Effects of Leisure Participation on Life Satisfaction in Older Korean Adults: A Panel Analysis

Abstract

South Koreans’ life expectancy has dramatically increased over the last four decades. However, the life satisfaction index of older Korean adults has been in the bottom third globally. The large majority of older Koreans spend most of the day watching television at home. However, concrete evidence regarding the effects of leisure involvement on older adults’ quality of later life is scant. Only a few existing studies have examined the link via cross-sectional survey data. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether meaningful leisure participation outside the home in older age plays an essential role in improving life satisfaction. To achieve the research aim, nationally representative panel data from the Korea Employment Information Service were used for the data analysis. The results indicated that social and productive leisure participation in religious activity, social gatherings, and volunteering was significantly related to quality of life in older adults. Moreover, frequent participation in travel and cultural activities outside the home were positively related to life satisfaction. These findings suggest that participation in meaningful leisure activities is a critical factor contributing to subjective well-being and good mental health in older Korean adults and should be encouraged.

Can the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Help Explain Subjective Well-Being in Senior Citizens due to Gateball Participation?

“…Leisure activity participation is regarded as a factor that may influence the health of senior citizens [4][5][6]. Research has shown that senior citizens participating in social activities are able to initiate and accrue benefits to their well-being [7].…”

“…The Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) was applied to explore the relationship among subjective well-being, leisure participation behavior, and the antecedent variables concerning leisure participation behavior (i.e., performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions). Prior research has shown that leisure participation behavior is positively associated with individual well-being [4][5][6]. In the literature, no study has employed leisure participation behavior as a mediating construct between subjective well-being and the constructs, such as performance expectancy and social influence, particularly for senior citizens.…”

Level up the life!! Leisure Involvement, Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Life Satisfaction among University Students

“…There is a consensus about the conceptualization of leisure involvement as a multidimensional construct (Kyle, G., & Chick, 2002). Moving from this point, this consensus involves topics like appeal, importance, self-expression, social relationships, and identification (Kyle, G., & Chick, 2002;Yoon et al, 2020;Xie, et al, 2020).…”

Life Satisfaction and the Relationship between Mild Cognitive Impairment and Disability Incidence: An Observational Prospective Cohort Study

“…Social and productive leisure participation in religious activities, social gatherings, and volunteering have been significantly related to the quality of life in older adults. Moreover, frequent participation in travel and cultural activities outside the home is positively related to life satisfaction [ 20 ]. Physical activity has been significantly related to life satisfaction and happiness in young, middle-aged, and older adults [ 21 , 22 ].…”