, 2010. "Health outcomes of Experience Corps®: A high-commitment volunteer program," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 414-420, July.
    20. Kumar, Santosh & Calvo, Rocio & Avendano, Mauricio & Sivaramakrishnan, Kavita & Berkman, Lisa F., 2012. "Social support, volunteering and health around the world: Cross-national evidence from 139 countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(5), pages 696-706.
    21. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2015. "Voluntary Activities and Daily Happiness in the US," IZA Discussion Papers 8764, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    22. Borgonovi, Francesca, 2008. "Doing well by doing good. The relationship between formal volunteering and self-reported health and happiness," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2321-2334, June.
    23. Paul Dolan & Laura Kudrna & Arthur Stone, 2017. "The Measure Matters: An Investigation of Evaluative and Experience-Based Measures of Wellbeing in Time Use Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 57-73, October.
    24. J. Ignacio Gimenez-Nadal & Jose Alberto Molina, 2015. "Voluntary Activities And Daily Happiness In The United States," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 53(4), pages 1735-1750, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yu-Chuan Chen & Yung-Ho Chiu & Tzu-Han Chang & Tai-Yu Lin, 2023. "Sustainable Development, Government Efficiency, and People’s Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 1549-1578, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Magnani, Elisabetta & Zhu, Rong, 2018. "Does kindness lead to happiness? Voluntary activities and subjective well-being," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 20-28.
    2. Matthias Lühr & Maria K. Pavlova & Maike Luhmann, 2022. "Nonpolitical Versus Political Participation: Longitudinal Associations with Mental Health and Social Well-Being in Different Age Groups," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(3), pages 865-884, February.
    3. Gimenez-Nadal, José Ignacio & Molina, José Alberto, 2015. "Voluntary Activities and Daily Happiness in the US," IZA Discussion Papers 8764, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Lane, Tom, 2017. "How does happiness relate to economic behaviour? A review of the literature," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 62-78.
    5. Thi Truong An Hoang & Andreas Knabe, 2021. "Time Use, Unemployment, and Well-Being: An Empirical Analysis Using British Time-Use Data," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 2525-2548, August.
    6. Ricky N. Lawton & Iulian Gramatki & Will Watt & Daniel Fujiwara, 2021. "Does Volunteering Make Us Happier, or Are Happier People More Likely to Volunteer? Addressing the Problem of Reverse Causality When Estimating the Wellbeing Impacts of Volunteering," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(2), pages 599-624, February.
    7. Xiaoting Zheng & Jiayue Chen & Yipeng Li, 2021. "The association between charitable giving and happiness: Evidence from the Chinese General Social Survey," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 55(6), pages 2103-2138, December.
    8. Tetsuya Tsurumi & Rintaro Yamaguchi & Kazuki Kagohashi & Shunsuke Managi, 2021. "Are Cognitive, Affective, and Eudaimonic Dimensions of Subjective Well-Being Differently Related to Consumption? Evidence from Japan," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 2499-2522, August.
    9. Arjen Wit & Heng Qu & René Bekkers, 2022. "The health advantage of volunteering is larger for older and less healthy volunteers in Europe: a mega-analysis," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1189-1200, December.
    10. Matthias Lühr & Maria K. Pavlova & Maike Luhmann, 2022. "They are Doing Well, but is it by Doing Good? Pathways from Nonpolitical and Political Volunteering to Subjective Well-Being in Age Comparison," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 1969-1989, June.
    11. Trine Filges & Anu Siren & Torben Fridberg & Bjørn C. V. Nielsen, 2020. "Voluntary work for the physical and mental health of older volunteers: A systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(4), December.
    12. Fiorillo, Damiano & Nappo, Nunzia, 2014. "Volunteering and perceived health. A European cross-countries investigation," MPRA Paper 72313, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    13. Marchesano, Katia & Musella, Marco, 2020. "Does volunteer work affect life satisfaction of participants with chronic functional limitations? An empirical investigation," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    14. Damiano Fiorillo & Nunzia Nappo, 2017. "Formal volunteering and self-perceived health. Causal evidence from the UK-SILC," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 75(2), pages 112-138, April.
    15. Thomas Hansen & Marja Aartsen & Britt Slagsvold & Christian Deindl, 2018. "Dynamics of Volunteering and Life Satisfaction in Midlife and Old Age: Findings from 12 European Countries," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(5), pages 1-15, May.
    16. Fiorillo, Damiano & Nappo, Nunzia, 2014. "Formal and informal volunteering and health across European countries," MPRA Paper 60210, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Michelle I. Jongenelis & Ben Jackson & Jennifer Warburton & Robert U. Newton & Simone Pettigrew, 2022. "Aspects of formal volunteering that contribute to favourable psychological outcomes in older adults," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 107-116, March.
    18. Binder, Martin & Freytag, Andreas, 2013. "Volunteering, subjective well-being and public policy," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 97-119.
    19. Christian Kroll, 2014. "Towards a Sociology of Happiness: The Case of an Age Perspective on the Social Context of Well-Being," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 19(2), pages 1-18, May.
    20. Catherine Deri Armstrong & Rose Anne Devlin & Forough Seifi, 2018. "Doing Good, Feeling Good: Causal Evidence from Canadian Volunteers," Working Papers 1807E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jhappi:v:23:y:2022:i:4:d:10.1007_s10902-021-00471-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.