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RESEARCH PAPER
Between Fun and Obligation. The Motivations of Volunteers in Poland
 
 
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Labour and Social Policy, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Polska
 
 
Submission date: 2021-04-16
 
 
Final revision date: 2021-07-20
 
 
Acceptance date: 2021-09-07
 
 
Publication date: 2021-09-30
 
 
Corresponding author
Dominik Buttler   

Labour and Social Policy, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Niepodleglosci 10, 61-875, Poznan, Polska
 
 
Problemy Polityki Społecznej 2021;53:7-25
 
KEYWORDS
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ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper is to facilitate understanding of the motivations of volunteers working in Poland . In the theoretical framework of the analysis we have applied the so-called functional approach, which recognizes six types of volunteer motivations: social, protective, enhancement, career, understanding and value-expressive. The thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 26 volunteers addressed three objectives. First, we investigated how motivations of volunteers in Poland corresponded to the functional typology, then sought to identify distinct aspects of particular functions, and finally, tried to find new types of volunteer motivations. In the analysed interviews we found references to all six types of volunteering motives. We also identified new types of motivation (social integration and utilitarian) as well as aspects of the existing functions, which had not been recognized in the original theoretical framework.
FUNDING
The study presented in the article was financially supported through the National Science Centre (Narodowe Centrum Nauki) grant 2013/11/D/HS4/03874.
 
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ISSN:1640-1808
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