Samtalets betydelse ur ett elevperspektiv
This Master´s thesis aims to aquire knowledge about volunteers attitude toward work. It emphasis is on the differences between volunteers and non volunteers. There are four research questions used in order to fulfill the aim in a scientific manner. The essay aims to get in depth knowledge regarding whether or not the respondents feel that they have gained advantages in work life due to the fact that they are involved in volunteer work. One of the pivotal questions is if there is a possibility to see a pattern that binds together the reasons for volunteer work and the attitude toward work. In order to gain new knowledge in the researched field a quantitative method has been used. The research centers on answers from 159 respondents from one organization in central Sweden. The organization has approximately 300 employees, which gives a reply rate of about 50 percent. The theoretical framework revolves around nonprofit and volunteer work, but focuses mainly on the different attitudes that an employee can have regarding work. The main source of theory for the essay has been Goldthorpe et.al. (1971) work on attitude towards work. The main focus has been on the instrumental-, solidarical, and bureaucratic attitude. There are differences between the volunteers and the non volunteers. Among the non volunteers there is a leaning toward the instrumental attitude. The volunteers are more commonly categorized as having a solidaric point or even a bureaucratic of view. The volunteer work mainly derives from a personal interest, a personal satisfaction, as well as that the individuals perceive it as sheer fun. The group that are volunteers are, according to both previous research and this study, able to gain advantages by their engagement in volunteer work. There are not any evidence towards the fact that volunteer work is weighting in negatively on work, on the contrary the volunteers are having a more positive look on work. Keywords: Volunteer work, nonprofit work, Volunteers, non volunteers, attitude towards work, instrumental attitude, solidaric attitude, bureaucratic attitude.