Date of Conferral

11-22-2024

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

Binh Ngo

Abstract

Research has shown that output from volunteers is unpredictable and uncontrollable, rendering strategic planning futile for organizations. This study explored adult volunteers' lived experiences regarding their perceptions of commitment to a humanitarian organization involved with Nigerian community development projects. Identifying why volunteers adopted attitudes was essential to support the organization's development and promote the community's development by helping practitioners better understand the volunteers and deploy them more appropriately. The framework that grounded this study included psychological contract theory, organizational commitment, and social undermining. This interpretative phenomenological analysis study involved a purposeful sample of 10 adult volunteers who participated in semistructured interviews by responding to seven interview questions. The coded interview transcripts, summarized into categories, led to themes that helped answer the study’s research question. The study findings showed that challenges from within the organization were what made volunteers leave abruptly. These included financial, structural, and relational issues. The financial issues arose from the country’s economic downturn, which led to donor stress and implied less funds for increasing community demands. Weak organizational structures, interpersonal conflicts, and health challenges also contributed to the volunteers’ stay or leave decision. The study recommends defined, balanced, and inclusive organizational structures and governments’ provision of enabling economic, social, and regulatory environments. The implications for positive social change include the potential for the practitioners’ productive workforce and engaged, safe, and self-reliant communities.

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