HRPYC81 Research Report for Project 4809 Assignment number 42 Title of study: What motivates people to do volunteer work?
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HRPYC81
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University Of South Africa
HRPYC81
Research Report for Project
4809 Assignment number 42
Title of study: What motivates
people to do volunteer work?100% TRUSTED Answers, guidelines, workings and references.CONTENTS
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………….....
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HRPYC81
Research Report for Project
4809 Assignment number 42
Title of study: What motivates
people to do volunteer work?
,CONTENTS
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………….... 3
1. Literature review………………………………………………………………………... 4
1.1. Defining motivation and volunteerism………………………………………….… 4
1.2. Motivations behind volunteer work as observed by researchers………….…….. 5
1.3. Altruism vs Egoism……………………………………………………………….... 7
1.4. What influences volunteers to stay with their organizations?............................... 9
2. Research rationale……………………………………………………………………... 10
3. The aim of the research……………………………………………………………….. 11
4. Methodology………………………………………………………………………….... 11
4.1. Research design…………………………………………………………………… 11
4.2. Participants………………………………………………………………………... 13
4.3. The interviews……………………………………………………………………... 15
4.4. Data analysis………………………………………………………………………. 15
4.5. Trustworthiness (validity & reliability)………………………………………..... 18
4.6. Ethical considerations…………………………………………………………..… 20
5. Results: Discussion of themes………………………………………………….……… 21
5.1. Nature of Organisation…………………………………………………………… 22
5.2. Family Influence………………………………………………………………...… 22
5.3. Age…………………………………………………………………………………. 23
5.4. Giving vs Gaining…………………………………………………………………. 24
5.5. Challenges to Volunteering………………………………………………...…….. 25
6. Conclusions…………………………………………………………………………….. 26
7. List of References……………………………………………………………………… 28
What motivates people to do volunteer work?
Abstract
The aim of this study was to explore what motivates people to do volunteer work. Three
volunteers from different occupational and cultural backgrounds were selected to ensure that
the participants were as individually different as possible. These participants were then
interviewed individually where they were asked a list of questions relating to their
experiences as volunteers. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using
thematic analysis. Four themes were discovered as motivations for volunteer work: the nature
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, of the organisation, family influence, age and giving versus gaining. A fifth theme was found
describing challenges that participants encountered whilst doing volunteer work. The study
found that volunteers are more likely to volunteer if the nature of an organisation, including
how it was established, appeals to them and if their families encourage helping behaviour by
modelling this behaviour and engaging in it themselves. It also found that younger people
might feel that they do not have enough life experience to handle difficult situations and that
people are motivated to do volunteer work because they feel they are making a difference in
other people’s lives, bringing happiness and positive change to others and simply because
they want to help others, however, they do gain experience, friendships and the knowledge of
their actions making a difference in the lives of others. Volunteers are also faced with
challenges such as discouragement of emotional attachment, limited resources and support
for the people that they help outside of the organizations and a lack of recognition for their
hard work. These challenges can hinder people’s motivations to do volunteer work.
1. Literature review
With hundreds of non-profit organizations (NPO’s) in South Africa dedicated to caring for
people with a variety of needs that are unable to do it for themselves, volunteers have
become an essential role in carrying out the missions and services of such organizations
with little cost to these NPO’s. Individuals volunteer their time to provide mental and
physical effort toward organized charitable causes that benefit others in need (Becsi &
Balasubramanian, 2008). It is a great responsibility to commit one’s time to organizations
and helping people with the knowledge that one will not be paid for the time and effort
that is invested in such activities. Thus it has been of great interest to researchers why
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