Helping as a Lifestyle: Psychological Aspects of Volunteering

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Abstract

The paper reviews contemporary Western research in psychology of volunteering. Special attention is paid to the issues related to the egoistic and altruistic motivations of volunteering, as well as to the factors affecting the intensity of volunteer activities. The paper also describes the restrictions of the reviewed studies.

General Information

Keywords: volunteers, empathy, stress, 'the big five', social norms, sympathy, devotion to organization, attachment style.

Journal rubric: Theoretical Research

Article type: scientific article

For citation: Gulevich O.A., Sheveleva I.A., Fomichev A.A. Helping as a Lifestyle: Psychological Aspects of Volunteering. Sotsial'naya psikhologiya i obshchestvo = Social Psychology and Society, 2013. Vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 5–20. (In Russ., аbstr. in Engl.)

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Information About the Authors

Olga A. Gulevich, Doctor of Psychology, Laboratory Head, Politics & Psychology Research Laboratory, National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3806-5064, e-mail: goulevitch@mail.ru

Irina A. Sheveleva, Bachelor's degree student at the Faculty of Psychology, Higher School of Economics, e-mail: irka1mikey@live.ru

Aram A. Fomichev, Bachelor's degree student at the Faculty of Psychology, Higher School of Economics, e-mail: fomichev.aram@gmail.com

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