Personality Correlates of Volunteering Behavior

A study was carried out to further determine the personality traits, which are significantly related to volunteering behavior. It was hypothesized there would be a significant relationship between volunteering behavior and scores on the sub-tests Intraception and Heterosexuality of the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule. The subjects consisted of 266 female and male college students in four general psychology classes at Fort Hays Kansas State College. The subjects were administered the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule as part of their class work. At one week intervals, three successive requests for volunteers were made. This resulted in a breakdown of our volunteering categories based upon the number of times volunteered, disregarding attendance of the volunteering appointments. The hypotheses were not substantiated, neither Heterosexuality nor Intraception scores were significant at the .05 level of confidence. Two other variables, however, were found to be significantly related to volunteering behavior-Abasement and Aggression.