Social cohesion and volunteering: Correlates, causes, and challenges

Recent declines in volunteering rates and reduced governmental support for volunteer infrastructure in the United States and the United Kingdom present a clear policy challenge of how and whether to bolster levels of volunteering. Despite common assumptions that volunteering is both a critical antecedent and product of social cohesion (i.e., the vertical and horizontal connections between people that bind society), particularly during times of political distrust, the validity of these assumptions has not been fully established. Drawing primarily from evidence from the United Kingdom and United States, this review critically explores what is currently known about the relationship between social cohesion and volunteering. Specifically, we consider how investment in social cohesion may enhance volunteer engagement and how investment in volunteering infrastructure may support and sustain social cohesion. Overall, we find consistent evidence of a bidirectional relationship between social cohesion and volunteering, though the strength of these relationships is dependent on the specific forms of social cohesion and volunteering that are involved. Both policy and research require greater clarity in conceptualizations of social cohesion and volunteering. Further empirical evidence is needed to establish proposed causal links. Based on the current evidence, we propose that policy should start with a strategy for building social cohesion within specific communities in ways that increase volunteer engagement and its benefits, and that the strategies must consider both the intragroup and intergroup implications of these interventions.