Predictors of volunteering rates in the Local Authority Districts (LADs) of England: Neuroticism, socioeconomic grade, trust, and racial/ethnic diversity

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine relations of formal volunteering (FV) rates to neuroticism, socioeconomic grade (SEG), trust of neighbors, and racial/ethnic diversity (RED) in 316 local authority districts (LADs) in England to determine the replicability of earlier research on the US states. Method: A national indicator dataset provided the percentage of adults who engaged in FV in each LAD during 2008. LAD neuroticism scores were based on internet responses of 386,375 UK residents to the Big Five Inventory. SEG was based on four occupation grades from the 2011 UK census. RED was based on 2011 UK census data and the premise that maximum diversity occurs when each racial/ethnic group has equal proportions. Based on 2009 to 2015 data, the neighbor trust variable indicates the percent of persons in each LAD who believe they can trust their neighbors. The present research employed correlation and multiple regression strategies. It also evaluated the impacts of spatial autocorrelation. Results: LAD FV rates correlated negatively with neuroticism and RED, and positively with SEG and trust. The most important finding is that the significant negative relation between RED and FV was rendered nonsignificant or was greatly reduced when trust was controlled in sequential multiple regressions. Adjusting for spatial autocorrelation or not, the results were substantively the same. Conclusions: These results essentially replicate those of two earlier analyses using US states. Findings strongly suggest that trust is a mediator between RED and FV. Speculative interpretations focus on relations between homophily, RED, and trust. peerReviewed publishedVersion