Abstract
The positive health effects of volunteering are quite well described in the literature; however, potential negative effects of volunteering are less explored. Volunteering got attention in Ukraine because of the recent political crisis that brought military conflict to the Eastern part of the country in 2014. Informal volunteering has transformed into a formal one. In order to be able to organize volunteering that promotes well-being, it is important to have more in-depth knowledge about motives behind volunteering as well as the positive and potential negative effects of it. We explore the case voluntary work in of one of the cities in Ukraine. Military conflict context has its own specifics and different motives make people act voluntarily. There are goal-oriented, value-oriented, affectual and traditional motives present in our data. The data shows that involvement in volunteering brings positive returns on well-being of the providers such as enlarging the circles of friendship and expanding the networks volunteers involved in; brings positive emotions into life; compensates the efforts and gives meaning to life. However, the negative effects of volunteering are also present. They are physical tiredness and a lot of time spent on volunteering activities; becoming disconnected from the ordinary (non-volunteering) world; unsafety; neglect of own needs and experiences of negative emotions out of the involvement in volunteering activities.
Highlights
Volunteering is a phenomenon that has attracted scientists relatively recently
The positive health effects of volunteering are quite well described in the literature; potential negative effects of volunteering are less explored
Thereafter, we present the constructed categories describing positive and negative effects on the well-being of volunteers; we present an analytical situational map illustrating the links between the constructed social action ideal types and effects of volunteering on well-being
Summary
Volunteering is a phenomenon that has attracted scientists relatively recently. It receives interest from economists, politicians, sociologists, and psychologists for the reason that it carries the potential benefits such as filling the unemployment gap, ability to carry out welfare functions, capacity to expand social capital and others (Grizzle & Yusuf, 2015; Ziemek, 2006). In 2001, the United Nation released a Practical Tool for Measuring Volunteering in quantitative surveys (Dingle, Sokolowski, Saxon-Harrold, Smith, & Leigh, 2001). The tool defines three main criteria characterizing volunteering: 1) it should be done without any financial interest; 2) it should be a free willing activity; and 3) it should bring benefits both to the third party as well as for the volunteers themselves. There are two major forms of volunteering: formal—within established entities or organizations, and informal—any volunteering activity carried out, not through formal organizations (Lee & Brudney, 2012)
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