Generativity and Volunteering

The robust association between religion and volunteering and education and volunteering can be interpreted in developmental terms as a function of socialization. Churches and schools instill attitudes that predispose the individual to volunteer. Data from two waves of the National Survey of Midlife in the United States (1995 and 2005) are used to test a hypothesis that generativity—a desire to leave a legacy by providing for the welfare of others—mediates the influence of both religion and education on volunteering. Structural equation models using multiple‐imputed data to correct for attrition show that the influence of parental religiosity on volunteering in 2005 is partially explained by generativity in 1995 and that the influence of education on volunteering in 2005 is partially explained by generativity in 1995.