Role-Identity Salience, Purpose and Meaning in Life, and Well-Being among Volunteers

Headnote

Abstract

Theoretically, the more important a role-identity is to a person, the more it should provide a sense of purpose and meaning in life. Believing one's life to be purposeful and meaningful should yield greater mental and physical well-being. These hypotheses are tested with respect to the volunteer role, specifically, Mended Hearts visitor, in which former heart patients visit current heart patients and their families in the hospital. Analyses of survey data from Mended Hearts visitors (N = 458) confirm that a sense of meaningful, purposeful life mediates the positive influences of role-identity salience on mental and physical health. The results hint at an unfolding process: the more time spent in volunteer activities, the more important the volunteer identity. The greater the identity importance, the more one perceives one matters to other people, which in turn enhances purpose and meaning. The more life seems purposeful and meaningful, the better one's well-being.

Keywords

role-identity, identity salience, purpose and meaning in life, well-being, volunteer work

A large body of research shows that holding multiple roles reduces psychological distress and enhances physical health. The more roles individuals occupy, the better their mental and physical wellbeing (see reviews in Barnett and Hyde 2001; Thoits 2003; see also Ahrens and Ryff2006; Kikuzawa 2006; Reid and Hardy 1999). Thoits (1983, 1986, 1992, 2003) has argued that social roles have salutary effects on well-being because they are identities that provide individuals with purpose and meaning in life. Whether role-identities in fact supply purpose and meaning and whether a sense of purpose and meaning actually mediates the link between identities and well-being are questions that have rarely been examined in the literature. This article addresses these issues, focusing as a case in point on the role-identity of ''volunteer,'' specifically, Mended Hearts visitor.

Theoretical Background

In symbolic interactionist theory, roleidentities are definitions of the self in terms of the social roles that one holds and enacts (McCall and Simmons 1978; Mead 1934; Stryker 1980; Thoits 1986). Put another way, role-identities are answers to the question, ''Who am I?'' when answers refer to role relationships. Roles are positions in the social structure to which behavioral expectations, including reciprocal rights and obligations, are attached (e.g., spouse, parent, employee, friend). According to theory, individuals obtain classifications...