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Cultural generativity in perspective: motivations of older Jewish volunteers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2021

Eireann O'Dea Open the ORCID record for Eireann O'Dea [Opens in a new window] ,
Andrew Wister  and
Sarah L. Canham Open the ORCID record for Sarah L. Canham [Opens in a new window]
Eireann O'Dea*
Affiliation:
Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
Andrew Wister
Affiliation:
Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada Gerontology Research Centre, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
Sarah L. Canham
Affiliation:
College of Social Work, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA Department of City and Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
*
*Corresponding author. Email: eireanno@sfu.ca
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Abstract

The physical, mental and social benefits for older adults who volunteer are well-documented. Absent from this area of research is an understanding of volunteer motivations among ethnoculturally diverse older adults. This paper addresses this research gap by examining motivations to volunteer related to cultural generativity among Jewish older adults, a group that remains underexplored in research. Cultural generativity is defined as an impulse to pass down one's culture to the next generation, and thus to outlive the self. The Jewish community is notable for possessing high levels of social capital, indicated by close community ties and the large number of faith and culturally based organisations, and therefore makes them an important ethnocultural group to study. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 20 adult volunteers age 65 and over. The guiding research questions for this study are: What are the motivations to volunteer among older Jewish adults? and Do these motivations align with the concept of generativity applied to Jewish culture? Data analysis identified three themes related to cultural generativity: volunteering to preserve and pass down Jewish traditions and teachings; a Jewish ethic of giving back perceived as a duty; and experiences of anti-Semitism and discrimination motivating Jewish participants to volunteer. Findings suggest the ways in which cultural generativity may be expressed through volunteerism.

Keywords

volunteerismmotivationolder adultsgenerativityJudaism
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 43 , Issue 1 , January 2023 , pp. 203 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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