The Dutch Comparative Scale for Assessing Volunteer Motivations among Volunteers and Non-Volunteers: An Adaptation of the Volunteer Functions Inventory

Jacobien Niebuur,Nardi Steverink,Nynke Smidt,Aart C Liefbroer

doi:10.3390/ijerph16245047

Abstract

Currently, no valid scales exist to compare volunteer motivations between volunteers and non-volunteers. We aimed to adapt the Dutch version of the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) in order to make it applicable for the comparison of volunteer motivations between Dutch older volunteers and non-volunteers. The Dutch version of the VFI was included in the Lifelines ‘Daily Activities and Leisure Activities add on Study’, which was distributed among participants aged 60 to 80. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models were estimated for volunteers and non-volunteers separately, and subsequently a CFA model was created based on all observations irrespective of volunteer status. Finally, group-based CFA models were estimated to assess measurement invariance. The resulting measurement instrument (6 factors, 18 items), containing both a volunteer version and a non-volunteer version, indicated an acceptable model fit for the separate and the combined CFA models (root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) = 0.06, comparative fit index (CFI) = 0.95). Group-based models demonstrated strong invariance between the samples. The current study provides support for the validity of the Dutch Comparative Scale for Assessing Volunteer Motivations among Volunteers and Non-Volunteers, among Dutch older adults.

Highlights

Voluntary work carries many benefits for volunteering individuals, recipients of voluntary work, organizations, and societies as a whole [1]
The aim of the current study was to adapt the Dutch version of the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) in order to make it applicable for comparing the motivations to volunteer between Dutch older volunteers and non-volunteers
As our goal was to adapt the Dutch version of the VFI to obtain a measurement instrument allowing for comparison of factor mean scores between volunteers and non-volunteers, we aimed at obtaining evidence for strong factorial invariance

Summary

Introduction

Voluntary work carries many benefits for volunteering individuals, recipients of voluntary work, organizations, and societies as a whole [1]. Benefits for volunteering older adults include the improvement of physical functioning, self-rated health, and life satisfaction, and the reduction of levels of depressive symptoms [2]. Benefits in terms of both life satisfaction, as well as perceived health, seem to be even larger for older adults than for younger adults [3]. A substantial unused volunteering capacity exists among older adults [4], especially among the growing population of retired, but still active individuals [5]. Increasing productivity in later life has societal relevance, especially in the contemporary context of population aging faced by Western societies.

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