Health Benefits of Volunteering in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study
Abstract
We investigate positive effects of volunteering on psychological well-being and self-reported health using all four waves of the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. Confirming previous research, volunteering was positively related to both outcome variables. Both consistency of volunteering over time and diversity of participation are significantly related to well-being and self-reported health. The relationship of volunteering to psychological well-being was moderated by level of social integration, such that those who were less well integrated benefited the most. Mattering appears to mediate the link between volunteering and well-being. Controls for other forms of social participation and for the predictors of volunteering are employed in analyses of well-being in 1992. We find volunteering effects on psychological well-being in 2004, controlling for 1992 well-being, thus providing strong evidence for a causal effect.
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Volunteering status was associated with higher levels of self-rated health in two cohorts.
“Volunteering status was associated with higher levels of self-rated health in two cohorts [46,52,59,60].”
From Is volunteering a public health intervention? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the health and survival of volunteers (2013) · cites this paper as [52]
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- Authors
- Piliavin, J. A., & Siegl, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Corresponding author
- Piliavin, Jane Allyn
- Venue
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2007-12
- Volume
- 48
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 450-464
- ISSN
- 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
- 2150-6000
- OpenAlex
- W2115349551
- Cited by
- 477
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 23 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 31 · 2021: 41 · 2020: 37 · 2019: 37 · 2018: 29 · 2017: 17 · 2016: 35 · 2015: 36 · 2014: 29 · 2013: 27 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 31.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (1r03ag021526-01)
- National Institute on Aging (1 R03 AG21526-01)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
- Social Sciences › Demography › Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development
- Keywords
- volunteering, psychological well-being, self-reported health, social integration, social participation, mattering, Wisconsin Longitudinal Study
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Female, Health Status, Humans, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Middle Aged, Personal Satisfaction, Volunteers, Wisconsin
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
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