Multi-Dimensional Religiosity and Volunteering in Contemporary Taiwan

Abstract

While most of the existing research on religion and volunteering has been conducted in Western, predominantly Christian settings, how religion and volunteering are related in non-Western, non-Christian societies have not yet been sufficiently studied. Recently more and more researchers are becoming more interested in religion and volunteering in Taiwan and are conducting case studies on the Tzu Chi Association. However, the relationship between multi-dimensional religiosity and volunteering in Taiwan has not yet been examined. This study attempts to contribute to this literature by analysing one of the most extensive sampling surveys in Taiwan. I found that (1) various kinds of religiosity in Taiwan, other than belonging to Buddhist organisations, have different effects on both religious and secular volunteering; (2) religious volunteering and secular volunteering were different with respect to their correlation with multi-dimensional religiosity; (3) religious participation is a significant factor in promoting respondent’s religious volunteering but it is not a significant factor on respondent’s secular volunteering; (4) some religiosities, such as belief in spirits and karmic charity, are negative determinants of volunteering; and (5) spiritual behaviour is a significant and positive determinant of both religious volunteering and secular volunteering. In addition, the implications and future research directions are discussed.