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Volunteering for Museums: The Variation in Motives across Volunteer Age Groups
Author(s) -
Deery Margaret,
Jago Leo,
Mair Judith
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
curator: the museum journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.312
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 2151-6952
pISSN - 0011-3069
DOI - 10.1111/j.2151-6952.2011.00094.x
Subject(s) - census , volunteer , variation (astronomy) , turnover , population , age groups , psychology , gerontology , value (mathematics) , social psychology , demography , sociology , management , medicine , biology , physics , machine learning , astrophysics , agronomy , computer science , economics
The value of volunteering is well documented, and though there is a readily available recruitment pool for volunteers, many come from an aging population that is also relatively affluent and has many more opportunities and demands for their free time in retirement. This paper examines the motives of older volunteers in a state museum in Australia with the aim of differentiating motivations within subsets of volunteering groups. The study undertook a census of 450 volunteers at the museum, using the Voluntary Functions Inventory (VFI). The findings reveal various levels of motivation within the older age groups. Such findings can assist volunteer agencies in enhancing the quality of their volunteers’ experience.