Personality attributes of volunteers and paid workers engaged in similar occupational tasks
Date
2001
Authors
Gannon, C.
Metzer, J.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Journal article
Citation
Journal of Social Psychology, The, 2001; 141(6):752-763
Statement of Responsibility
Conference Name
Abstract
The authors' primary aim was to determine whether Australian volunteers and paid workers who were engaged in similar activities differed on aspects of a 5-factor model of personality. Their secondary aim was to determine whether personality attributes were similar between volunteers involved in different activities. The participants were 36 volunteer food preparers, 38 paid food preparers, and 31 volunteer firefighters. Each participant completed a personality inventory (P. T. Costa & R. R. McCrae, 1992) and a brief demographic questionnaire. As predicted, the volunteer food preparers were more agreeable and extraverted than were their paid counterparts. The two volunteer groups differed only on the personality facet of assertiveness. The results support the existence of a constellation of traits that constitute a volunteering disposition; such traits may be relatively stable across time and situations. These results have scientific and practical implications for the literature on volunteering.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Access Status
Rights
Copyright status unknown