Title
Development of a scale assessing retired older adults’ attitudes to volunteering
Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Australasian Journal on Ageing
Volume
40
Issue
3
First Page
e254
Last Page
e261
Publisher
Wiley
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences / Exercise Medicine Research Institute / Centre for Exercise and Sports Science Research
RAS ID
35529
Funders
Australian Research Council
Grant Number
ARC Number : DP140100365
Grant Link
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP140100365
Abstract
Objective: Given positive attitudes to volunteering are likely to be associated with support for volunteering and individual participation, this study aimed to develop and test a 10-item ‘attitudes to formal volunteering’ scale for retired older adults that could be used to inform intervention efforts. Method: A sample of 801 Australian retirees (62% female; mean age: 71.9 years) completed a survey that included the attitude scale, demographic items and questions assessing engagement in volunteering. Results: A principal component analysis identified two factors (general attitude to volunteering and attitude to participating in volunteering) that together accounted for 64% of the variance in attitude scores. A confirmatory factor analysis indicated the two-factor model was an excellent fit to the data. Cronbach's alphas for both factors were > 0.80, and both were positively associated with volunteering engagement. Conclusion: The proposed scale is a potentially useful instrument for measuring attitudes to volunteering among retired older adults.
DOI
10.1111/ajag.12907
Access Rights
subscription content
Comments
Dana, L. M., Jongenelis, M. I., Jackson, B., Newton, R. U., & Pettigrew, S. (2021). Development of a scale assessing retired older adults’ attitudes to volunteering. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 40(3), e254-e261. https://doi.org/10.1111/ajag.12907