Religiosity and volunteering over time: Religious service attendance is associated with the likelihood of volunteering, and religious importance with time spent volunteering.

Abstract

Religion's relationship to volunteering has been widely studied, with the majority of research indicating that religious service attendance matters more in motivating volunteering behavior than subjective religiosity. However, research has not adequately examined the complex interplay of these facets of religiosity in a comprehensive longitudinal framework, looking at both inter- and intraindividual differences over time. Our study uses a 2-stage method to examine the individual and interactive effects of personal religious importance and service attendance, on both (1) volunteering likelihood and (2) hours spent volunteering. Longtudinal, nationally representative data from the Household Income and Labor Dynamics in Australia survey (N = 8,163) reveals a complex profile of volunteering behavior whereby greater religious service attendance is associated with an increased likelihood of volunteering, whereas stronger religious importance is associated with an increase in time spent volunteering among volunteers. This study suggests that a more nuanced view is needed regarding the ways in which different aspects of religion promote prosociality. Specifically, although religious service attendance may promote the decision to volunteer, volunteering to a substantial extent will be unlikely unless a sense of religious importance is also present.