Volunteering is known to provide numerous benefits not only to society generally but also to those who engage in it.  With unemployment during COVID-19 reaching such extreme levels, the opportunities for volunteering have risen as people have had more time on their hands.

Unfortunately, new research from Indiana University Kelley School of Business suggests that when people volunteer, while also receiving state unemployment support, they’re often looked at suspiciously by others, who believe they’re wasting time that should be spent trying to find a job.

“We found that aid recipients are scrutinized to a greater extent than those who are working, including the underemployed, with observers demonstrating a strong bias toward believing that aid recipients should be using their time to pursue employment opportunities above all else,” the researchers explain. “This is beyond education, personal leisure, and spending time with family and friends.”

This response then results in less latitude being afforded people in regards to their use of their own free time.  Indeed, it can even come across as being better and more moral if people don’t engage in prosocial behaviors, such as volunteering.

“The simple act of volunteering among aid recipients — versus not mentioning volunteering — not only shapes judgments of the individual aid recipients, but this information can also impact views toward federal tax policy more broadly,” the researchers explain.

Discouraging volunteering

We typically regard volunteering as a positive and prosocial activity, but the research highlights how it can also spark anger if we regard volunteers as wasting time they could be spending doing something we deem more worthwhile.  This judgment is only diminished if the volunteers are doing things that could help them find work, or they’re viewed as being unable to work.

The welfare state has mushroomed during the pandemic, and previous research has shown that public support for this spending is strongly related to how we perceive the recipients.  The research is interesting as it links our support for welfare programs to our views on prosocial acts, such as volunteering.

“Given that individuals perceive opportunity costs for their own time, it stands to reason that they perceive them for others as well,” the researchers say. “Because government programs are supported by ‘their’ taxpayer dollars, observers often feel justified in suggesting how aid recipients spend their time.”