Factors Associated with Volunteering among the Elderly in Taiwan

• Main Authors: Yen-Ju Liao, 廖彥如
• Other Authors: Ho-Jui Tung
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/55126754252862743915

碩士 === 亞洲大學 === 健康產業管理學系長期照護組 === 102 === Many studies have pointed out that participation in volunteering is beneficial to both the society and the volunteered individuals. Through volunteering, people can benefit from the service process, to get a sense of accomplishment, and psychological satisfaction through service to others. The population in Taiwan is aging rapidly and more attention should be directed to explore the factors related to participating in volunteer service and their willingness to volunteer. According to the resources theory, factors associated volunteering can be categorized into the human capital, social capital, and cultural capital factors. Using data from a national representative survey of the Middle Aged and Elderly in Taiwan, we examined the the volunteering behaviors among the elderly in Taiwan. In terms of human capital, we found that elders with higher education levels are more likely to be more involved in voluntary service and they are also more willing to participate. For cultural capital, we found that religious people are more likely to be involved in voluntary services. Finally, people who have higher social capital are also more likely to participate in volunteering. The results explain the impact of human capital, cultural capital and social capital in three areas of volunteering among the elderly in Taiwan, Many studies have pointed out to accumulate sufficient human capital, cultural capital will increase the willingness to participate in voluntary services. Older people are facing social role changes after retirement and the loss of social status, relationships. Through participation in the community, older people can find meaningful roles to participating in society.