Differential benefits of volunteering across the life course

Objectives. studies often fail to adequately test the causal relationship b etween volunteering and well-being. Yet the media and empirical research ha ve focused attention on the impact of volunteering on the well-being of eld erly persons. This study addresses two questions: First. does volunteering improve the psychological and physical well-being of elderly persons? Secon d, do elderly volunteers experience different benefits than younger adults? Methods. Using nationally representative panel data, I assessed the long-te rm impact of volunteering on the life satisfaction and perceived health of persons aged 60 and over. I then compared ordinary least squares regression results for seniors with those for younger adults. Results. I found that older volunteers experienced greater increases in lif e satisfaction over time as a result of their volunteer hours than did youn ger adult volunteers, especially at high rates of volunteering. Older adult s experienced greater positive changes in their perceived health than did y ounger adult volunteers. Discussion. The type of volunteer work in which older and younger adults en gage may be part of the reason for these differential effects. But the cont ext in which older and younger adults volunteer and the meaning of their vo luntarism are more likely explanations. Researchers should take into accoun t volunteer commitment when studying volunteering's effect on well-being, n ot simply volunteer role.