How Individuals Mentally Account For Work-Time Volunteerism: Putting the Work Into Volunteer Work

A survey was conducted to assess how individuals mentally account for work-time volunteering, and what impact this has on personal-time volunteering. A nationally representative sample of 2,125 Canadians participated in the on-line survey. Results suggest that context and coordination impacts how individuals mentally categorize the volunteering activity. Involvement with the cause and motivation for volunteering impact mental categorization. A combined categorization approach (i.e. having one overall mental account for volunteerism) and higher involvement lead to increased personal-time volunteering as a result of work-time volunteering, whereas separate categorization leads to a reduction in personal-time volunteering as a result of work-time volunteering.

Citation:

Debra Z. Basil and Mary Runte (2007) ,"How Individuals Mentally Account For Work-Time Volunteerism: Putting the Work Into Volunteer Work", in E - European Advances in Consumer Research Volume 8, eds. Stefania Borghini, Mary Ann McGrath, and Cele Otnes, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 314-315.