Older volunteers, person -environment fit, and life satisfaction

Through their volunteer activities, older volunteers enrich society and receive many personal benefits in the process. While their contributions affect society greatly, little attention has been directed toward better using the talents of older volunteers by carefully matching their interests to the volunteer positions available.;For a theoretical framework, this study drew on the body of research on person-environment fit from vocational psychology. Holland's theory indicates that personalities function best in a compatible environment. The closer the match between personality as measured through interests and the environment, the better the person can express competencies and preferences that lead to vocational satisfaction. The purpose of this dissertation is to extend this theory and research to retirement-age individuals and their formal volunteer activities in order, through a better fit, to provide greater volunteer and life satisfaction and better service to organizations. It was hypothesized that those with a better person-environment fit would have greater life satisfaction and volunteer satisfaction. The instruments used were the Strong Interest Inventory, the Satisfaction With Life Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. The participants were 109 Retired & Seniors Volunteer Project volunteers from two Midwestern cities.;Correlational analyses of the data failed to support the hypotheses. However, a perceived person-environment fit correlated with life satisfaction and volunteer satisfaction. In regression analyses models predicting life satisfaction and volunteer satisfaction, perceived person-environment fit was the most important factor. It appears that person-environment fit for older volunteers involves additional factors not found in traditional vocational person-environment fit. It is suggested that values may be an important factor in person-environment fit for older volunteers.