Does Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Explain Volunteer Time Allocations? An Exploration of Motivational Time Allowances Using the American Time Use Survey

This study examines whether there is an optimal set point along Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy of needs associated with disaggregated forms volunteerism. Taniguchi’s (2012) examined major life domains (e.g., work, education, and religion) for associations formal informal An alternative approach to include variables measuring motivational concerns better identify time allocation patterns analyzed the results 9,435 diaries recorded on 2019 American Time Use Survey (ATUS). The allocated volunteerism associates intermediate belongingness concerns. There no association between spent self-esteem self-actualization volunteering. Tertiary education as a baseline measure shares weaker than belonging data suggest that research into maximizing may be searching at wrong self-actualization. Implications are discussed motivating