Serious leisure profiles and well-being of older Korean adults

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between different levels of serious leisure qualities and the happiness, health perceptions, and life satisfaction of older Korean adults who are members of community-based, sports clubs. A cluster analysis was used in order to examine patterns of serious leisure qualities (e.g. perseverance, significant effort, career development, identification and unique ethos). The core devotees who identified higher levels of serious leisure qualities reported experiencing higher levels of happiness, health perceptions, and life satisfaction when compared to the moderate devotees. The results of this study suggest that serious leisure serves as a catalyst for health and well-being which can, in turn, contribute to successful ageing.

KEYWORDS:

• Happiness
• health
• life satisfaction
• older adults
• serious leisure
• well-being

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hyunmin Tim Yang

Hyunmin Tim Yang is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University.

Junhyoung Kim

Junhyoung Kim is an assistant professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance at Texas State University.

Jinmoo Heo

Jinmoo Heo is an associate professor in the Department of Sport Industry Studies at Yonsei University.