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Volunteering as Attachment

Gabrielle P. Fortier & Nicolas Bencherki

Management Communication Quarterly2026https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189261438434article
AJG 2ABDC B
Weight
0.50

What the paper says

Drawing on 30 interviews with volunteers and employees in community-based organizations, this study theorizes volunteering as the evolution of attachments throughout one’s career, rather than a decision to “give time” driven by fixed motivations. Our theorizing combines insights from interactionism with those of the communicative constitution of organization (CCO) perspective, complemented by Hennion’s notion of attachment. Our analysis reveals that volunteers become attached to tasks, people, and causes through situated interactions, and that these attachments are repeatedly tested in moments of trial. Vignettes illustrate how involvement deepens, shifts, or unravels as individuals navigate organizational constraints, personal identities, and collective commitments. This approach moves beyond psychological models of motivation to show volunteering as a relational accomplishment shaped by organizational environments and power dynamics.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189261438434

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{gabrielle2026,
  title        = {{Volunteering as Attachment}},
  author       = {Gabrielle P. Fortier & Nicolas Bencherki},
  journal      = {Management Communication Quarterly},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/08933189261438434},
}

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.