People who give, live longer, studies have shown. Now, a new study by University of Michigan researchers shows that why people volunteer — not whether they volunteer — is what really counts.
For the study, Konrath and colleagues analyzed data collected in 2008 and 2012 aiming at the same random samples of 3,376 people. Overall, they found that just 2.3 percent of those who once worked as volunteers had died, compared to 4.3 percent of non-volunteers. They further found that how much people volunteered mattered as well — only 1.8 percent of regular volunteers died, compared with 2.5 percent of occasional volunteers.
But what really made a difference were people's motives for volunteering. The researchers asked people to rate how important they found various reasons for volunteering, and they found that the more important people rated reasons such as feeling pity for people in need, the more likely they were to be alive. Those who rated motives related to personal benefit as more important were more likely to have died, and just as likely to die as those who didn't volunteer at all. These reasons included volunteering because they enjoyed the social contact, to escape their own problems, or to explore their own strengths.
Konrath says the current findings suggest it may be a poor idea to encourage people to volunteer because it's good for them. "Volunteering is increasingly being encouraged in schools and organizations. Some groups say that it's okay to want benefits for yourself, and encourage people to think of volunteering as an exchange for personal interests. Some groups emphasize the health benefits received through volunteering." Konrath added, "Of course, it's reasonable for volunteers to expect benefits for themselves. But the potential health benefits of volunteering are significantly reduced if self-benefit becomes a person's main motive."
