Differences in Personal Goals and Attitudes among Volunteers.” Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly

Using data from a national survey, this article analyzes the relationship between volunteering and attitudes regarding personal goals, the role and responsibility of government, the charitable responsibility of individuals, and confidence in charitable and noncharitable institutions. It focuses on the differences between volunteers and nonvolunteers and between vol-unteers to organizations operating under three different auspices (public, for-profit, and nonprofit) and in eleven different types of volunteer activ-ities. The findings reveal that, when controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and social roles, statistically significant differences in per-sonal goals and attitudes exist between volunteers and nonvolunteers, as well as among volunteers found in the three sectors and in various types of activities. In 1989 over half the adult population of the United States volunteered to various nonprofit and public organizations that provide important goods and services (Hodgkinson and Weitzman, 1990). Furthermore, in 1990 th