The Psycho‐Social Processes Linking Income and Volunteering: Chronic Financial Strain and Well‐Being |
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Authors: | Joonmo Son John Wilson |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Sociology, National University of Singapore, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Singapore;2. Department of Sociology, Duke University, Durham, NC |
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Abstract: | The positive effect of income on volunteering found in many studies is conventionally explained in utilitarian terms: volunteer work is “costly” or demands “resources.” This explanation overlooks important sociopsychological processes. By situating the income‐volunteering relationship within the stress process framework, we develop a theory that traces the influence of income on chronic financial strain which in turn affects subjective well‐being, which functions as a psychological resource for volunteers. Data taken from two waves of the National Survey of Midlife in the United States confirm this theory: household income has no direct effect on volunteering once chronic financial strain and two measures of subjective well‐being—social and eudaimonic—are taken into account. |
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Keywords: | economic sociology financial strain income mental health volunteering well‐being |
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