Does volunteering improve the psychosocial well-being of volunteers?

Recent experimental randomized controlled trial studies suggest that volunteering might not have beneficial effects on the general population. We revisit this issue by examining whether volunteering might produce general psychosocial benefits for volunteers over time. Actual volunteers and matched controls completed measures on a wide range of psychosocial variables - life satisfaction, self-esteem, purpose in life, positive and negative affect, gratitude, charitable intention, empathic concern, and relational well-being - before and after community service engagements by the volunteers (N = 369). We found little evidence to support the hypothesis that volunteers should exhibit improved psychosocial health relative to matched controls over time. In general, both volunteers and matched controls showed no change in all outcomes. We outline our key thoughts for the null effects and suggest avenues for future research.