A Functional Analysis of Secondary School Students’Motives for Volunteering
George I. Whitehead, III, Andrew P. Kitzrow, Thomas A. Taylor
DOI: 10.4236/psych.2011.21010   PDF    HTML     5,908 Downloads   10,918 Views   Citations

Abstract

This investigation examined whether or not a functional analysis was useful in understanding the motives for secondary school students’ motives for volunteering. Specifically, we coded comments from fifteen student interviews into the following five functions: value-expressive, social-adjustive, ego-defensive, knowledge, and social-affirming. We calculated the percentages of students whose responses included each of the five functions and found that the students’ responses were consistent with a functional analysis. The implication of these findings for the creation of a Volunteer Functions Inventory for students is discussed.

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Whitehead, III, G. , Kitzrow, A. & Taylor, T. (2011). A Functional Analysis of Secondary School Students’Motives for Volunteering. Psychology, 2, 60-61. doi: 10.4236/psych.2011.21010.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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[2] Clary, E. G., Snyder, M., Ridge, R. D., Copeland, J., Stukas, A. A., Haugen, J., & Miene, P. (1998). Understanding and assessing the motivations of volunteers: A functional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1516-1530. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1516
[3] Clary, E. G., Snyder, M., & Stukas, A. A. (1996). Volunteers’ motivations: Findings from a national survey. Nonprofit and Volunteer Sector Quarterly, 25, 485-505. doi:10.1177/0899764096254006
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