Benefits of leisure activities for the quality of life of older South Korean adults

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between leisure activities and an individual’s quality of life. Specifically, the study seeks to outline how engaging in leisure activities, such as those of arts and culture, as well as travelling, affects the psychological wellness of the elderly. Our study solves the omitted variables bias and time variant variables problems evident in existing research on this topic through an analytical model that combines the ‘fixed effects model’ and the ‘ordered logit model’. Thus, it offers a more accurate representation of the effects of leisure activities on the quality of life of the elderly. We find that leisure activities can improve the quality of life of the elderly and those who are restricted by financial and physical limitations. Furthermore, travelling is found to have a greater positive effect on the elderly than do arts and cultural activities. Our results suggest that these engagements must be promoted to enhance the quality of life of the elderly, which bears implications for policy makers involved in the betterment of the lives of senior citizens.

KEYWORDS:

• Leisure activities
• quality of life
• older adults
• benefits of leisure
• cultural economics

Notes

1. The main variables such as QOL, the frequency of ‘arts and cultural activities’, and the frequency of ‘travel and trip’, increase, on average, by 0.72%, 21.71%, and 3.36%, respectively, from 2008 to 2018.