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There's an additional reason to volunteer if you can: Volunteering can be good for your mental health, see https://duckduckgo.com/?q=volunteering+improves+ment

There's an additional reason to volunteer if you can: Volunteering can be good for your mental health, see https://duckduckgo.com/?q=volunteering+improves+mental+health&t=canonical&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=volunteering+improves+mental+healt...

Scoundreller 7y ago
Nono, volunteers have better health than non-volunteers. Volunteers have enough wealth to volunteer (or, as stated, can get hooked up with better opportunities, but gotta jump over that first barrier). Lots of things you would need to (obviously) control for. Dunno if I’ll ever see a double-blinded randomized trial on volunteering though.
- TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
  Do we have to keep arguing about the mental health benefits of socialising, getting out, moving about, contributing to something? The only people who are arguing "more research is needed" are social science professors and their PhD candidates. Yeah, sure, if your mental health is so poor you can't leave the house, it goes without saying those who can get out of the house do, be default, have better mental health. That doesn't mean those people aren't deriving any additional benefit. You don't have to be wealthy to volunteer, you can be homeless and living on government allowances and still volunteer.
  - dvbxcmxn 7y ago
    > The only people who are arguing "more research is needed" are social science professors and their PhD candidates. > Dunno if I’ll ever see a double-blinded randomized trial on volunteering though. Social scientists generally don't do these kinds of studies. A more typical research question might be something like "what forms of volunteering do italian grandpas take part in, and what are the perceived benefits do these efforts for themselves and the communities they serve?" This would be addressed through open-ended semi-structured interviews through various sampling methods, but probably a snowball sampling strategy. The research goes in the directions that the subjects lead it in, with effort being made to tie up loose ends as part of a theory-building process. Basically a structured and evidence-based attempt to come up with a coherent explanation.

Scoundreller 7y ago

Nono, volunteers have better health than non-volunteers. Volunteers have enough wealth to volunteer (or, as stated, can get hooked up with better opportunities, but gotta jump over that first barrier). Lots of things you would need to (obviously) control for. Dunno if I’ll ever see a double-blinded randomized trial on volunteering though.

TheSpiceIsLife 7y ago
Do we have to keep arguing about the mental health benefits of socialising, getting out, moving about, contributing to something? The only people who are arguing "more research is needed" are social science professors and their PhD candidates. Yeah, sure, if your mental health is so poor you can't leave the house, it goes without saying those who can get out of the house do, be default, have better mental health. That doesn't mean those people aren't deriving any additional benefit. You don't have to be wealthy to volunteer, you can be homeless and living on government allowances and still volunteer.
- dvbxcmxn 7y ago
  > The only people who are arguing "more research is needed" are social science professors and their PhD candidates. > Dunno if I’ll ever see a double-blinded randomized trial on volunteering though. Social scientists generally don't do these kinds of studies. A more typical research question might be something like "what forms of volunteering do italian grandpas take part in, and what are the perceived benefits do these efforts for themselves and the communities they serve?" This would be addressed through open-ended semi-structured interviews through various sampling methods, but probably a snowball sampling strategy. The research goes in the directions that the subjects lead it in, with effort being made to tie up loose ends as part of a theory-building process. Basically a structured and evidence-based attempt to come up with a coherent explanation.