Psychology of the volunteer movement

[vc_row thb_divider_position=»bottom»][vc_column][vc_column_text]In article the author considers the volunteer movement from the point of view of psychological mechanisms. The social hierarchy, egoism and encouragement are the main triad supporting competitive activity in these associations.

Over the past few years rather active development was gained by the volunteer movement which is positioned on the base of altruism and unselfishness of participants.
Calling of the voluntary organizations is expressed in humane service to ideals of society, in free aid by the person in need without any personal benefit: career/professional development, preferences at receipt, financial encouragement etc.
Now we will look at these abstract dregs from a different perspective and we will try to realize that the concept «service to ideals and morals» — is not registered anywhere and can bear in itself only individual sense put by specific representatives of last generation. As for the concept «national or public interests», so in a historical retrospective they are diametrically various, so demand a specification. On this basis the author has a question where come to an end designated and legoriya and the reality begins, speaking to language of a present paradigm, the market relations? But all one after another because for a start it is necessary to make sure of correctness of the terminology used by us.
So, the word «volunteer» originates in Latin (voluntarius), after this term gets to French (volontaire) and is literally translated as «volunteer». (Levder I. A. Social work.) Initially, volunteers were soldiers, battling for the sake of Slava and production during eighty-year war (1568-1648). The fact that now nothing changed is remarkable as in other and value of this term. European and American authors: M. Holíková, PhDr. B. Bittnerová, T. Zlámalová, E. Brychtová, D. Wagner, P. Krueger, R. Heck, etc. almost equally interpret this definition, but with some difference:
(The American Journal of Psychology. 403-415),
«voluntary activity is intended for establishment of contacts with the subsequent employment», and this thesis already contradicts domestic sociology. The Russian sociologist E. I. Holostova writes: «volunteers are the people doing something voluntarily in consent, but not on coercion. They can act or is informal, to work for free both in state and in the private organizations of the medical educational sphere, or social security, or to be members of the voluntary organizations». (p. 121-124) in general, the voluntary organizations are constructed on the basis of effective exploitation of free labor taking into account, certainly high-quality socialization. Referring to great scientists: J. Watson, E. Torndayk, J. Wolpe, U. Bella, I. Sechenova, the author allocates basic mechanisms on which keep ся the similar movements:
I. The competition within social hierarchy;
II. Egoism;
III. Encouragement;
Hierarchical instinct for the person as for the most social individual has prime value because all base of life is built them only on the basis of the social competition. Being fundamental structure, the hierarchical instinct of the person practically did not undergo changes unlike a sexual instinct and an instinct of self-preservation. (they strongly changed under the influence of culture).
Competing among themselves in the horizontal relations, «unselfish volunteers» forget that the main goal of social communications is an opportunity to rise slightly above in social hierarchy. (someone decent; someone knows one foreign language, and someone two; someone younger or is more perspective etc.)
Any children’s psychologist or the teacher will tell that the small child did not refuse food, turn meal into competitions to an opportunity to win a trifling prize! Too most happens in the voluntary organization, as in other and in any other social structure.
As for II. Egoism, it is rather obvious that any person will not begin to do something just like that, without own benefit, volunteers in this case are not an exception.
Everyone, officially registered volunteer has the specialized passport in which all attended actions and the countries where these actions took place register. The more and the geography is more various than actions, the it is more than privileges at entering a higher education institution and other.
Concerning III. Encouragement, we pay attention to full financing of all trips of «unselfish volunteers» (an avia flights, food, clothes, methodical material, pocket expenses etc.). In article from (8.2012) Laktionov T. A. writes: «The voluntary help given by the person or group of people to society in general or to certain people, is based on the ideas of disinterested service to humane ideals of mankind and does not pursue the aims of generation of profit, receiving payment or career development». According to the author, the quoted thesis is not substantial from the point of view of psychology, the periodical press and modern reality what it is possible to be convinced of, having read the article Egocentrism in the Volunteer’s Dilemma of 2018 which was published in the The American Journal of Psychology magazine (p. 403-415). The author pays attention to extremely positive relation to the voluntary movement as to the social springboard allowing to find adherents, to build hierarchy of personal values free of charge to study new skills and to realize already available. Self-realization on the basis of the social competition defines an essence of voluntary movements, but not the abstract amfibolichnost which is expressed in «ideals», «humanity», etc.
Some references used by the author:
Levder I. Voluntary movement as one of forms of social service//Social work. M, 2006. No. 2. Page 12−16.
Holostova E. I. Volunteers//the Dictionary reference on social work / under the editorship of the prof. of E. I. Holostova. M, 1997.

Egocentrism in the Volunteer’s Dilemma. Joachim I. Krueger, Patrick R. Heck and Derik Wagner
The American Journal of Psychology. Vol. 131, No. 4 (Winter 2018), pp. 403-415.

<https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibucov%C3%BD_dobrovoln%C3%ADk>
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