1. Vitamine V: Gezondheidseffecten van vrijwilligerswerk
24 mei 2012
Rene Bekkers
Filantropische Studies, VU Amsterdam
Arjen de Wit
Research Master Social Sciences, Universiteit van Amsterdam 1 1

2. 2 2

3. Issues to be resolved What kind of volunteering is most beneficial?
What kind of health outcomes are affected by volunteering?
How and why does volunteering promote health?
How much of the relationship is causal? 3 3

4. Strictly speaking…
We do not know to what extent volunteering benefits health, and to what extent health benefits volunteering
It’s impossible to tell from cross-sectional relationships:
To what extent do more healthy individuals self-select into volunteering?
To what extent do changes in health affect changes in volunteering and vice versa? 4 4

5. Why volunteering benefits health
Joy of giving hypothesis: Volunteering has a physiological stress-buffering effect
Social network size hypothesis: Volunteering builds networks that may be called upon when in need oneself
Personality strength hypothesis: Volunteering enhances psychological well- being that sustains health 5 5

6. Data: Building Blocks

7. Results
Subjective health: What is the effect of volunteering on self-reported health?
And how is the effect mediated by networks and personality strength?
Mortality risk: How does the probability to decease differ between volunteers and non-volunteers?
And how can this difference be explained?

8. Volunteering effects on subjective health
Specification
Coeff
(SE)
Constant
Random Effects GLS
***.187
(.021)
3.507
Between Effects
***.345
(.044)
3.461
Fixed Effects
***.141
(.024)
3.543
Hausman test RE-FE
***16.00
Ratio
75%
Estimates on effects of volunteering (m=27.6%) from random and fixed effects regression models. Source: LASA, (n=9,860; 2,370; unbalanced panel) 8 8

9. Development of subjective health

10. Subjective health (fixed effects)
Volunteering (0-1, m=0.276)
*** 0.141
*** 0.113
Mastery (5-25, m=17.226)
*** 0.035
Network size (0-75, m=14.619)
* 0.003
Instrumental support given (0-3, m=1.706)
*** 0.058
(Constant)
*** 3.543
*** 2.879
Estimates on effects of volunteering (m=27.6%) from fixed effects regression models. Source: LASA, (n=9,119; 2,339; unbalanced panel)
*p < ** p < *** p < 0.001

11. Mortality risks

12. Mortality risk (logit)
Odds ratio
Started volunteering (ref: never)
*** 0.257
- Controlling for health in wave B
*** 0.389
Quit volunteering (ref: sustained)
0.969
- Controlled for health in wave B
0.707
*p < ** p < *** p < 0.001 12 12

13. Stepwise analysis mortality risk
Volunteering
***-10.3
**-6.9
*-5.1
*-4.8
Neuroticism
-0.1
-0.2
CES-D
-0.0
Mastery
*-0.8
-0.6
Self-esteem
0.6
0.7
0.8
Network size
Instr. Received
***5.9
***5.6
Instr. Given
***-11.0
***-10.7
Emot. Received
**-5.2
Emot. Given
(*)3.2
(*)3.3
Subjective health
*-2.7
Pred. Prob. (RE)
29.0
24.5
23.7
23.6 13 13

14. Discussion
Are other social activities less beneficial than volunteering?
How does the health benefit vary with levels of engagement (number of hours volunteered)?
Which variables moderate the health benefit (age, religion, education)? 14 14

15. Contact
René Bekkers, Blog: renebekkers.wordpress.com ‘Giving in the Netherlands’, Center for Philanthropic Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, VU University Amsterdam:
Dag van de Sociologie, Utrecht