Emotions Matter: Understanding the Relationship Between Drivers of Volunteering and Participation

Abstract

Volunteerism plays a vital role in the extensive social service system. Previous research has shown that drivers of volunteering (DOVs) are associated with desirable outcomes such as improved volunteer performance and higher levels of volunteer engagement. However, limited attention has been paid to the differential effects of different DOVs on volunteer engagement and their mechanisms of influence. This study combines self-determination theory and conservation of resources theory to examine how external regulation and intrinsic motivation shape volunteer engagement through emotional labor strategies. Based on a three-wave time-lagged sampling of Chinese 952 volunteers, we find that external regulation reduces volunteer hours and increases volunteering turnover via surface acting; intrinsic motivation increases volunteer hours and reduces volunteering turnover via deep acting. This study may suggest a preliminary insight into the mediating effect of emotions between DOVs and volunteer engagement. Finally, this study suggests that nonprofit organizations providing social services should focus on training and channeling volunteers’ emotional labor during volunteering.

Keywords:

• Self-determination theory (SDT)
• emotional labor
• external regulation
• intrinsic motivation
• volunteer participation

Authors Contributions

Qing Miao: Conceptualization, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Writing-reviewing & editing. Jinhao Huang: Methodology, Software, Formal analysis, Writing-original draft. Hui Yin: Writing-reviewing & editing. All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Qing Miao, Jinhao Huang, Hui Yin. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Jinhao Huang and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

The data and codes that produce the findings reported in this article will be made publicly available with assistance from the JSSR Editorial Team upon acceptance.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (21&ZD184).