Wherever the Road Takes Me: Motivation and Wellbeing of Cyclists

Year 2025, Volume: 30 Issue: 4, 124 - 133, 31.12.2025

Elvan Deniz Yumuk , Hamdi Alper Güngörmüş , Onur Ceyhan , Sevim Gerçek

https://doi.org/10.53434/gbesbd.1810087

Abstract

This study aims to determine the mediating role of leisure motivation in the relationship between serious leisure activities and psychological wellbeing among cyclists. The research employs a descriptive design based on a relational survey model. The sample consisted of 286 cyclists (208 male, 78 female) selected through snowball sampling. The mean age of participants was 27.51±12.41 years. Data collection instruments included the Serious Leisure Inventory and Measure-Short Form (α=0.93), Leisure Motivation Scale (α=0.78), and Psychological Wellbeing Scale (α=0.88). Mediation analysis was conducted using Hayes’ (2018) PROCESS macro Model 4 with 5000 bootstrap resampling procedures. Pearson correlation analysis revealed positive moderate significant relationships among all variables (p<0.001). Results demonstrated that serious leisure had positive effects on leisure motivation (β=0.518, p<0.001) and psychological wellbeing (β=0.398, p<0.001). Leisure motivation also positively influenced psychological wellbeing (β=0.612, p<0.001). Mediation analysis indicated that leisure motivation played a partial mediating role in the relationship between serious leisure and psychological wellbeing (indirect effect β=0.317, 95% CI: 0.207-0.445). The findings suggest that serious leisure participation among cyclists positively affects their psychological wellbeing both directly and indirectly through leisure motivation. This research contributes to understanding the psychological mechanisms underlying leisure experiences in cycling contexts and provides evidence for the Self-Determination Theory framework in serious leisure activities.

Keywords

Serious leisure , Leisure motivation , Psychological wellbeing , Cycling , Mediation analysis

Ethical Statement

This study was ethically approved by the decision of the Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University Social and Humanities Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Committee dated 12/03/2025 and numbered 2025/19. The participants in the current research volunteered to take part in the study and were provided with informed consent. Also, the study was carried out in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Supporting Institution

We received no support from any institution.

Thanks

We would like to thank the participants for their invaluable contribution by taking part in our research.

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