Abstract:
People construct socially salient identities of others that in some
cases affect their morally significant perceptions of, and interactions
with, those groups. If these perceptions are flawed, this has a
bearing on fundamental ethical questions: in particular, how one
sees, treats and understands those groups. Museum volunteers are
a group that are often viewed with differing positive and negative
associations and values. The objective of this article is to explore
the values and commitment of serious leisure volunteers in order
to make a more appropriate representation of volunteers. The
article presents the results of a study of volunteers at three large
museums and art galleries. The results show that these volunteers
place a very high value on the work they do for the institution, and
that their commitment to the institution is a combination of affective
and continuance commitment. These findings challenge typified
representations of volunteers, and the implications for ethical
volunteer management are discussed.
