What Animal Shelters Can Do to Reduce the Gender Gap in Volunteerism

Expected Findings

Through statistical analysis of the data, it is expected that the following hypotheses will be revealed:

H1: Women are more likely than men to fill their free time with volunteer work.

H2: Women are more emotionally affected by their volunteer role than men, which causes them to devote more of their time to it.

H3: Extrinsic and controlled motivation factors will be more effective at recruiting, but not necessarily retaining, men in volunteer positions versus intrinsic factors.

Regarding the first hypothesis, that women are more likely than men to fill their free time with volunteer work, the statistical tests are predicted to reveal a statistically significantly larger number of women than men working at the animal shelters. After evaluating the difference between the before-intervention versus after-intervention, it will be shown that even after viewing the videos, the number of females will still outnumber males as volunteers at the animal shelter. However, it is also predicted that after the interventions, greater numbers of both women and men will be present volunteering at the shelters.

Regarding the second hypothesis, it is predicted that women will be motivated more by emotional cues than other cues. In this research, we used the variable of masculinity and male bonding by showing videos using the term "Be a Man. Volunteer at Your Local Animal Shelter." It is predicted that indeed, the women were more likely to volunteer after viewing the images of cute animals, whereas men were more likely to volunteer after viewing the social pressure condition.

Finally, regarding the third hypothesis, it is predicted that men will not necessarily be retained unless they were motivated by the emotional video. It is predicted that the men who volunteered after viewing the one-minute video of happy people of all genders, races, and ages helping out at animal shelters will be more likely to remain at that shelter after six months. The statistical analysis will provide substantial data that can later be used for the recruitment strategies for animal shelters or other charitable organizations.

Conclusions

This study sheds light on what motivates people to volunteer at animal shelters. The study also shows what gender differences, if any, exist between the motivations of volunteers. It was assumed that women were motivated more by emotional appeals, such as images of cute animals or images of suffering animals that need human help, versus being socially pressured to volunteer or by being made to feel guilty for not volunteering. The reverse was assumed for the male cohort, with men more likely to be motivated by the social pressures to volunteer, and the guilt that comes from not volunteering their time. It was also assumed that men would be more likely to remain as volunteers at the animal shelter when they were motivated by intrinsic and emotional factors than by the extrinsic motivations including social pressure and guilt. The limitations of this hypothetical study are clear. It uses a limited population sample, and there are some issues that could detract from both internal and external validity.

While literature does reveal gender differences in volunteering, there is a gap of literature in animal shelters in particular. There is also a gap in the literature regarding the role of men in volunteering, and what motivates men. If animal shelters need more volunteers, and they do, then animal shelters do need to know how to attract and retain more male volunteers. Using the standard methods of recruitment might recruit some men successfully but not retain them, or might continue to retain mainly women due to the ways they appeal to emotion. This research suggests that it is possibly social pressure appealing to masculine social norms that might motivate men to volunteer.

This study therefore contributes to the current body of knowledge on the literature related to motivation to volunteer, as well as the current body of knowledge on the gender differences in motivation to volunteer. The implications of this research apply to all charitable organizations and not just animal shelters, although researchers may need to adopt the study to account for differences in different causes. For example, some individuals might not like dogs but they might like the idea of helping false convicted individuals get off of death row. This research study basically links the act of volunteering to motivation psychology. Motivation psychology has become integral to almost every area of applied psychology including organizational psychology that shows how all organizations can better motivate their employees to the benefit of all stakeholders.

Future research could include different variables that might lead to motivation to volunteer, including notoriety versus anonymity. Researchers might also build upon this research by using focus groups and displaying different advertisements or marketing methods that appeal to a much narrower subset of emotions than simply cuteness or social pressure.