“Doing well by doing good”: when and how volunteering fosters hedonic and eudaimonic well-being

Research has supported the hypothesis that volunteering enhances volunteers’ well-being. However, more clarity is needed regarding the link between volunteering and the various facets of well-being (i.e., hedonic vs eudaimonic) and the mechanisms that favor the increase of the various facets of well-being in volunteers. One hundred and seventy-five volunteers serving in various organizations were involved in the study. First, the results showed that the volunteers perceived that their satisfaction with life had significantly changed as a result of doing voluntary work. In addition, the results showed that the link between self-determined types of motivation and eudaimonic well-being is mediated by engagement. Engagement also mediated the positive effects of motivation on satisfaction with volunteering, which in turn acted as a second-order mediator on the relationship between self-determined types of motivation and hedonic well-being. Suggestions are given for promoting those organizational conditions that may favor self-determined types of motivation and engagement.