РОЛЯТА НА ДОБРОВОЛЧЕСТВОТО КАТО ИЗТОЧНИК НА ГЕНЕРАТИВНОСТ И ПСИХИЧНО БЛАГОПОЛУЧИЕ
THE ROLE OF VOLUNTEERING AS A SOURCE OF GENERATIVITY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

Summary/Abstract: The present study aims to clarify the relationship between generativity and psychological well-being among Bulgarian adults, taking into account their status of volunteers or non volunteers. An equal number of volunteers and non-volunteers participated in the study (a total of 352 people, aged 18-75 years; 71% women). They answered anonymously a questionnaire containing the unidimensional 20-items Loyola Generativity Scale (McAdams & Aubin, 1992), the short version of the 18-items 6-factor Psychological Well-being Scale (C. Ryff, 1989), basic demographic questions and whether they had done volunteer work. The results proved the role of volunteering as a statistically significant predictor of generativity and general psychological well-being. Volunteers, compared to non-volunteers, demonstrated higher scores on each of the six psychological well-being factors, except for autonomy. In addition, an equal predictive interrelation between the levels of generativity and psychological well-being was found. The results are consistent with studies on the topic in other cultures. The research shows that volunteer activities contribute to the maintenance of optimal mental health and the development of a prosocial identity. The benefits of promoting volunteerism among the Bulgarian population as an intervention measure to improve mental health, stimulate personal growth and build altruistic prosocial attitudes are discussed.

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