There is a wild diversity of research about “Leisure and Recreation” and the issue has become more and more popular recent years. Using leisure time to do volunteer work has also become a popular trend. Therefore, more and more researches were conducted to discuss the contributions and value of behaviors of Leisure and Recreaction to our society. This study aimed to discuss the motivations of participation and the benefits of volunteers.
The purposes of this study were as follows:
1.To understand the motivations of volunteers who participated in
Serious Leisure.
2.To analyze the factors of volunteers who continued participating in Serious Leisure.
3.To discuss the experiences and benefits of volunteers joining in Serious Leisure.
The study was preceded with the qualitative research method by in-dept interviewing eight Tzu Chi volunteers with semi-structured questions about Serious Leisure participation.
Results of this study were as follows:
1.The motivations of Tzu Chi volunteers who participated in Serious Leisure were to help themselves change their moods as well as to help others. Thus, they could continue participating in Serious Leisure and enjoyed it.
2.Tzu Chi volunteers could get benefits such as self-fulfillment, self-realization, self-expression, self-image enhancement, self-satisfaction, and mood-changing.
3.Tzu Chi volunteers provided touched value and worth in terms of social interaction, team achievement and group identity.
4.Tzu Chi volunteers had six characteristics of Serious Leisure such as persistence, hard work, career making, lasting benefits, strong sense of identity and uniqueness.
Finally, suggestions were made to the government, media, the future researchers and those who want to join the volunteer work in the part of Conclusion and Findings of this study.
