The Role of Religiosity for Formal and Informal Volunteering in the Netherlands

This paper deals with the question: To what extent do individual religious characteristics, in addition to collective religious characteristics, contribute to the explanation of formal and informal volunteering in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 21st century? To answer this research question, we used the SOCON 2005–2006 dataset. Our main finding concerns informal volunteering: we found that spirituality increases the likelihood of informal volunteering, implying that openness to other people’s needs increases the likelihood of the actual provision of help. There are no other aspects of religiosity that are related to informal volunteering. With regard to formal volunteering we found that, in line with previous research, religious attendance is related positively to formal volunteering, religious as well as secular volunteering, which can be regarded as support for the proposition that religious involvement is important for norm conformity. Further, having a more religious worldview decreases the likelihood of formal volunteering which might show that those with a strong religious worldview are more concerned with the ‘otherworldly’ and less so with what they do in this world. We found no influence of individual religious characteristics on formal volunteering. These results confirm the idea that integration into a religious community plays quite a large role in explaining formal volunteering. Informal volunteering, however, seems to be independent of social networks: it rather depends on individual motivation.     

The Relationship Between Corporate Volunteering and Employee Civic Engagement Outside the Workplace in Russia

This paper discusses the relationship between corporate volunteering and civic engagement outside the workplace in Russia, proceeding from a mixed-method approach. The quantitative findings are based on a comparison between employees in 37 Russian companies who participated in corporate volunteering (N = 399) and those who did not (N = 402). Using binary logistic regression analysis, we demonstrate that employee participation in corporate volunteering is positively related to four forms of civic engagement outside the workplace: informal volunteering, formal volunteering, formal monetary donation, and informal monetary donation. In addition, we draw on information obtained from interviews with 10 corporate volunteers, as well as with all 37 company corporate volunteering managers, to develop a general explanation for why corporate volunteering might lead to civic engagement. We identify three primary explanations. First, trust in companies can be converted into increased trust in social institutions. Second, corporate volunteering can expose employees to other realities, thereby leading them to rethink their priorities. Third, corporate volunteering socializes employees to volunteering, thus making them more likely to incorporate volunteering into their personal repertoires of activities. Corporate volunteering appears to be an effective mechanism for stimulating civic engagement and volunteering infrastructure in post-communist countries.     

Influences of Resources and Subjective Dispositions on Formal and Informal Volunteering

This study investigated the influences of resources and subjective dispositions on formal and informal volunteering. The author examined whether resources are associated with formal volunteering, while subjective dispositions are associated with informal volunteering, using data from representative national Japanese samples (SSP-P2010 data). The results suggested that socioeconomic resources (namely education) are more strongly related to formal volunteering than to informal volunteering, while subjective dispositions (empathy and religious mind) are associated with both formal and informal volunteering. The main finding of the present study was that empathy and religious mind are the essential facilitators of both types of volunteering with different characteristics.     

Social Heterogeneity and Volunteering in U.S. Cities

In this research we explore the relationship between social heterogeneity and volunteering across U.S. metropolitan areas testing a theory that race heterogeneity, racial segregation, and income inequality are negatively associated with the rate of volunteering. Theorizing that social heterogeneity will have different effects for religious and secular volunteering rates, we analyze them separately. We use nonlinear multilevel models to analyze nearly 200,000 individuals across 248 cities, controlling for nonprofits per capita, religious congregations per capita, proportion of the population with college degrees, and the family poverty rate. While much of the intercity variation in volunteering is due to the composition of the population living in each city, we find general support for the predicted negative effect of social heterogeneity on volunteering. However, the effects vary by volunteering type. Race heterogeneity is negatively related only to secular volunteering, racial segregation is negatively related to both general volunteering and secular volunteering, and income inequality is negatively related to all types of volunteering.     

Organized Religious Involvement and Mental Health Among Caribbean Black Adolescents

Though religion has been related to better mental health, the aspects of organized religious life most salient for the mental health of Caribbean Black adolescents in the US, beyond religious service attendance, has been understudied. This research utilized a sub-sample of Caribbean Black adolescents from the NSAL-A, a nationally representative U.S. dataset, to examine (1) the prevalence of organized religious involvement (e.g., participation in religious service activities, choice to attend religious services) and (2) the relationship between organized religious involvement and mental health. Results showed that 62 % of Caribbean Black adolescents attend religious services regularly (at least a few times a month) and 49 % or more attend religious services or participate in religious activities (e.g., youth groups) by choice. Additionally, various aspects of organized religious involvement were positively related to coping and self-esteem, and negatively related to depressive symptoms. Religious service attendance was not related to any of the mental health indicators. Study results can inform the development of individual and group level interventions targeted at supporting the mental health of Caribbean Black adolescents.     

The role of religious networks and other factors in types of volunteer work

In view of current efforts to strengthen volunteering and promote the faith‐based provision of social services in the United States, we examine both the underlying complexity of volunteering and who performs particular types of volunteer work. This paper, drawing on a telephone interview survey of 526 randomly selected Indiana residents, considers whether religious involvement helps explain engagement in different types of volunteer work independent of such other contributing factors as family status, socioeconomic status, and community attachment. We find that religious involvement plays an independent role, but only for certain types of volunteer work.     

The Influences of Religious Attitudes on Volunteering

Religiosity has long been known to promote volunteering in the US and elsewhere. Despite the growing body of research examining religious correlates of volunteering, however, few studies have focused on whether and how religious attitudes affect volunteering. With data from the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS II), 2004?C2006, we examine the influences of religious attitudes, namely, the religiously based feelings of exclusiveness and inclusiveness, and openness to other religious faiths, on volunteering. We find that while religious exclusiveness significantly promotes volunteering only in religious areas, religious inclusiveness promotes both religious and secular volunteering. Moreover, those who are open to other religious faiths are more likely to engage in both types of volunteer work. Implications of these findings are discussed for future research linking religious attitudes to volunteering.     

Churches: Lasting Sources of Civic Engagement? Effects of Secularization and Educational Expansion on Non-religious Volunteering in the Netherlands, 1988 and 2006

During the last three decades Dutch church attendance rates dropped considerably, while the relative share of volunteers in non-religious organizations decreased at a slower rate. This is an unexpected development given the positive association between religious involvement and volunteering. In this article, we try to account for this development by addressing the following question: Why has a massive and ongoing decline of church attendance in the Netherlands not resulted in a similar drop in the relative number of volunteers in non-religious voluntary organizations? In view of this question, we wonder if the negative effect of declining church attendance on volunteering is perhaps counterbalanced by a positive effect of educational expansion. Our findings reveal that this is indeed the case, but these counterbalancing effects are only modest.     

Placement type matters: Placement experiences in relation to justice system involvement among child welfare-involved youth and young adults

Out-of-home placement in the child welfare system is related to justice system involvement. Yet, few studies address the similarities and differences of child welfare placement types in relation to justice system involvement within the same sample of youth, which can provide a more nuanced understanding of the relationship between the two. Utilizing a sample of child welfare youth with substantial out-of-home placements (N = 794), we investigate trajectory group experiences on each of three child welfare placement types, and cross-tabulate each with justice system trajectory groups to examine subgroups. The five-group model fits best for foster homes and group homes; four groups for residential facilities. Relationships between justice system groups and placement types were significant. Youth with chronic justice system involvement had more experiences in group homes and residential facilities; youth with less justice system contact tended to have foster home experiences. Implications for policy and practice are presented.     

The Enduring Influence of Parent's Voluntary Involvement on Their Children's Volunteering in Later Life

This study investigates the effect of parent's voluntary involvement on their children's volunteering in later life, and examines the degree to which this effect persists across older age cohorts. To accomplish this, we make use of retrospective questions from the 2010 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating that ask respondents about their experiences in their school‐age years. The results show that parental voluntary involvement is positively related to adult voluntary participation, and that the effect of parental voluntary involvement on later volunteerism appears to persist well into adulthood. The implications of these findings for volunteering in Canada are discussed. Cette étude examine l'effet de la participation bénévole des parents sur le bénévolat de leurs enfants plus tard durante leur vie et la mesure dans laquelle cet effet persiste dans les cohortes plus âgées. À cette fin, nous faisons appel à des questions rétrospectives de l'Enquête canadienne sur le don, le bénévolat et la participation de 2010 qui pose aux répondants des questions sur leurs expériences durant leurs années d'âge scolaire. Les résultats montrent que la participation volontaire des parents est positivement liée à la participation volontaire des adultes et que l'effet de la participation bénévole des parents sur le bénévolat de leurs enfants plus tard dans leur vie semble persister durant leur âge adulte. Les implications de ces résultats pour le bénévolat au Canada sont discutées.     

Perceived family impact of volunteering among reintegrating post-9/11 Veterans

Family issues are common among returned post-9/11 Veterans. Traumatic brain injury (TBI), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and depression are each independently related to divorce whereas community ties and social support are protective factors for the family during reintegration. Evidence from elders on the benefits of one intervention, community volunteering, may indicate “spillover effects” of these benefits into the family. Few measures exist to assess the impact of military Veteran volunteering on the family. The authors report (1) an adaption of a benefits measure from elders to Veterans, (2) its preliminary reliability and validity, and (3) differences among subgroups. Reintegrating post-9/11 Veterans (N = 346) who completed a 6-month, stipended volunteer program were surveyed. Perceived impact of volunteering on the family was assessed after completion of the program using an 11-item self-report measure. Rank-based nonparametric tests were used to detect significant differences among subgroups. Preliminary findings support the scale’s adaptation to Veterans, internal consistency, and construct validity. At least one perceived family impact indicator differed significantly (p < .05) between subgroups based on demographic and psychological factors. Veterans in this civic service program perceived that their volunteering may have affected their families.     

What Affects Hispanic Volunteering in the United States: Comparing the Current Population Survey, Panel Study of Income Dynamics, and the AIM Giving and Volunteering Survey

This study examines Hispanic formal volunteering and the cultural, social, and community context factors that affect their decision to volunteer. Using data from three surveys in the United States, the study finds that religious attendance, cultural background, and education are the most consistent and significant predictors of Hispanic formal volunteering. Religious attendance has a stronger positive impact on Hispanic volunteering than on non-Hispanics. The impacts of income, social resources, and community characteristics on Hispanics’ volunteering vary by surveys. Secular organizations serving children and youth and religious organizations are the favorite organizations for Hispanic volunteers.     

Revisiting the Role of Impulsivity and Compulsivity in Problematic Sexual Behaviors

Impulsivity and compulsivity are transdiagnostic features associated with clinically relevant aspects of psychiatric disorders, including addictions. However, little research has investigated how impulsivity and compulsivity relate to hypersexuality and problematic pornography use. Thus, the aims of the present study were to investigate (a) self-reported impulsivity and compulsivity with respect to hypersexuality and problematic pornography use and (b) the similarities and possible differences between hypersexuality and problematic pornography use in these domains. Utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) in a large community sample (N = 13,778 participants; female = 4,151, 30.1%), results indicated that impulsivity (β = .28, β = .26) and compulsivity (β = .23, β = .14) were weakly related to problematic pornography use among men and women, respectively. Impulsivity had a stronger relationship (β = .41, β = .42) with hypersexuality than did compulsivity (β = .21, β = .16) among men and women, respectively. Consequently, impulsivity and compulsivity may not contribute as substantially to problematic pornography use as some scholars have proposed. On the other hand, impulsivity might have a more prominent role in hypersexuality than in problematic pornography use. Future research should examine further social and situational factors associated with problematic pornography use.     

Students’ Vocational Choices and Voluntary Action: A 12-Nation Study

Previous research on student involvement suggested that business and engineering students manifest lowest rates of voluntary action. Similarly, it was thought that social science students are the most involved in voluntary action, with students of natural sciences and humanities in the middle. However, there were very few studies that empirically compared these assertions. Furthermore, these assertions were not investigated from cross-cultural perspectives. Based on a study of students in 12 countries (N = 6,570), we found that even when controlling for background variables, social science students are actually less engaged in voluntary action than other students. Engineering students are higher than expected on voluntary action while students of humanities are the most involved in voluntary action. When studying these differences in the 12 selected countries, local cultures and norms form different sets of findings that suggest that there is no universal trend in choice of academic field and voluntary action.     

Participation in formal and informal volunteering: Implications for volunteer recruitment

This study examines factors influencing “formal” volunteering (that is, to an organization) and “informal” volunteering (that is, volunteering carried out individually outside of an organizational context) and the relationship between these two activities. We hypothesize that formal and informal volunteering activities are positively interrelated but that they are shaped by different types of personal resources: involvement in social networks increases the likelihood of both types of volunteering, but human capital increases the likelihood of formal volunteering rather than informal. The bivariate probit regression results emanating from the Independent Sector's “Giving and Volunteering in the United States, 2001” survey are generally supportive of the hypotheses. The findings suggest that nonprofit and public organizations that involve volunteers consider the pool of informal volunteers as a fertile ground for recruitment and find ways to better utilize older Americans in formal volunteering. The results also suggest that volunteer recruitment through organizational membership may be an effective strategy.     

Family-of-origin and service-member resilience

ABSTRACT

Military research on family resilience has not examined the contribution of family-of-origin to resilience of service-members. In this study, researchers investigated the extent to which predeployed service-members’ perception of resilience was related to characteristics of family-of-origin. The sample consisted of 344 U.S. Army soldiers within 6 months of deployment to Afghanistan, contacted through their units and invited to participate. Soldiers completed a survey of perceived resilience, family-of-origin and immediate family variables, and social support. Data were also collected on age, income, ethnicity, number of deployments, and relationship status. Regression analyses were conducted to explain variation in service-member resilience scores. Sample demographics were compared with the active duty soldier population and correlations among the key family-of-origin and social support variables were reported. Family-of-origin satisfaction was moderately related to service-member resilience for the full sample (β = .176, p = .001) and married sample (β = .260, p = .000). It was weakly related in the unmarried sample (β = .147, p = .226). Family social support explained the most variation in resilience across all samples. Study limitations and guidelines and resources for social work practice, education, and research to strengthen family-of-origin and service-member resilience are provided.     

The Influence of Religion on Latino Education,Marriage, and Social Views in the United States

ABSTRACT

This study analyzes the Hispanic Churches in American Public Life National Survey (n = 2,060) data set to examine the relationship between religious affiliation and commitment and education, marital status, and social views in the U.S. Latino community. The findings indicate that religious affiliation and high rates of religious participation and commitment are important factors that are positively and negatively related to Latino education, marriage, and social action. This study found a positive relationship between high rates of religious participation and commitment and high rates of marriage, social action, and conservative views on church–state relations and social issues like abortion and homosexual relations, but not on other social views like the death penalty and the ordination of women. In general, conservative religiosity (in this case Protestant Evangelicalism and Pentecostalism) is positively related to high rates of marriage and social action. However, the data also suggest that high rates of religious participation and commitment do not necessarily result in higher income and educational levels, although this may be due to the fact that many Latinos recently converted from Catholicism to Protestantism and thus have not had a chance to adopt and benefit from Protestant educational attitudes and resources.     

Sexual Quality of Life and Aging: A Prospective Study of a Nationally Representative Sample

Unlike other life domains, sexual quality of life (SQoL) has a negative relationship with age. This study disentangled the effect of age in this relationship from confounding sociocultural influences (e.g., the period of time in which data were collected, and cohort differences) and aimed to understand the roles of other sexual domains (i.e., frequency, perceived control, thought and effort invested in sex, and number of sexual partners). We analyzed data from the longitudinal Midlife in the United States study (n = 6,278; age range 20–93), which were collected between 1995 and 2013. Repeated measures linear mixed-effects models showed that age was the most robust time-related predictor of declining SQoL. However, after the sexual domains were included in the model, age had a positive relationship with SQoL and older adults’ SQoL was differentially influenced by the quality—not quantity—of sex. When partnership characteristics were included in the model, age was no longer related to SQoL. These findings suggest that aging may be associated with the acquisition of skills and strategies that can buffer age-related declines in SQoL, particularly in the context of a positive relationship. We summarize these findings as sexual wisdom.     

Giving Back and Staying Put: Volunteering as a Stabilizing Force in Relocation

Relocation in older adulthood has been shown to have health-related and environmental triggering factors. This study explores the relationship between volunteering in a community and relocation. Using data from the 2008 and 2010 Health and Retirement Study, which included 9,220 community-dwelling older individuals who were aged 65 years and older, our findings show that volunteering significantly reduces the likelihood of relocating out of the area, and such a relationship is partially mediated by having friends nearby. This study is innovative because it identifies a stabilizing mechanism important for understanding protective factors, such as volunteering, as a way communities can retain older adults.     

God,I Can’t Stop Thinking About Sex! The Rebound Effect in Unsuccessful Suppression of Sexual Thoughts Among Religious Adolescents

The rebound effect of thought suppression refers to attempts to suppress thoughts that result in an increase of those thoughts. The aim of this three-study research was to investigate the suppression of thoughts and its possible importance in the cognitive model of predicted compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) among Israeli Jewish religious and secular adolescents. Study 1 (N = 661): Do religious and secular adolescents differ in CSB and related psychopathology? Study 2 (N = 522): Does CSB mediate the link between religiosity and well-being? Study 3 (N = 317): Does religiosity relate to suppression of sexual thoughts, which relates to higher CSB and lower well-being? The analyses indicated that religious adolescents are higher in CSB than secular ones, and that sexual suppression and CSB mediate the link between religiosity and well-being. Results are discussed and address the need for a broader understanding of CSB and the function of thought suppression.