Benefits of Older Volunteering on Wellbeing: An International Comparison

Healthier aging implies lower health service expenditure and the possibility for individuals to make a longer and more valuable contribution to society. Lifestyles, including volunteering, affect our health. The policy implications of the present study are that it aims to broaden the state of knowledge and be useful to public decision-makers: if voluntary activities enhance the integration of older people into society, their participation will help to generate economic resources and improve their own welfare; if, however, health and participation do not show positive synergies, then policymakers must act independently in each of these fields. In this work, we focus on the societies of Chile, Mexico, and Spain because they have significantly aging populations and share common traits but also exhibit important differences. The empirical study employs micro-data from the World Value Survey (1994–1998, 2005–2009, and 2010–2014) and macro-data from the statistics of the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). Micro- and macro-data are merged by national and temporal identifiers. Our main results provide empirical evidence that volunteering might improve every indicator of wellbeing except happiness. Different kinds of activities have different impacts on individual wellbeing. For example, volunteering in activities related to social awareness is positive for male life satisfaction, whereas volunteering in activities related to religious issues is positive for male life satisfaction but also female happiness. In general, voluntary activities have a stronger impact on male wellbeing than female wellbeing

Stakeholder engagement, Csr development and Sdgs compliance: A systematic review from 2015 to 2021

The conceptualization of the stakeholders of the companies for the fulfillment of the objectives of sustainable development is controversial, even more so, if it is approached from the perspective of corporate social responsibility and the psychology of the employees and their behavior. The existing literature and knowledge on the relationship among the stakeholder approach, corporate social responsibility and the achievement of the SDGs remain unstructured and fragmented. The objective of the manuscript is to identify and systematize scientific research on the stakeholder approach with respect to corporate social responsibility, in order to achieve business sustainability, in response to sustainable development goals and from the perspective of the well-being of workers. Our main contribution to the literature review is to focus on all these issues together, and not in isolation. A systematic literature search is conducted following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyzes (PRISMA). The approaches, issues and methodologies that predominate in the academic field in the last 5 years (2015–2021) were analyzed. Based on this review, we define a research agenda that synthesizes key trends and promising lines of research for further advancement of theoretical and empirical knowledge on the relationship among stakeholders, corporate social responsibility, and human resource management

Fostering university students’ engagement in teamwork and innovation behaviors through game-based learning (GBL)

Higher Education Instituions (HEIs) should be the driving force behind the training of college students in terms of both hard and soft skills (for example, innovation and teamwork competencies), and they should also do so without neglecting their health and well-being, perhaps more than ever in these complex times of the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. Game-based learning (GBL) could be a powerful and useful tool in this regard. There is, however, some controversy surrounding the use of games for learning purposes in higher education institutions, and most of the research done about this issue corresponds to GBL through digital games. Under this background, the main objective of this study was to test the effect of GBL on the intrinsic motivation (IM), teamwork engagement (TWE), team building (TB), teamwork competence (TWC), and innovation behaviors (IWB) of 142 college students of Health Sciences and Social Work. After rehearsing in small groups, the game was tested (T2). Our results obtained through the differential analyses confirmed that undergraduates were more intrinsically motivated, experienced more TWE, TB, and TWC, and developed more IWB than before playing the game (T1). Therefore, the development of core personal skills might be promoted effectively by games in an efficient, engaging, and motivating way

Are you ready for retirement? The influence of values on membership in voluntary organizations in midlife and old age

Membership in voluntary organizations is associated with individual and social benefits. Due to the negative consequences of the global pandemic on older people, and the governmental challenges posed by population aging, voluntary membership is of great importance to society. To effectively promote volunteering among older people, it is necessary to understand the determinants of voluntary membership. This study analyses the influence of individual values—secular/traditional and survival/self-expression–on voluntary membership among European adults (N = 31,985). Specifically, it examines which values orient two age groups (middle age: 50–64 and old age: 65–79), as well as men and women toward a certain type of association (Social Awareness; Professional and Political; Education and Leisure; Religion). The sample of 31,985 comprises 60% of adults aged 50–64 and 40% aged 65–79; of which 56% are women and 44% men. The empirical estimation considers different levels of data aggregation: individual, national and welfare system, therefore multilevel analysis is used as an analytical strategy. Individual-level variables from the Integrated Values Survey (2005/09, 2010/14, and 2017/20) and national-level variables (Gini Index and Gross Domestic Product Per Capita) from the World Bank and Eurostat are used. The results indicate that traditional and self-expression values promote membership in voluntary organizations in general more than secular and survival values. However, there are differences according to the type of organization. Furthermore, values are found to moderate the effect of age and gender on voluntary membership

Are Drinkers Prone to Engage in Risky Sexual Behaviors?

Sexually transmitted diseases pose an important public health problem around the world. Although many studies have explored the link between alcohol use and risky sexual practices, the unobserved differences among individuals make it difficult to assess whether the associations are casual in nature. In order to overcome these difficulties, we have obtained data from the Spanish Health and Sexual Behavior Survey (2003) in order to analyze risky sexual behaviors using four alternative methodologies: controlling results with a rich set of variables; identifying the impact of alcohol use while assuming there is an identical selection outcome for observed and unobserved variables; estimating alcohol consumption and risky sexual behaviors simultaneously based on instrumental variables; and using reduced-form equations to analyze the impact of alcohol prices and other alcohol policies on the likelihood of risky intercourse. We provide empirical evidence that alcohol abuse might increase the probability of risky sex and, more importantly, different alcohol policies are not only effective tools for reducing alcohol demand but also for controlling risky sexual behaviors.

La dependencia: efectos en la salud familiar

Objetivos: Los objetivos de este trabajo son analizar cómo influye el hecho de que en el hogar haya una persona dependiente en el estado de salud de las personas con quien convive y en los estilos de vida; compararlo con otras situaciones que impliquen dedicación de tiempo y energía, y analizar diferencias de género y edad en cada etapa del ciclo vital. Diseño: Estudio descriptivo transversal analizando datos secundarios. Emplazamiento: El método de recogida de información es el de entrevista personal asistida por ordenador en las viviendas seleccionadas, realizada por el Ministerio de Sanidad, Servicios Sociales e Igualdad. Participantes: Un total de 19.351 individuos mayores de 25 años que realizaron la Encuesta Nacional de Salud 2011-2012 (ENSE 2011/2012). Mediciones principales: Estudio llevado a cabo con datos sobre la sociedad española procedentes de la ENSE 2011/12. Como marco empírico, seleccionamos el modelo Logit, reportando los datos en odds ratio. Las estimaciones se repiten de manera independiente por submuestras de edad y género. Resultados: La salud de las personas que conviven con una persona dependiente es peor que la de aquellas personas que no conviven (hasta 5 veces más riesgo de tener problemas de salud), especialmente si se es mujer, de edad avanzada, con un nivel educativo bajo o no trabaja. También ser cuidador reduce la probabilidad de mantener unos hábitos saludables como son el realizar ejercicio, el descanso o una dieta equilibrada. Conclusiones: Por lo general, convivir con una persona dependiente reduce la probabilidad de mantener estilos de vida saludables y deteriora la salud. Encontramos importantes diferencias de género y edad

Labour attitudes towards gender equity in Spain: the role of education throughout an economic cycle

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse the background and consequences of the Spanish job market on the employment conditions of Spanish women and on underlying attitudes on gender role in the working environment. Design/methodology/approach: From the European Social Survey (2004, 2008, 2010, 2016), the authors draw a sample of 3,706 individuals aged from 25 to 64 years old living in Spain. The sample allows the authors to make estimations from several aggregation levels depending on gender (men and women) and generational cohort (baby boom and X generation). Findings: Education improves the perception of women’s work among both men and women. The role of education is especially interesting for older people. Educational levels help women adapt to a changing context, promote female participation in the job market and protect them from unemployment situations. This study demonstrates that both gender and generational cohort moderate the impact of education on gender labour attitudes and working status. Research limitations/implications: Finally, this work is not exempt from limitations. For example, the use of cross sections does not allow the authors to obtain a richer set of causal relationships than the use of panel data would allow them. In addition, it would be interesting to replicate the study of gender labour attitudes among human resource managers and workers to have a broader view of what happens within companies. Originality/value: The main contribution to the state of the art is to demonstrate that both gender and generational cohort moderate the impact of education on gender labour attitudes and working status. In addition, this study analyses whether gender labour attitudes change throughout the economic cycles, because population characteristics change (endowment effect) and/or because the same characteristics have different impacts (coefficient effect)

Pass or good grades: Direct and mediated effects of a teaching method

This study analyses the impact of active learning methods on the academic performance of first year management students. It evaluates how the assessment system, whether focused on active methods or traditional exam-based approaches, affects students' academic performance. Academic data from more than 4000 students were collected and analysed using a bivariate probit model to determine the probability of passing the course and the probability of obtaining high grades. Our research shows that active teaching methods have a positive effect on academic performance. This relationship is influenced by factors such as student engagement and effort. The main contribution to the state of the art is the objective quantification of these mediators, which have traditionally posed methodological challenges to researchers. The research reveals subtle differences in how teaching methods affect pass rates and top grades. These findings provide valuable insights for educators and researchers seeking to understand the complex relationship between teaching approaches, academic achievement and student engagement

The Influence of ASD Severity on Parental Overload: The Moderating Role of Parental Well-Being and the ASD Pragmatic Level

The aim of the present study is to analyze the relation between the severity of symptoms in people with ASD on their parents’ overload, moderated by parental well-being and the ASD pragmatic level. A sample consisted of 28 fathers and mothers whose children had ASD. The obtained results showed that the higher the ASD severity, the better the parental overload was perceived if parents had low well-being levels. However, this relation did not occur if the parental well-being level was high. Moreover, the relation between severity and parental overload moderated by parental well-being occurred regardless of the pragmatic language level. Therefore, the main results of this study are that the responsibility for parental overload depends more on parental well-being than on the symptom severity of the person with ASD. The relevance of carrying out interventions with not only people with ASD, but also with their parents or caregivers for their well-being is highlighted