Me, Myself, and my Community. Antecedents, Processes, and Effects of Adolescent Volunteering

Abstract

There is a general concern that adolescents are mainly focused on “me, myself, and I” and lack community involvement, but there is also evidence showing that a substantial number of adolescents do contribute to their community by volunteering. The purpose of this doctoral thesis was to better understand the antecedents of adolescents’ volunteering and to understand how volunteering affects adolescents’ development. The findings of four studies demonstrated that both personal and social factors play a role in adolescents’ volunteering. Adolescents’ volunteering was stimulated by their identity, their parents’ and friends’ volunteering, and having a relatively strong civic orientation combined with open communication within the family. Adolescents’ volunteering and their functioning in the academic, personal, and social domain was also positively stimulated by participating in intensive volunteering programs (referred to as community service) combined with intensive reflection. Additionally, the specific antecedents and effects of adolescents’ volunteering depended on their age and the aspect of volunteering that was targeted (whether or how often adolescents volunteer). Overall, this thesis shows that adolescents do participate in their community (especially) when they are stimulated and get the right opportunities to do so. They also seem to profit from performing volunteering activities.