Abstract
Most youth mentoring programs rely on volunteers to serve as mentors to youth. This study investigates factors associated with motivations for volunteering in this capacity, specifically altruistic and self-oriented reasons for becoming a mentor. Because adults who volunteer as mentors and youth mentees typically come from different socio-cultural backgrounds, the study examines demographic characteristics associated with these different motivations. In addition, the study addresses the empathy-altruism hypothesis suggesting that individuals with higher levels of empathy exhibit greater altruistic tendencies. For this analysis, the focus is on ethnocultural empathy and its association with volunteer motivations. The sample consisted of 1,000 volunteers who applied to mentor in 4 agencies affiliated with a national mentoring organization. The results indicated that mentors reporting higher levels of ethnocultural empathy were more likely to endorse altruistic motivations for volunteering. Younger volunteers, female volunteers, and volunteers of color reported higher levels of self-oriented motivations for volunteering. Female mentors, in general, reported higher levels of altruistic motivations for volunteering. Altruism and empathy, particularly the ability to connect with youth across cultural differences, are considered important mentor attributes conducive to healthy mentoring relationships. The implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.
Highlights
Many people in the United States volunteer their time in a variety of volunteer roles
The current study investigates how certain demographic characteristics and volunteer/mentor ethnocultural empathy are related to specific motivations for becoming a volunteer mentor
Because adult volunteer mentors and youth mentees tend to come from different sociocultural backgrounds, it is important for agencies to understand what factors may influence volunteer motivations for developing recruitment strategies, and providing needed support for mentors and mentees to navigate their differences and build and maintain a supportive relationship between them
Summary
Many people in the United States volunteer their time in a variety of volunteer roles. One way to begin to understand how race/ethnicity factors in mentoring relationships is by examining mentors’ ethnocultural empathy and how this form of empathy is related to volunteer mentors’ motivations for volunteering. The emphasis is on examining whether mentor ethnocultural empathy is associated with specific motivations for becoming a volunteer mentor.
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