Motivational characteristics associated with health and human service volunteers

The author examines various motivational characteristics associated with vo lunteering, specifically in the health and human services. The data for thi s study were taken from a representative national sample of 2,719 adult Ame ricans. In-home face-to-face interviews were conducted in 1996 by The Gallu p Organization for the Independent Sector. This secondary analysis, using l ogistic regression, shows that those who volunteer in health and human serv ices, in comparison to those who do not, were more likely to be motivated b y an opportunity to "gain a new perspective on things." In addition, human service volunteers were also more apt to be motivated by altruistic reasons . Managers in social work are advised to use program evaluation information to educate volunteers about the broader significance of their volunteer as signments.