Social Background, Personality, and Attitudinal Factors Influencing the Decision to Volunteer and Level of Involvement Among Adult 4-H Leaders

The research examined the social background, personality and attitudinal factors influencing the decision to volunteer and level of involvement among adult 4-H leaders. The Smith Sequential Specificity Model of Voluntary Participation was used to hypothesize the influence of these factors on voluntary participation. Path analysis was employed to determine the direct and indirect effects these factors had on voluntary participation. The analysis revealed that the factors age, years as a 4-H member, whether children were in 4-H or not and attractiveness of 4-H had a direct positive influence on a leader's length of service and the occupational status of laborer had a direct negative influence on length of service. Collectively, these factors accounted for 65 percent of the variance in length of service.