Do Volunteering and Charity Pay Off? Well-being Benefits of Participating in Voluntary Work and Charity for Older and Younger Adults in Finland

Tanskanen, Antti O.; Danielsbacka, Mirkka

doi:10.17583/rasp.2016.1640

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 33 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Research on helping behavior beyond the nuclear family has yielded a large body of literature indicating that providing voluntary support for others has beneficial effects on a the supporter's health outcomes in a variety of respects (e.g., Brown et al, 2008;Kahana et al, 2013;Morrow-Howell et al, 2003;Musick et al, 1999;Tanskanen and Danielsbacka, 2016). Concerning older adults in particular, Anderson et al (2014) reviewed 73 studies and found that, for people aged 50 years and older, volunteering was consistently associated with reduced symptoms of depression, better selfreported health, fewer functional limitations, or enhanced longevity (for similar results, see Okun et al, 2013).…”

Section: Benefits For the Older Helper: Findings From The Behavioral mentioning

confidence: 99%

A prospective study of associations among helping, health, and longevity

Hilbrand

Coall

Meyer

et al. 2017

Social Science & Medicine

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How does helping behavior contribute to the health and the longevity of older helpers? From an evolutionary perspective, the ultimate cause may be rooted in ancestral parenting and grandparenting. These activities may have generalized to a neural and hormonal caregiving system that also enabled prosocial behavior beyond the family. From a psychological perspective, helping others may be associated with healthy aging, which, in turn, contributes to longevity as a proximate cause. Yet little is known about the extent to which mediating factors such as the health benefits of helping behaviors translate into enhanced longevity, particularly in regard to grandparenting. To fill this gap, we conducted mediation analyses (structural equation models) to examine whether grandparenting and supporting others in the social network contributed directly or indirectly (through better health 5-6 years later) to the longevity of older helpers. We drew on longitudinal data from the Berlin Aging Study (N = 516), in which older adults in Berlin, Germany, were interviewed at baseline (1990-1993, mean age at entry = 85 years) and continuously followed up until 2009. Results suggest that the associations of both grandparenting and supporting others with enhanced longevity are mediated by better prospective health (indirect effect). The effect of helping was not fully mediated, however-helping was also directly associated with increased longevity independently of the health indicators measured. The results were robust against effects of the helper's preexisting health status and sociodemographic characteristics of participants, their children, and grandchildren. We conclude that better prospective health contributes to the link between helping and longevity, but does not fully account for it. Other potential contributing mechanisms remain to be identified. As populations age across the globe, identifying mechanisms that foster health in old age can help to highlight potential targets for public health interventions.

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Section: Benefits For the Older Helper: Findings From The Behavioral mentioning

confidence: 99%

A prospective study of associations among helping, health, and longevity

Hilbrand

Coall

Meyer

et al. 2017

Social Science & Medicine

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“…Research has shown that being charitable can increase our sense of happiness, which contributes to emotional well-being [52][53][54]. This may be of particular importance to young adults, who tend to be more idealistic and driven to make a positive impact for causes they believe in [54]. Indeed, in the present investigation, the younger cohort of respondents (18-29 year olds) were more likely than older age groups to report donating to help feed the animals during lockdown.…”

Section: How Did People Stay Connected To Zoos During Lockdown?mentioning

confidence: 55%

“…A quarter of the people who chose to stay connected to a zoo during lockdown indicated that they donated to feed the animals. Research has shown that being charitable can increase our sense of happiness, which contributes to emotional well-being [52][53][54]. This may be of particular importance to young adults, who tend to be more idealistic and driven to make a positive impact for causes they believe in [54].…”

Section: How Did People Stay Connected To Zoos During Lockdown?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Connecting to Zoos and Aquariums during a COVID-19 Lockdown

Macri

Wells

2023

JZBG

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One of the main goals of zoos and aquariums (hereafter ‘zoos’) is to connect visitors with animals. Unfortunately, COVID-19 lockdowns resulted in these organizations closing around the globe, making this goal exceedingly difficult. During lockdowns, zoos became very resourceful and found alternative means to connect people with animals. Additional social media, webcams, and education resources were offered. What is unknown, however, is the extent to which people used these resources and what factors influenced this. This study, therefore, aimed to explore these questions through an online survey. Of the 302 participants who chose to stay connected to a zoo, the majority (82%) did so via social media, and just over half of the sample used webcams (51%). When asked why they stayed connected, 75% indicated that they did so for their own interest in animals, but some (36%) said they enjoyed sharing the animal information with family/friends. Zoo members were more likely to use education resources, and people with zoo work experience were more likely to share animal information. This study illustrates that zoo resources were utilized during lockdown and that demographic variables were associated with how and why people used them. The findings have implications for zoos post-COVID-19 and may be useful for promoting connections and well-being in certain cohorts of society.

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“…The British Heart Foundation (2019) determined that young people are more interested in volunteering than older people. In addition, Tanskanen and Danielsbacka (2016) determined that older adults who do voluntary charity work are happier than those who do not, and young adults who donate to charities are happier than those who do not. On the other hand, Eks i et al (2016) concluded in their study that there is no difference between age and altruism.…”

Section: Jec 176mentioning

confidence: 99%

Altruism and female entrepreneurship: evidence from the Turkish community in Kosovo

Skeja

Sadiku-Dushi

Keskin

2022

JEC

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PurposeAltruism has an important place in shaping a healthy and developed society for the present and the future. Altruism refers to exhibiting good behavior that does not expect a reward in return. The fact that female entrepreneurs have busy working and private lives and try to be individuals who add value to life while striving for success in this intense tempo increases the investigation of altruism. This study aims to examine the differences in altruistic behaviors of female entrepreneurs according to demographic variables.Design/methodology/approachThe research sample consists of 120 female entrepreneurs belonging to the Turkish community in Kosovo. T-test and one-way ANOVA analysis were applied to examine the difference between altruism and demographic characteristics.FindingsThis study determined that age and work experience influence altruism. Female entrepreneurs in the age group of 31+ had higher altruism scores than female entrepreneurs in the 21–24 and 25–30 age group. Additionally, it has been revealed that female entrepreneurs with 10 or more years of work experience have higher altruism scores than female entrepreneurs with under 1 year and 1–3 years of work experience. Findings also demonstrated that marital status, education level and income do not influence female entrepreneurs’ altruistic behaviors.Research limitations/implicationsResults obtained from the research are limited to the responses given by the participants to the survey used within the scope of the research.Originality/valueAs Turkish women are small community living in the country, it was interesting to see that apart from their entrepreneurial spirit do they also have altruistic behavior and how this behavior differs among different demographic characteristics. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research will contribute to the literature as no similar study was done before.

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Do Volunteering and Charity Pay Off? Well-being Benefits of Participating in Voluntary Work and Charity for Older and Younger Adults in Finland

Cited by 11 publications

References 33 publications

A prospective study of associations among helping, health, and longevity

A prospective study of associations among helping, health, and longevity

Connecting to Zoos and Aquariums during a COVID-19 Lockdown

Altruism and female entrepreneurship: evidence from the Turkish community in Kosovo

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