The
Clocktower
Issue 88.3
Union College
SEPTEMBER 18, 2013 Photo credit: Kimberly McNeilus.
The selfish side of volunteering
Sometimes “self-centered” service isn’t a bad thing. Project Impact: A time for Unionites to offer time and labor for the benefit of the community. This doesn’t quite sound like an appeal to BRIANNA the selfish. However, SCHENKELBERG researchers found that many volunteers are effectively motivated by self-centered goals. “People have an agenda when they volunteer—and that’s in the best sense of the word,” says psychologist E. Gil Clary, PhD. There are five main reasons people volunteer according to Psychology Today:
Values. Satisfying personal values (including religion) or humanitarian concerns. Community concern. Helping a community/neighborhood you feel attached to. Esteem enhancement. Feeling better about yourself. Understanding. Gaining better understanding of people, cultures, or places. Personal development. Challenging yourself, meeting new people, or furthering your career. If you Project-Impacted for the warm, fuzzy feeling or to stretch your comfort zone, you may have a more private agenda
than you realized. However, those driven by the selfish motives—esteem enhancement, personal development, or understanding—usually remain volunteering with an organization longer. Sometimes staying loyal to one company better satisfies personal goals, where simply helping people can be achieved with numerous different organizations. What reasons do you volunteer for? Dan Toporeck always had the yearning to contribute to global improvement. Being the vice president of corporate communications for Travelocity, he figured he’d put (continued on page 5)
INSIDE THIS ISSUE ► BACK IN TIME ON CAMPUS, page 3
LEARN FROM MILEY CYRUS CULTURE, PAGE 4
ASK AMBER
THE NEW ARENA
SPECIAL INTEREST, page 5
SPORTS, page 6