IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/ariqol/v16y2021i5d10.1007_s11482-020-09866-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Leisure Time Sports Activities and Life Satisfaction: Deeper Insights Based on a Representative Survey from Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Mutz

    (Justus-Liebig-University Giessen)

  • Anne K. Reimers

    (Friedrich-Alexander-University of Erlangen-Nuremberg)

  • Yolanda Demetriou

    (Technical University of Munich)

Abstract

Observational and experimental studies show that leisure time sporting activity (LTSA) is associated with higher well-being. However, scholars often seem to assume that 1) LTSA fosters “general” life satisfaction, thereby ignoring effects on domain satisfaction; 2) the effect of LTSA on well-being is linear and independent of a person’s general activity level; 3) the amount of LTSA is more important than the repertoire of LTSA, i.e. the number of different activities; 4) all kinds of LTSA are equal in their effects, irrespective of spatial and organisational context conditions. Using data from the German SALLSA-Study (“Sport, Active Lifestyle and Life Satisfaction”), a large-scale CAWI-Survey (N = 1008) representing the population ≥ 14 years, the paper takes a closer look on these assumptions. Findings demonstrate that LTSA is associated with general life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction (concerning relationships, appearance, leisure, work and health), but that the relationship is most pronounced for leisure satisfaction. Associations of sport with life satisfaction, leisure satisfaction and subjective health are non-linear, approaching an injection point from which on additional LTSA is no longer beneficial. Moreover, findings lend support to the notion that diversity in LTSA matters, as individuals with higher variation in sports activities are more satisfied. Finally, results with regard to spatial and organizational context suggest that outdoor sports and club-organized sports have additional benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Mutz & Anne K. Reimers & Yolanda Demetriou, 2021. "Leisure Time Sports Activities and Life Satisfaction: Deeper Insights Based on a Representative Survey from Germany," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(5), pages 2155-2171, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:16:y:2021:i:5:d:10.1007_s11482-020-09866-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-020-09866-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11482-020-09866-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11482-020-09866-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Newman & Louis Tay & Ed Diener, 2014. "Leisure and Subjective Well-Being: A Model of Psychological Mechanisms as Mediating Factors," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 555-578, June.
    2. Huang, Haifang & Humphreys, Brad R., 2012. "Sports participation and happiness: Evidence from US microdata," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 776-793.
    3. Jennifer Brown & Ronald MacDonald & Richard Mitchell, 2015. "Are People Who Participate in Cultural Activities More Satisfied with Life?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 135-146, May.
    4. Tammie Ronen & Liat Hamama & Michael Rosenbaum & Ayla Mishely-Yarlap, 2016. "Subjective Well-Being in Adolescence: The Role of Self-Control, Social Support, Age, Gender, and Familial Crisis," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 81-104, February.
    5. Paul Downward & Peter Dawson, 2016. "Is it Pleasure or Health from Leisure that We Benefit from Most? An Analysis of Well-Being Alternatives and Implications for Policy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 443-465, March.
    6. Soomi Lee & Rachel E Koffer & Briana N Sprague & Susan T Charles & Nilam Ram & David M Almeida, 2018. "Activity Diversity and Its Associations With Psychological Well-Being Across Adulthood," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(6), pages 985-995.
    7. Fernando Lera-López & Andrea Ollo-López & José Manuel Sánchez-Santos, 2017. "How Does Physical Activity Make You Feel Better? The Mediational Role of Perceived Health," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(3), pages 511-531, September.
    8. Philipp Schulz & Julian Schulte & Sven Raube & Hala Disouky & Christian Kandler, 2018. "The Role of Leisure Interest and Engagement for Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1135-1150, April.
    9. Lindsey Baker & Lawrence Cahalin & Kerstin Gerst & Jeffrey Burr, 2005. "Productive Activities And Subjective Well-Being Among Older Adults: The Influence Of Number Of Activities And Time Commitment," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 431-458, September.
    10. Zhanjia Zhang & Weiyun Chen, 2019. "A Systematic Review of the Relationship Between Physical Activity and Happiness," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1305-1322, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ozgur Yayla & Arif Aytekin & Fatih Uslu & Gozde Seval Ergun & Huseyin Keles & Yigit Guven, 2023. "How Does the Experience Quality of Recreational Activities Organized within the Scope of Public Health Affect Perceived Value, Satisfaction and Behavioral Intentions of Individuals?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-16, March.
    2. Heung-Hee Choi, 2023. "The Relationships between Participation Motivation and Continuous Participation Intention: Mediating Effect of Sports Commitment among University Futsal Club Participants," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-15, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Malte Jetzke & Michael Mutz, 2020. "Sport for Pleasure, Fitness, Medals or Slenderness? Differential Effects of Sports Activities on Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(5), pages 1519-1534, November.
    2. Jelle Schoemaker, 2023. "A Review of Well-Being Valuation for Sports, Culture and Leisure Activities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-12, March.
    3. Daniel Wheatley & Craig Bickerton, 2019. "Measuring changes in subjective well-being from engagement in the arts, culture and sport," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 43(3), pages 421-442, September.
    4. Anita Abramowska-Kmon, 2022. "What Makes People Aged 50+ in Poland Happy? The Role of Lifestyle: Evidence from Panel Data," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(6), pages 3221-3252, December.
    5. George B. Cunningham & Pamela Wicker & Brian P. McCullough, 2020. "Pollution, Health, and the Moderating Role of Physical Activity Opportunities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-15, August.
    6. KangJae Jerry Lee & Seonghee Cho & Eui Kyung Kim & Sunhwan Hwang, 2020. "Do More Leisure Time and Leisure Repertoire Make Us Happier? An Investigation of the Curvilinear Relationships," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 21(5), pages 1727-1747, June.
    7. Paul Downward & Peter Dawson, 2016. "Is it Pleasure or Health from Leisure that We Benefit from Most? An Analysis of Well-Being Alternatives and Implications for Policy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 126(1), pages 443-465, March.
    8. Daniel Wheatley & Craig Bickerton, 2017. "Subjective well-being and engagement in arts, culture and sport," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 41(1), pages 23-45, February.
    9. Jing Guan & J. D. Tena, 2021. "Does Sport Affect Health and Well-Being or Is It the Other Way Around? A Note on Reverse-Causality in Empirical Applications," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 22(2), pages 218-226, February.
    10. Chyi Liang & Pei-Ling Wu & Po-Fu Lee & Chien-Chang Ho, 2021. "Association of Regular Leisure-Time Physical Activity with Happiness among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Taiwan," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-10, August.
    11. Johannes Orlowski & Pamela Wicker, 2018. "Putting a Price tag on Healthy Behavior: The Monetary Value of Sports Participation to Individuals," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(2), pages 479-499, June.
    12. Hsin-Yu An & Wei Chen & Cheng-Wei Wang & Hui-Fei Yang & Wan-Ting Huang & Sheng-Yu Fan, 2020. "The Relationships between Physical Activity and Life Satisfaction and Happiness among Young, Middle-Aged, and Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(13), pages 1-10, July.
    13. Ricardo Pagan, 2020. "Sport Participation, Life Satisfaction and Domains of Satisfaction among People with Disabilities," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(3), pages 893-911, July.
    14. HangUk Cheon & Seijun Lim, 2020. "Pursuing Sustainable Happiness through Participation in Exercise for South Korean Students: Structural Relationships among Exercise, Mental Health Factors, School Satisfaction, and Happiness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-13, May.
    15. Wen Xu & Haiyan Sun & Bo Zhu & Wei Bai & Xiao Yu & Ruixin Duan & Changgui Kou & Wenjun Li, 2019. "Analysis of Factors Affecting the High Subjective Well-Being of Chinese Residents Based on the 2014 China Family Panel Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-13, July.
    16. Pengfei Wang & Xiang Wei & Xu Yingwei & Cao Xiaodan, 2022. "The Impact of Residents' Leisure Time Allocation Mode on Individual Subjective Well-being: The Case of China," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1831-1866, June.
    17. Hsing-Chieh Huang & Peng-Yeh Lee & Yu-Chih Lo & I-Shen Chen & Chin-Hsien Hsu, 2021. "A Study on the Perceived Positive Coaching Leadership, Sports Enthusiasm, and Happiness of Boxing Athletes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-19, June.
    18. Adelina Gschwandtner & Sarah Jewell & Uma S. Kambhampati, 2022. "Lifestyle and Life Satisfaction: The Role of Delayed Gratification," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 1043-1072, March.
    19. Costas N. Tsouloupas & Constantinos M. Kokkinos, 2023. "Mind, Body, and Pandemic: Understanding the Complex Relationships Between Subjective Well-Being, Physical Activity, and Perceived Multi-Dimensional COVID-19 Impact," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    20. Tim F. Thormann & Pamela Wicker & Michael Braksiek, 2022. "Stadium Travel and Subjective Well-Being of Football Spectators," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-18, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:16:y:2021:i:5:d:10.1007_s11482-020-09866-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.