Rewards and Impacts of Participation in a Gerontology Extension Program

Because involvement in specific organizations typically is part of a general pattern of social participation, understanding the effects of activity in a particular realm is difficult. A 1985 program designed to make the skills of retired professionals available to public service agencies provided an opportunity to follow volunteers during various stages of their participation. It also permitted an assessment of the impact of their volunteer work in this program on changes in their morale, self-esteem, and alienation as well as the extent of their participation in other voluntary activities. It was predicted that the effects of voluntary action would vary according to the participants' reasons for volunteering, their perceptions of their success in serving the agencies, and the number of opportunities they had for demonstrating their competencies. Analysis suggested that participants responded positively but not dramatically to opportunities for meaningful social participation.

Local Action on Behalf of Local Collectives in the U.S. and Israel: How Different Are Leaders from Members in Voluntary Associations?

While leadership in voluntary organizations is important to the understanding of voluntary action, not enough is known about differences between leaders and members in voluntary organizations. This study explored the differences between leaders and members in local voluntary organizations in the U.S. and Israel. Using discriminant function analysis on demographic characteristics, social psychological variables, and cost-benefit relationships it was found that leaders differ significantly from members in several of these areas. Patterns of greatest similarity were found between the American and Israeli participants on the social psychological variables. Gender distinguished members from leaders in Israel; occupation and education did so in the U.S. A very significant finding in the area of costs and benefits was that leaders perceived their activism as more costly than did members; leaders viewed costs to their participation as being equal to benefits while members perceived more benefits than costs.

A Cooperative Approach to the Logic of Collective Action: Voluntary Organizations and the Prisoners' Dilemma

A reexamination of certain tenets of Olson's logic of collective action suggests that it fails to explain some types of behavior found in voluntary organizations, especially mutual assistance groups. Specifically, Olson fails to account for non-coercive and non-individualistic factors and gives insufficient attention to the social context of voluntary organization life. A fresh applications of the prisoners' dilemma and the introduction of the concept of community expand our understanding of behaviors heretofore unexplained. Implications are discussed for the design and management of voluntary organizations under certain conditions.

Local Action on Behalf of Local Collectives in the U.S. and Israel: How Different are Leaders from Members in Voluntary Associations?

While leadership in voluntary organizations is important to the understanding of voluntary action, not enough is known about differences between leaders and members in voluntary organizations. This study explored the differences between leaders and members in local voluntary organizations in the U.S. and Israel. Using discriminant function analysis on demographic characteristics, social psychological variables, and cost-benefit relationships it was found that leaders differ significantly from members in several of these areas. Patterns of greatest similarity were found between the American and Israeli participants on the social psychological variables. Gender distinguished members from leaders in Israel; occupation and education did so in the U.S. A very significant finding in the area of costs and benefits was that leaders perceived their activism as more costly than did members; leaders viewed costs to their participation as being equal to benefits while members perceived more benefits than costs.

An Image Scale for Nonprofit Voluntary Organizations

An inventory of scale items for a tailormade semantic differential is developed to measure the image of nonprofit voluntary organizations. The sixty-three items yield twelve first-order factors. Second-order factor analysis provides unifying constructs within the domain of voluntary organizations’ image. Coefficient alpha reliability estimates indicate a highly reliable measurement scale.

Rewards and Impacts of Participation in a Gerontology Extension Program

Because involvement in specific organizations typically is part of a general pattern of social participation, understanding the effects of activity in a particular realm is difficult. A 1985 program designed to make the skills of retired professionals available to public service agencies provided an opportunity to follow volunteers during various stages of their participation. It also permitted an assessment of the impact of their volunteer work in this program on changes in their morale, self-esteem, and alienation as well as the extent of their participation in other voluntary activities. It was predicted that the effects of voluntary action would vary according to the participants’ reasons for volunteering, their perceptions of their success in serving the agencies, and the number of opportunities they had for demonstrating their competencies. Analysis suggested that participants responded positively but not dramatically to opportunities for meaningful social participation.