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Volunteering and life satisfaction: a closer look at the hypothesis that volunteering more strongly benefits the unhappy

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  • Martin Binder

Abstract

Volunteering positively impacts on life satisfaction and mental well-being over the deciles of the distribution for a sample of the British populace from 1996 to 2008 (BHPS data set); however, this effect is decreasing for those in the upper parts of the well-being distribution. This can be seen as support for the contention that volunteering can play a protective role for individuals and increase their well-being in the face of otherwise unsatisfactory life conditions. Looking at the effect on satisfaction with life domains, there is evidence for a positive impact of volunteering on satisfaction with health, one's social life and amount and use of leisure time.

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  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:apeclt:v:22:y:2015:i:11:p:874-885
    DOI: 10.1080/13504851.2014.985364
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Zheng Fang & Yoko Niimi, 2015. "Do Losses Bite More than Gains? Evidence from a Panel Quantile Regression Analysis of Subjective Well-being in Japan," Economic Growth Centre Working Paper Series 1507, Nanyang Technological University, School of Social Sciences, Economic Growth Centre.
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    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Binder, Martin & Blankenberg, Ann-Kathrin, 2016. "Environmental concerns, volunteering and subjective well-being: Antecedents and outcomes of environmental activism in Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 1-16.
    6. Martin Binder, 2015. "Do it with joy: Subjective well-being outcomes of working in non-profit organizations," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2015-03, Philipps University Marburg, Department of Geography.
    7. Min-Ah Lee, 2019. "Volunteering and Happiness: Examining the Differential Effects of Volunteering Types According to Household Income," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(3), pages 795-814, March.
    8. Fang, Zheng & Niimi, Yoko, 2017. "Does everyone exhibit loss aversion? Evidence from a panel quantile regression analysis of subjective well-being in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 79-90.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Binder, Martin, 2016. "“…Do it with joy!” – Subjective well-being outcomes of working in non-profit organizations," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 64-84.
    12. Mock, Mirijam & Omann, Ines & Polzin, Christine & Spekkink, Wouter & Schuler, Julia & Pandur, Vlad & Brizi, Ambra & Panno, Angelo, 2019. "“Something inside me has been set in motion”: Exploring the psychological wellbeing of people engaged in sustainability initiatives," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 1-11.
    13. Galina Besstremyannaya & Sergei Golovan, 2019. "Reconsideration of a simple approach to quantile regression for panel data: a comment on the Canay (2011) fixed effects estimator," Working Papers w0249, New Economic School (NES).
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. Rotondi, Valentina & Stanca, Luca & Tomasuolo, Miriam, 2017. "Connecting alone: Smartphone use, quality of social interactions and well-being," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 17-26.
    17. 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.
    18. Galina Besstremyannaya & Sergei Golovan, 2019. "Reconsideration of a simple approach to quantile regression for panel data: a comment on the Canay (2011) fixed effects estimator," Working Papers w0249, Center for Economic and Financial Research (CEFIR).

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