Volunteering has long been a well-known activity among society. Those who
choose to volunteer sacrifice their time, effort and resources just to help
those who are in need. Volunteering is generally considered as an altruistic
activity, intended to promote a good cause or to improve the lives of
others. However, according to Associate Professor Dr. Jacques Metzer from
University of South Australia , Australia , there are many other underlying
reasons as to why one decides to volunteer besides altruism. He spoke this
during his talk titled "Volunteering behaviour: more to it than altruism"
held on 15 July 2009 at UTAR Petaling Jaya Campus.
Prof. Metzer is the External Examiner for UTAR's Psychology degree
programme. He is also an author and co-author of several research
publications in Psychology. He spends much of his time in conducting
research, consultancies and (political) professional activities at both
international and national levels and has a deep passion for promoting the
science and practice of Psychology.
During his talk at UTAR, he revealed the factors that motivate people to do
volunteering works and highlighted the comparison between the stress and
satisfaction levels of paid jobs and volunteering works. Prof. Metzer also
touched on the volunteer's personality, psychological functions of
volunteering and the types of volunteering works.
He said, "50% of volunteering behaviour is an altruistic event and 50% are
due to family or other reasons. Reasons given for volunteering can be both
intrinsic and extrinsic."
He explained that the main functions that motivate people to do volunteering
works. They are altruism, the need to gain new learning experiences, the
need for personal enhancement such as increase in self-esteem and personal
growth, the need to protect oneself from negative thoughts, the need to be
viewed in a positive light by society as well as career purposes.
Prof. Metzer illustrated, "Many companies are involved in volunteering works
for business benefits and to project a good corporate citizen image." He
added that the connectedness between an employee and his/her company can
influence his/her willingness to volunteer when asked to be involved in
his/her company's volunteering works even if it meant doing works without
any monetary benefits.
He also elaborated that many senior citizens are turning towards
volunteering works as a source for them to get connected back to society and
to look for identity especially after retirement.
On the benefits of volunteering works, he commented, "Volunteering works are
good as they enable one to improve his or her physical and mental health."
Prof. Metzer giving his talk at UTAR Petaling Jaya Campus.
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