Introduction: Most volunteers are unemployed and unpaid, but use their meager resources to help their patients. As demonstrated in Akintola (2008), volunteer caregivers dedicate a significant amount of time to care work, with a substantial proportion working full time, sometimes 7 days a week. Volunteering in AIDS care is also associated with significant psychological and physical burdens, including the risk of HIV/AIDS/TB infection. Furthermore, due to the high unemployment rate and the great need for volunteers, especially in healthcare organizations, millions of people dedicate their time, talent and energy to volunteering in different organizations. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay There are several reasons why people dedicate their time to volunteer work without any financial gain. The purpose of this essay is to understand what motivates individuals to engage in volunteer behaviors. Topic Sentence: Helping is a human behavior, usually occurring when an individual makes a significant personal sacrifice to help another human being. Human availability can take on two types of manifestations; spontaneous and non-spontaneous help. Spontaneous helping situations often involve surprising individuals with the opportunity to help, such as helping people with an immediate decision and only a relatively brief act of helping. In contrast, nonspontaneous helping situations involve a significantly greater process of planning, prioritization, and matching of personal skills and interests with the type of intervention such as volunteering. Comment: The defining and characteristic feature of volunteering as a volunteer is ongoing availability and suggests that it may be productive to adopt a motivational perspective. Snyders adopted the functional analysis strategy and investigated the motivations that can push individuals to seek volunteering opportunities. Other expressions of volunteering are mutual aid in health and social care and philanthropy towards others within voluntary or community organisations. Evidence and citations: Volunteers in hospitals, schools, religious organisations, sports clubs and other community organizations contribute to the breadth and effectiveness of services. Thesis Statement: The literature review shows that, to be sure, the factors discovered by research on helping that occur in these types of contexts. Evidence and Citations: Therefore, volunteers (a) often actively seek opportunities to help others; (b) can decide for a considerable period of time about whether to volunteer, the extent of their involvement and the degree to which the activities suit their personal needs; and (c) may engage in an ongoing helping relationship that may extend over a considerable period and that may involve substantial personal costs in terms of time, energy, and opportunity. To simplify these factors for the purposes of this research, the researcher classified these motivations as being altruistic or selfish. Comment: Altruism is “behavior that reflects a total and disinterested concern for the well-being of others” while selfishness is “an exclusive concern for one's own personal needs and well-being, rather than for the needs and well-being of others” . While the empathy-altruism hypothesis can be called an altruistic motivation, the other five motivations (negative state relief model, empathic joy hypothesis, competitive altruism, kin selection theory, and defensive helping) are selfishbecause the helper helps more for their own happiness or status rather than purely for the act of helping itself. Topic sentence: volunteering takes on different forms and meanings in different contexts. Evidence and quotes: the concept of volunteering is strongly influenced by the history, politics, religion and culture of a region, but it is also influenced by the nature of the volunteers themselves (personality characteristics, lifestyle, experiences etc.). However, it is possible to identify some basic common characteristics that define volunteer activity: (a) the activity should not be undertaken in exchange for a monetary reward, (b) the activity should not be a forced commitment, but should be undertaken voluntarily, (c) the activity should (in some form) contribute to society other than voluntarily. Specifically in South Africa, when asked what motivates them to volunteer, volunteers said they usually have more than one reason for volunteering. Reasons noted included altruistic concerns for others and the community, employment and career benefits, the desire of the unemployed to avoid idleness, opportunities to learn caring skills and put their skills to use, personal growth, religious callings, and recognition of the community. An alternative South African article by Kironde and Klaasen (2002) had similar motivations, such as the hope of eventual remuneration, altruism, the need to do something with one's free time and gain work experience. Topic Sentence: Okun (1994) found that the strongest correlate of volunteer frequency among older volunteers was the need to feel useful or productive. Volunteering is sometimes seen as a way for the volunteer to develop skills that could be useful in a future career, or help get a job, get academic credit, or even aid career advancement. Evidence and Citations: Caudron (1994) suggests that another motivation for volunteering will be to generate good public relations. Furthermore, religious involvement and religious beliefs, as well as demonstrating victory over the victim of abuse or circumstances, have been shown to be associated with a greater likelihood of volunteering. Wilson and Pimm (1996) discovered some less obvious reasons why people may volunteer, including the desire to wear a uniform, benefits gained, association with celebrities, health and fitness, and travel opportunities. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom article now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay Concluding Paragraph: Recruiting the right volunteers has been a major management issue for many organizations. Recruitment efforts should begin by understanding the motivations of your current volunteers and especially committed volunteers, and then attempt to find potential volunteers who resemble the motivational profile of your current volunteers. References Allen, N., & Rushton, J. P. (1983). Personality characteristics of community mental health volunteers. Journal of Voluntary Action ResearchAnderson, N., Damianakis, T., Kröger, E., Wagner, L., Dawson, D., Binns, M., Bernstein, S., Caspi, E., & Cook, S. (2014 ) “The Benefits Associated with Volunteering Among Older Adults: A Critical Review and Recommendations for Future Research,” Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 40, no. 6, International Labor Organization. 2011. Volunteer Work Measurement Handbook. Geneva http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0211/P02111stQuarter2019Statistics South Africa. 2005. Consolidated General Government Financial Statistics. Pretoria http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/D04072/D040722010IntroductionShould.