Volunteerism among Retirees: A Potential Resource for Community Development
Volunteerism was acknowledged by the United Nations by proclaiming the year 2001 as the Year of Volunteerism. There are thousands of retirees from the Premier and the Managerial and Professional Groups (PMP) of the Malaysian Public Service who, after the mandatory retirement at the age of 55, co...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
2004
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/5479/1/PEKA_2004_2a.pdf |
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| Summary: | Volunteerism was acknowledged by the United Nations by proclaiming the
year 2001 as the Year of Volunteerism. There are thousands of retirees from
the Premier and the Managerial and Professional Groups (PMP) of the
Malaysian Public Service who, after the mandatory retirement at the age of
55, could contribute to the community in various ways considering that the
longevity index in Malaysia presently stands at 71 for males and 76 for
females.
The study attempted to determine the involvement of the retirees in
volunteerism, identify the relationship between their psycho-social variables
towards altruism and volunteerism and to ascertain their inherent potential for
volunteerism. There is no base- line research in Malaysia on retirees and this
exploratory study could be significant to Government, Pensioners’
Associations, Yayasan SALAM, Senior Citizen Associations and various
NGO’s for recruitment and social policy reviews. The sample was drawn from unequal clusters of randomly selected, one
month for each year, for the period of 12 years (1989-2000). The list of
addresses of 613 retirees was obtained from the Public Services Department
(PSD) of Malaysia. A mailed survey was carried out with a sample of 576
retirees with a response rate of 261 (45.3%) of correctly completed
questionnaires.
The data analysis was carried out using descriptive and inferential statistics.
The descriptive analysis elicited experiences and perceptions on motivating
aspects, potential and preferences for volunteerism. The inferential statistics
was used to compute difference of mean, relationship and mediating effect.
Psycho-social variables (environment, life style, personality and resources),
mediating variable (altruism) and dependent variable (volunteerism) were
used for the analysis. T-tests, correlation and regression analysis were
performed.
The findings indicated that there were some differences between the western
studies and the present study in the Malaysian context. There was significant
correlation between personality and resources and volunteerism among the
52% volunteer-retirees. Altruism showed a mediating effect between psychosocial
variables and volunteerism. The exploratory study provides a data-base
to develop new strategies, further research and review the social policy to
attract more retirees towards volunteerism. A model for the recruitment and
sustaining of volunteers is suggested. In addition, a measurement of the
contribution of volunteerism towards the Gross National Product is also
proposed to add value to voluntary service. |
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