The effects of help activities on volunteers' psychological and spiritual well-being

In this study, the psychological and spiritual effects of volunteering and helping behaviors on the individual were investigated. A total of 667 volunteers and non-volunteers, aged 18 and over, participated in the study. The research data were obtained through online platforms by using scales suitable for providing answers to our research questions with the variety, scope and competence we want. In addition to the socio-demographic information form in which the motivation and frequency of volunteering and helping behavior were also asked, the PERMA Well-Being Scale was used to measure the psychological well-being of the participants; Spiritual Well-Being Scale to measure spiritual well-being; The Assumptions Related to the World (DIV) Scale was used to measure his perception of the world, himself and other people. Our findings largely supports the hypotheses we have formed in the context of the research question: "Does goodness heal?" Statistical analyzes of the data show that there is a statistically significant relationship between volunteering experience and helping frequency, PERMA Well-Being Scale, Spiritual Well-Being Scale and DIV Scale scores. It was determined that the PERMA Well-Being Scale (positive emotions, positive relationships, meaningfulness, success and health sub-dimensions) scores of the participants with a high frequency of volunteering experience and helping behavior were higher than the scores of the participants who had no or infrequent experience of volunteering and helping. Likewise, the scores of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (Anomie sub-dimension) and the Assumptions Related to the World (DIV) Scale (luck assumption, randomness assumption, self-worth assumption, control assumption sub-dimension) of the participants with a high frequency of volunteering and helping behaviors were found to be higher than the participants who had no or infrequent experience of volunteering and helping.