Benefits of Volunteerism and Quality of Life: A Norwegian Perspective

This transcript highlights an empirical undertaking of the relationships between the benefits of volunteerism and individual’s quality of life in the context of an international sport event in Norway. In-depth interview is the research method gathering specific data in respond to the three research questions proposed by the study, entailing (1) the benefits of volunteerism, (2) the interplay between volunteerism and socially responsible behavior, and (3) the derived experiences from volunteerism. The venue of volunteerism is the FIS Ski Flying World Championships 2022 in Vikersund, Norway. This investigation finds that through their participation in volunteerism individuals could resonate with a range of benefits relating to both hedonic and eudemonic ends. It epitomizes the association of the above benefits with individual’s the quality of life by Maslow’s need theory, reverberating the three levels of needs of the theory (i.e., love/belongingness, self-esteem, and self-actualization). Further, the study reveals those volunteers from the host community particularly cherish volunteerism as a culturally-bond desire, looming a socially responsible temptation to community building. At the end, this study suggests two essential directions for future research: (1) evaluating the benefits sought among different cohorts of participants and (2) centering on the relative importance of each respective benefit concerning its association with the perceived quality of life.