A secondary analysis of a national sample of American adults (N=2,164) was used to examine the correlation between membership in voluntary associations and life satisfaction. Findings suggested that the hypothesized pattern of relationships is not ubiquitously present for all four of the older age categories studied. (Author)

The study explored the effect of membership in nonpolitical voluntary associations upon the degree of political activity of members. In particular, the authors asked whether or not these effects were found in a relatively uniform pattern across different age groups. On the basis of the reported levels of political discussion in 14 types of…