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Leisure Activities and Life Satisfaction: an Analysis with German Panel Data

Author

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  • Claudia Schmiedeberg

    (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)

  • Jette Schröder

    (GESIS - Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences)

Abstract

Given the nature of leisure as largely uncoerced and not necessary for survival it seems obvious at a first glance that leisure activities should contribute to happiness. Indeed, recent research has found positive effects of leisure activities on subjective well-being. In this article, we analyze the association between leisure activities and life satisfaction based on longitudinal data from Germany. By applying fixed-effects regression models we are able to rule out potential bias due to unobserved heterogeneity in time-constant variables. We use data from three waves of the German Family Panel (pairfam), a large, randomly sampled longitudinal study of adolescents and adults (aged 15–41 across the observation period), to test the effects of five leisure activities (sports; vacation; meeting with friends; internet use; and TV viewing) on respondents’ life satisfaction. Our results indicate that meeting with friends, doing sports, and going on vacation contributes positively to life satisfaction whereas internet use for personal purposes and TV consumption are negatively related to life satisfaction.

Suggested Citation

  • Claudia Schmiedeberg & Jette Schröder, 2017. "Leisure Activities and Life Satisfaction: an Analysis with German Panel Data," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 12(1), pages 137-151, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:ariqol:v:12:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s11482-016-9458-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11482-016-9458-7
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    5. 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.
    6. Luisa Corrado & Andrea Fazio & Alessandra Pelloni, 2020. "Pro-environmental attitudes, local environmental conditions and recycling behavior," Working Paper series 20-21, Rimini Centre for Economic Analysis, revised Nov 2021.
    7. Yaolin Liu & Ying Jing & Enxiang Cai & Jiaxing Cui & Yang Zhang & Yiyun Chen, 2017. "How Leisure Venues Are and Why? A Geospatial Perspective in Wuhan, Central China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-21, October.
    8. James Chowhan & Hossein Samavatyan & Farimah HakemZadeh, 2024. "Life Satisfaction and the Roles of Work, Family, and Social Factors in a Social Production Function Framework," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 1-24, February.
    9. Xinyu (Judy) Hu & Larissa K. Barber & Alecia M. Santuzzi, 2021. "Does Active Leisure Improve Worker Well-Being? An Experimental Daily Diary Approach," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(5), pages 2003-2029, June.
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    11. Nur Syakirah Hamzah & Ramlee Ismail, 2018. "Voluntarism and Life Satisfaction among Elderly in Rural Perak," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 8(4), pages 1036-1044, April.
    12. Ana Suárez Álvarez & María R. Vicente, 2023. "Going “beyond the GDP” in the digital economy: exploring the relationship between internet use and well-being in Spain," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-10, December.
    13. Poier, Stefan & Nikodemska-Wołowik, Anna Maria & Suchanek, Michał, 2025. "Should I buy or should I go? The effect of the big five personality traits and satisfaction with life on E-bike ownership in Germany," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 188-199.
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