Anna Maria Meneghini

Perché mi impegno nel volontariato: le motivazioni dei volontari

The motivations supporting personal engagement into volunteer activity - Altruistic values, empathic reactivity and self-oriented motivational functions were examined throughout 236 volunteers, working in different voluntary associations. We assumed that different motivational functions support personal engagement in different subjects, according to age, gender, and kind of voluntary association the volunteer belong to, ecc. Moreover, the influence of different motivational functions could change during time service. Finally, starting from different motivational functions of volunteers, belonging to different kind of voluntary associations, we talk about the possibility that personal matching of motivations affects the subjective choice of voluntary organization of a person engaging himself in voluntary service. Keywords: volunteerism, motivations, empathic reactivity

A Meaningful Break in a Flat Life The Motivations Behind Overseas Volunteering

International Voluntary Service (IVS) is slowly becoming more popular as more and more people take breaks from their studies or careers to volunteer abroad. However, research on the motivation of volunteers is quite limited and mainly conducted by means of qualitative methods. This study attempts to analyze the motivations that prompt people to serve internationally. I used the Volunteer Functions Inventory (VFI) plus some items that refer to specific motives gathered from literature. The results show multiple and mixed motivations that, according to the correlational analysis, can be grouped into two motivational patterns, one “outward focused” and the other “inward focused.” These patterns are variously associated with some perceived facets of the experience abroad. Finally, the importance of understanding the various motivations and how matching them to the sending program might enhance volunteer satisfaction is discussed.

How to Foster Commitment Among Volunteers: A Social Constructionist Study in Italian Nonprofit Organizations

ABSTRACT This study explored the perspectives of Italian volunteers: the meanings they attribute to their role as volunteer and to the various facets of the experience of volunteering. The aim was to identify and foster those outlooks that help maintain commitment in nonprofit organizations (NPOs). Two intertwined studies were carried out. In the first, twenty-seven semistructured interviews were conducted with highly committed volunteers belonging to four NPOs in order to explore the prevailing perspectives. A thematic analysis was then conducted. The results show that the participants emphasized the importance of maintaining a personal space being careful to keep their role as a volunteer separate from their day-to-day life. Moreover, they considered their own NPO as “special” and had a “cynical approach” that helped them to offset any negative aspect related to their work. In the second study, four focus group discussions were organized involving three managers from every NPO with the aim of finding practical suggestions regarding how to increase and develop those perspectives that enhance a sense of commitment. Similar methodology may be used in the future to investigate the strategies that improve commitment among volunteers in other types of NPOs or in other social and cultural contexts.

La forma dell’impegno prosociale sta cambiando? L’esperienza del volontariato episodico al Festivaletteratura di Mantova

Il fenomeno del Volontariato Episodico e una forma di volontariato che negli ultimi anni si sta rapidamente diffondendo anche in Italia, specialmente tra i giovani. Poco ancora si conosce dei risvolti che tale fenomeno puo comportare a livello individuale, organizzativo e comunitario. La ricerca, partendo da un’indagine condotta tra 538 volontari del Festivaletteratura di Mantova, si interroga sulle motivazioni all’adesione al volontariato episodico, rispetto a quello tradizionale e sui vantaggi e/o svantaggi che i volontari percepiscono rispetto alle due modalita del mettersi in gioco nel mondo del volontariato. I risultati emersi forniscono lo spunto per riflessioni sul tema anche dalla prospettiva di chi tradizionalmente e istituzionalmente si rapporta con il mondo dell’associazionismo.

The influence of social expectations on strategies for coping with moral transgressions

Abstract Guilt has been found to accomplish important relational functions, thus promoting reparative behaviours through other- directed strategies. However, when ones self-image is at risk, self-directed strategies may be adaptively preferred. We thus wondered whether social expectations towards morally relevant roles would affect the emotional response to moral transgressions and, consequently, the choice of coping strategies to restore the original emotional status. In two studies, two groups of participants were asked to imagine themselves in guilt-evoking situations and to think of ways of reducing their negative feelings. In study 1, social expectations regarding the transgressor were manipulated by comparing a group of Catholic priests and of lay people. In study 2, we repeated the same design adding a manipulation of perspective (first/third person). Overall, results showed that the priests reported more feelings of shame when in the first person condition, and were more likely to cope with their negative feelings by means of self-directed strategies than the lay people. In these cases, self- directed coping strategies may be adaptively chosen in order to restore a positive self-image.

Le emozioni del vino

Ogni cultura possiede un suo lessico emotivo che rende possibile la condivisione sociale dei feelings che sono pur sempre un’esperienza profondamente privata e soggettiva. Seguendo gli studi di Damasio (2003), le emozioni, che darebbero forma alla maggior parte delle nostre esperienze quotidiane, possono essere considerate percezioni dello stato del nostro corpo modificato dalle interazioni con stimoli esterni. Lo studio si focalizza sulla selezione, all’interno del piu ampio e generico lessico emotivo, di un set di termini specifici per descrivere affettivamente il prodotto vino. Partendo da una lista di 453 termini tratti dalla letteratura, attraverso 3 studi, sono stati selezionati 16 aggettivi emozionali che permettono alle persone di descrivere in modo emotivamente particolareggiato le personali esperienze di assaggio e consumo del vino.