15 March 2010

Study shows psychological benefits of volunteering

A new study has revealed that volunteer work has numerous positive psychological benefits and may even improve the experience of work the following day.

A team from the University of Konstanz, Germany, studied the psychological effects of volunteer work in a sample of 105 people who worked an average five days a week, and volunteered for 6.7 hours each week on average.

The participants volunteered in a range of activities from the fire service, to church groups and were asked to complete two questionnaires, similar to psychometric tests, every day for two weeks.

As well as reporting the time they had spent volunteering, they were asked to report their feelings on need satisfaction, psychological detachment from work, learning experiences, and their well-being at work.

Dr Eva J. Mojza said the positive relationships discovered in the study supports the thinking that even demanding and stressful leisure time experiences such as volunteering for fire and rescue services can have positive psychological effects and even bring benefits in the workplace.

Volunteering can bring many positive experiences such as the satisfaction of needs that aren't met through work - mastering new skills and relating to people socially, and it also helps people to thoroughly disengage from their work, she added.

The full results of the study are published in the Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology.

 

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