The Relationship Between Leisure Attitude and Happiness: The Mediating Effect of Recreational Flow Experience

Öz

With technological advancements reducing workload, individuals have increasingly sought to spend their leisure time more efficiently and meaningfully. This trend has fostered a growing positive attitude toward recreational activities. Individuals who approach recreational events with a positive mindset are more likely to experience a state of flow during these activities. The flow experience contributes to individuals' physical, mental, and social well-being by generating positive outcomes. In this context, the study examines the relationship between leisure attitude and happiness among participants in nature sports, with flow experience identified as a mediating variable in this relationship. The research was conducted using a correlational survey model, involving 246 voluntary participants aged 18–74 (Meanage = 31.15 ± 11.93) selected through purposive sampling method. Data analysis was performed using SPSS software, applying Pearson correlation analysis to examine the relationships between variables, and regression analysis based on the Bootstrap method through the PROCESS macro. Hayes’ (2013) PROCESS Macro Model 4 was used to assess the mediating effect. The findings revealed a statistically significant relationship between leisure attitude and happiness, with flow experience serving as a mediator in this relationship. These results indicate that individuals' attitudes toward leisure activities significantly influence their happiness and that the flow experience enhances this effect.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• LEISURE ATTITUDE
• RECREATIONAL FLOW EXPERIENCE
• HAPPINESS

Serbest Zaman Tutumu ile Mutluluk Arasındaki İlişki: Rekreasyonel Akış Deneyiminin Aracılık Etkisi

Öz

Teknolojik gelişmelerle iş yükünün azalması, bireylerin serbest zamanlarını daha verimli ve kaliteli değerlendirme isteğini artırmıştır. Bu durum, zamanla rekreasyonel aktivitelere karşı olumlu tutum geliştirmelerine olanak tanımaktadır. Rekreasyonel etkinliklere olumlu yaklaşan bireylerin, bu etkinlikler sırasında akış deneyimi yaşamaları daha olasıdır. Akış deneyimi, bireylerin fiziksel, zihinsel ve sosyal olarak olumlu kazanımlar elde etmelerini sağlamaktadır. Bu bağlamda, araştırma doğa sporlarına katılım sağlayan bireylerin serbest zaman tutumu ile mutlulukları arasındaki ilişkiyi incelemekte ve akış deneyimini bu ilişkide aracılık eden bir değişken olarak ele almaktadır. Araştırma, ilişkisel tarama modeli çerçevesinde yürütülmüş ve 18-74 yaş aralığındaki (Ort.= 31.15 ± 11.93) 246 gönüllü katılımcıdan elde edilen verilerle gerçekleştirilmiştir. Verilerin analizinde SPSS yazılımı kullanılarak Pearson korelasyon analizi uygulanmış ve PROCESS makrosuyla Bootstrap yöntemi temelinde regresyon analizi yapılmıştır. Aracılık etkisini değerlendirmek için Hayes’in (2013) geliştirdiği PROCESS Makro Model 4 kullanılmıştır. Sonuçlar, serbest zaman tutumu ile mutluluk arasında istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir ilişki olduğunu ve rekreasyonel akış deneyiminin bu ilişkiye aracılık ettiğini ortaya koymuştur. Elde edilen bulgular, serbest zaman etkinliklerine yönelik tutumların bireylerin mutluluğu üzerinde önemli bir etkiye sahip olduğunu ve akış deneyiminin bu etkiyi güçlendirdiğini göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Serbest Zaman Tutumu
• Rekreasyonel Akış Deneyimi
• Mutluluk

Kaynakça

1. Ahn, B.-W. (2012). Relationships between leisure attitude, flow, satisfaction and re-participant in leisure activity participant. Journal of Korean Leisure Science, 3(2), 11–20.
2. Akgül, B. M., & Gürbüz, B. (2011). The leisure attitude scale: Validity and reliability study. Gazi Journal of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, 16(1), 37–43.
3. Asakawa, K. (2004). Flow experience and autotelic personality in Japanese college students: How do they experience challenges in daily life? Journal of Happiness Studies, 5(2), 123–154.
4. Ayhan, C. (2023). Predictors of re-participation intention: Leisure involvement, leisure satisfaction, recreational flow experience, and recreational benefit (F. Soyer, Ed.). Ankara: Gazi Publishing House. ISBN: 6253653598.
5. Ayhan, C., Eskiler, E., & Soyer, F. (2020). Measuring flow experience in recreational participants: Scale development and validation. Journal of Human Sciences, 17(4), 1297–1311.
6. Byoung, W., & Younggyu, J. (2019). Structural relationship between leisure flow, psychological happiness, and re-attendance intention for leisure marine sports participants. Journal of Arts, Humanities, and Social Multimedia, 9(11), 983–991.
7. Cheng, T. M., & Lu, C. C. (2015). The causal relationships among recreational involvement, flow experience, and well-being for surfing activities. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 20(sup1), 1486–1504.
8. Cheon, B.-M., & Cheon, Y.-S. (2017). A study on the correlation among leisure attitude, leisure flow, and life satisfaction of hotel employees: Focusing on five-star hotels. Journal of Tourism and Leisure Research, 29(4), 313–330.

9. Cho, C. K., & Shin, M. C. (2020). The effects of middle school students' participation motivation in judo as a recreational sport activity on exercise flow and psychological happiness. Journal of The Korea Society of Computer and Information, 25(10), 203–209.
10. Choi, S. H., & Yoo, Y. J. (2017). Leisure attitude and satisfaction with leisure and life: Proposing leisure prioritization and justification. World Leisure Journal, 59(2), 140–155.
11. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond boredom and anxiety. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
12. Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper Collins.
13. Diener, E., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Beyond money: Toward an economy of well-being. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 5(1), 1–31.
14. Doğan, T., & Çötok, N. A. (2011). Adaptation of the short form of the Oxford happiness questionnaire into Turkish: A validity and reliability study. Turkish Psychological Counseling and Guidance Journal, 4(36), 165–172.
15. Folkman, S. O., & Moskowitz, J. (2000). Positive affect and the other side of coping. American Psychologist, 55(6), 647–654. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003‐066X.55.6.647
16. Frederickson, B. L. (2002). Positive emotions. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology(pp. 120–134). New York: Oxford University Press.
17. Freire, T., & Teixeira, A. (2018). The influence of leisure attitudes and leisure satisfaction on adolescents’ positive functioning: The role of emotion regulation. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1349. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01349
18. George, D., & Mallery, P. (2016). IBM SPSS Statistics 23 step by step: A simple guide and reference (13th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. ISBN: 0134320255.
19. Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76(4), 408–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637750903310360
20. Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach (Methodology in the Social Sciences). New York: Guilford Press.
21. Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (2002). The Oxford Happiness Questionnaire: A compact scale for the measurement of psychological well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 33, 1073–1082. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00002-6
22. Hills, P., & Argyle, M. (1998). Positive moods derived from leisure and their relationship to happiness and personality. Personality and Individual Differences, 25(3), 523–535. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00082-8
23. Hyun, S. Y., & Park, M. K. (2010). The constructive relations of lifestyle, leisure attitude, leisure flow, and life satisfaction of bowling participants. Korean Society for the Study of Physical Education, 15(3), 109–122.
24. Jalali, Z., & Heidari, A. (2016). The relationship between happiness, subjective well-being, creativity, and job performance of primary school teachers in Ramhormoz city. International Education Studies, 9(6), 45–52. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v9n6p45
25. Jeong, K. (2021). A study on the relationship between social self-perception, psychological happiness, and leisure flow of golf lesson participants. Korean Journal of Sport Science, 19(3), 97–106. https://doi.org/10.46669/kss.2021.19.3.009
26. Karasar, N. (2012). Scientific research methods. Ankara: Nobel Publishing. ISBN: 9786055426583
27. Kawalya, C., Munene, J. C., Ntayi, J., Kagaari, J., Mafabi, S., Kasekende, F., & Belso-Martinez, A. (2019). Psychological capital and happiness at the workplace: The mediating role of flow experience. Cogent Business & Management, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2019.1676504
28. Keltner, D., & Bonanno, G. A. (1997). A study of laughter and dissociation: Distinct correlates of laughter and smiling during bereavement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73(4), 687–702. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022‐3514.73.4.687
29. Khang, H. K., & Chou, T. (2014). Leisure attitudes, enjoyment, and flow experience in physical leisure activity in Korean university students. Journal of Leisure and Recreation Studies, 38(1), 33–42.
30. Kim, J. H., & Brown, S. L. (2018). The associations between leisure, stress, and health behavior among university students. American Journal of Health Education, 49(6), 375–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/19325037.2018.1517175
31. Kitayama, S., Markus, H. R., & Kurokawa, M. (2000). Culture, emotion, and well-being: Good feelings in Japan and the United States. Cognition & Emotion, 14(1), 93–124. https://doi.org/10.1080/026999300379003
32. Kleiber, D. A., Hutchinson, S. L., & Williams, R. (2002). Leisure as a resource in transcending negative life events: Self-protection, self-restoration, and personal transformation. Leisure Sciences, 24(2), 219–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/01490400252900167
33. Kruger, S., & Venter, D. (2020). I can’t buy happiness but could own a motorcycle: Does leisure life matter? African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 9(4), 469–483.
34. Lathia, N., Sandstrom, G. M., Mascolo, C., & Rentfrow, P. J. (2017). Happier people live more active lives: Using smartphones to link happiness and physical activity. PLOS One, 12(1), e0160589. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160589
35. Lee, K. J., Cho, S., Kim, E. K., & Hwang, S. (2020). Do more leisure time and leisure repertoire make us happier? An investigation of the curvilinear relationships. Journal of Happiness Studies, 21(5), 1727–1747.
36. Liang, J., Yamashita, T., & Brown, J. S. (2013). Leisure satisfaction and quality of life in China, Japan, and South Korea: A comparative study using AsiaBarometer 2006. Journal of Happiness Studies, 14(14), 753–769. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-012-9353-3
37. Lim, J.-G. (2016). The relationship among leisure perception attitude, leisure flow, and leisure benefit of leisure sports participants of age. Journal of the Korean Society for Wellness, 11(1), 13–25. https://doi.org/10.21097/ksw.2016.02.11.1.13
38. Lin, C.-T., Lin, Y.-S., Yang, C.-C., Wu, C.-P., & Shen, C.-C. (2021). The relationships among leisure motivation, leisure attitude, perceived value, and happiness for motorcycle riders. Global Conference on Business and Social Sciences Proceeding, 12(55), 55. https://doi.org/10.35609/gcbssproceeding.2021.12(55)
39. Lin, H. H., Shen, C. C., Hsu, I., & Wu, P. Y. (2021). Can electric bicycles enhance leisure and tourism activities and city happiness? Energies, 14(23), 8144. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14238144
40. Lin, Y. T., Chen, M., Ho, C. C., & Lee, T. S. (2020). Relationships among leisure physical activity, sedentary lifestyle, physical fitness, and happiness in adults 65 years or older in Taiwan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(14), 5235. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17145235
41. Liu, H., & Da, S. (2020). The relationships between leisure and happiness: A graphic elicitation method. Leisure Studies, 39(1), 111–130. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2020.1706953
42. Liu, H., & Yu, B. (2015). Serious leisure, leisure satisfaction, and subjective well-being of Chinese university students. Social Indicators Research, 122(1), 159–174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-014-0674-0
43. Mansfield, L., Daykin, N., & Kay, T. (2020). Leisure and wellbeing. Leisure Studies, 39(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614367.2020.1713195
44. Matsumoto, H., Sato, S., Asada, A., & Chiashi, K. (2018). Exploring the relationship among leisure engagement, affective and cognitive leisure involvement, and subjective happiness: A mediating role of leisure satisfaction. World Leisure Journal, 60(2), 111–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/16078055.2018.1453832
45. Mooksook, L., & Kwon, I. (2020). The relationship among sports-taking participants' fun, leisure flow, and psychological happiness of the elderly. Korean Journal of Adapted Physical Activity, 28(3), 63–76. https://doi.org/10.24071/kjapa.2020.28.3.063
46. Myers, D. G., & Diener, E. (2018). The scientific pursuit of happiness. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 13(2), 218–225. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691618765171
47. Nawijn, J., & Veenhoven, R. (2012). Happiness through leisure. In H. Gibson (Ed.), Positive leisure science: From subjective experience to social contexts (pp. 193–209). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2574-5_11
48. Newman, D. B., Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2014). Leisure and subjective well-being: A model of psychological mechanisms as mediating factors. Journal of Happiness Studies, 15(3), 555–578. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9435-x
49. Ngai, V. T. (2005). Leisure satisfaction and the quality of life in Macao, China. Leisure Studies, 24(2), 195–207. https://doi.org/10.1080/02614360412331313502
50. Oswald, A. J., Proto, E., & Sgroi, D. (2015). Happiness and productivity. Journal of Labor Economics, 33(4), 789–822. https://doi.org/10.1086/681096
51. Pomfret, G. (2006). Mountaineering adventure tourists: A conceptual framework for research. Tourism Management, 27(1), 113–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2005.02.012
52. Preacher, K. J., & Kelley, K. (2011). Effect size measures for mediation models: Quantitative strategies for communicating indirect effects. Psychological Methods, 16(2), 93–115. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0022658
53. Ragheb, M. G., & Beard, J. G. (1982). Measuring leisure attitude. Journal of Leisure Research, 14(2), 155–167. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.1982.11969498
54. Rogatko, T. P. (2009). The influence of flow on positive affect in college students. Journal of Happiness Studies, 10(2), 133–148. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-008-9112-5
55. Sahoo, F. M., & Sahu, R. (2009). The role of flow experience in human happiness. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 35(Special Issue), 40–47.
56. Schmiedeberg, C., & Schröder, J. (2017). Leisure activities and life satisfaction: An analysis with German panel data. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 12, 137–151. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-016-9484-2
57. Shimamoto, K. (2020). Effects of leisure activities on happiness in the case of Japan. Regional Science Inquiry, 12(1), 11–22.
58. So, Y.-H., & Ha, S.-W. (2018). Relationship among leisure attitude, flow, and intention to continuance of marine sports participants. Korean Journal of Sports Science, 27(6), 373–387. https://doi.org/10.35159/kjss.2018.12.27.6.373
59. Stebbins, R. A., & Liu, H. (2012). Leisure and happiness: An intricate relationship. Journal of Zhejiang University (Social Sciences and Humanities), 42(1), 31–43.
60. Tao, H., Zhou, Q., Tian, D., & Zhu, L. (2022). The effect of leisure involvement on place attachment: Flow experience as a mediating role. Land, 11(2), 151. https://doi.org/10.3390/land11020151
61. Tappolet, C. (2022). Sailing, flow and happiness. In The Sailing Mind (pp. 17–29). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-96486-5_2
62. Teixeira, A., & Freire, T. (2013). The Leisure Attitude Scale: Psychometric properties of a short version for adolescents and young adults. Leisure/Loisir, 37, 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/14927713.2013.769791
63. Tsaur, S. H., Lin, W. R., & Cheng, L. M. (2015). Toward a structural model of challenge experience in adventure recreation. Journal of Leisure Research, 47(3), 322–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2015.11950363
64. Walker, G. J., Hull, R. B., & Roggenguck, J. W. (1998). On-site optimal experience and their relationship to off-site benefits. Journal of Leisure Research, 30(4), 453–471. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.1998.11949716
65. Wang, M., & Wong, M. (2011). Leisure and happiness in the United States: Evidence from survey data. Applied Economics Letters, 18(18), 1813–1816. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504851.2011.558343
66. Wei, X., Huang, S., Stodolska, M., & Yu, Y. (2015). Leisure time, leisure activities, and happiness in China: Evidence from a national survey. Journal of Leisure Research, 47(5), 556–576. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.2015.11950530
67. World Health Organization. (2011). The happiness effects. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/89/4/11-020411/en/
68. Wu, Y., Sun, J., Fan, F., Wang, X., & Peng, Y. (2021). The influence of motivation, attitudes, and obstacles for middle school students’ participation in leisure activities on their leisure satisfaction in Southwest China. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 758858. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.758858
69. Yang, C. C., Lin, C. T., Mao, T. Y., Anggara, A. A., & Wu, C. P. (2023). Leisure motivation and happiness, mediation of leisure attitude and perceived value: Evidence from large and heavy motorbike riders in Taiwan. Annals of Applied Sport Science, 11(2), 153–162. https://doi.org/10.22034/aass.2023.267146.1056
70. Yoo, J. (2022). Attitude toward leisure, satisfaction with leisure policy, and happiness are mediated by satisfaction with leisure activities. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 11723. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-15657-3
71. Yoon, H. L., Kim, K. H., & Kim, K. R. (2020). The effect of professionalism of instructors perceived by Pilate participants on flow experience and leisure attitude. Korean Journal of Sport Science, 29(2), 263–275. https://doi.org/10.35159/kjss.2020.06.29.2.263
72. Zhang, C., Qing, N., & Zhang, S. (2021). The impact of leisure activities on the mental health of older adults: The mediating effect of social support and perceived stress. Journal of Healthcare Engineering, 2021, 6264447. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/6264447