Citizen Participation in Voluntary Organizations

This study examined commitment processes within social influence associations, focusing on 32 voluntary associations sampled from Marion County, Indiana. Associations were randomly sampled from four strata (health and mental health, legal and criminal justice, neighborhood and community, and residual civic action). Researchers conducted 820 personal interviews with association leaders and a sample of members or volunteers and collected measures of structural, behavioral, and attitudinal aspects of these groups. Specific topics included incentives for joining the voluntary association; individual motives for joining; membership commitment; organizational structure and influence patterns; legitimacy; membership resource contributions; influence reputations; interorganizational networks; and environmental variables affecting the organizations.

This study was supported by funding from the National Science Foundation (SOC76-81477), the National Institute of Mental Health (KP2MH00131), the IU Biomedical Research Support Committee, and the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University-Bloomington.