Systematic review categorizes volunteer motivation across 26 studies

A systematic review of 26 peer-reviewed empirical studies proposes five dimensions of volunteer motivation: Returns, Self-regulation, Social Connection, Self-cultivation and Value Expression. The review, published in BMC Psychology , covers research from 2010 through 2025 and organizes the identified motives along a spectrum from externally anchored returns to internally integrated value expression. The analysis examined the literature across three dimensions: theoretical frameworks, methodological features and motivational types.

The Functional Approach and Self-Determination Theory emerged as the dominant theoretical anchors. Instead, researchers have adapted established theories to specific contexts, integrated theoretical perspectives and developed new scales, indicating that the field’s approaches to volunteer motivation have become more varied. Most of the 26 included studies used cross-sectional quantitative designs, while longitudinal and dynamic approaches were largely absent.

Its proposed framework summarizes motives reported in the available studies, but the evidence does not establish that the five categories form a developmental sequence or predict subsequent participation. Testing how the framework relates to changes in motivation would require research designs capable of examining those processes directly. Based on its qualitative analysis, the authors present the five dimensions as a way to organize motivation in volunteer research.

The proposed spectrum ranges from instrumental motives anchored in external returns to value expression, described as the internally integrated end of the framework. The review also discusses implications for nonprofit organizations and acknowledges the limitations of the evidence base. The supplied article is an open-access accepted version shared before the final Version of Record and may undergo further edits.

Subject of Research: Systematic review of theoretical frameworks, methods and motivational dimensions in volunteer research.

Article Title: Understanding volunteer motivation: a systematic review of theoretical frameworks and a categorization of motivations

Article References: Luo, Z., Li, X., & Liu, S. (2026). Understanding volunteer motivation: a systematic review of theoretical frameworks and a categorization of motivations. BMC Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-026-05327-2

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s40359-026-05327-2

Keywords: volunteer motivation, systematic review, nonprofit organizations, self-determination theory, volunteer research, research methods, social connection, value expression, Understanding, volunteer, motivation, systematic