The role of adolescents’ morality and identity in volunteering. Age and gender differences in a process model

The aim of this study was to explain adolescents’ volunteering in terms of their morality and identity and to examine the moderation effect of gender and age in this process. Data were collected among 698 Dutch adolescents aged 12 to 20 (M = 15.19; SD = 1.43). Adolescents’ moral reasoning was positively associated with understanding moral issues and thinking about public responsibility towards these issues. In turn, moral understanding, along with being personally committed to act upon moral issues, were positively associated with identity. Extending the number of identity contexts tended to be related to being more likely to volunteer and to more volunteering involvement. Adolescents’ identity integration was not related to how likely they were to volunteer, and was negatively related to their volunteering involvement. Clearer effects were found when differentiating between adolescent gender and age groups. Future research could examine this process over time, along with additional factors that may further explain adolescents’ volunteering, and examine their age and gender specific effects.