The revised theory of planned behavior and volunteer behavior in Australia

Abstract

The development of a theory to explain why people are motivated to volunteer could be used by community groups to assist in the recruitment of volunteers. The current study was designed to test two aspects of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a predictor of volunteer behavior. The first aim was to examine the utility of the TPB to predict volunteer behavior in Australians over the age of 18years. The second aim was to examine a revised TPB to assist in decreasing the gap between intent to perform behavior and actual behavior performance (intention-behavior gap). Questionnaires were designed to evaluate the two aims of the study and were distributed to 144 individuals from a range of social backgrounds. The TPB is useful as a predictor of volunteer behavior, although there was no evidence that the revised TPB resulted in a decrease of the intention-behavior gap. The conclusions and implications of the findings in respect of both aims are discussed.

Keywords:

• social work
• volunteerism
• community development corporations
• nonprofits
• NGOs

Notes

1. A copy of the questionnaire used in the study is available from the first author.