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Testing The Benefits Theory of Leisure Wellbeing

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to empirically test Sirgy, Uysal, & Kruger’s (2017) benefits theory of leisure wellbeing in the March 2017 issue of the Applied Research in Quality of Life. The theoretical model posits that leisure activities contribute to leisure wellbeing by satisfying a set of basic needs (benefits related to safety, health, economic, sensory, escape, and sensation) and growth needs (symbolic, aesthetic, moral, mastery, relatedness, and distinctiveness), moderated by corresponding personality variables (safety consciousness, health conscious, price sensitivity, hedonism, escapism, sensation seeking, status consciousness, aestheticism, moral sensitivity, mastery seeking, extroversion, and need for distinction, respectively). The model was tested using data collected in South Korea using a sample of 502 adult leisure activity participants. The study results supported the theoretical notion that leisure activities contribute to leisure wellbeing through perceived benefits pertaining to safety, health, economic, sensory, escape, and sensation (benefits related to basic needs) as well as perceived benefits pertaining to symbolic, aesthetic, moral, mastery, relatedness, and distinctiveness (benefits related to growth needs). The results also indicate that personality variables influence the perception of leisure benefits, which in turn has a direct effect on leisure wellbeing. In other words, the results largely support the mediation, not moderation, effects of personality variables on leisure wellbeing. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

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Data Availability

The participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly, so supporting data is not available.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professor of Marketing, School of Business, Yonsei University, Seoul, South Korea

    Dong-Jin Lee

  2. Associate Professor of Marketing, Duksung Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea

    Grace B. Yu

  3. Virginia Tech Real Estate Profesor Emeritus of Marketing, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Virginia, USA

    M. Joseph Sirgy

  4. Extraordinary Professor, North West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa

    M. Joseph Sirgy

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  1. Dong-Jin Lee
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  2. Grace B. Yu
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  3. M. Joseph Sirgy
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Correspondence to Grace B. Yu.

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Appendices

Appendix 1. Constructs and Measurement Items

Basic Needs/Benefits

Safety benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.858).

  • This leisure activity is safe.

  • The chance of physical injury is low during the leisure activity

  • The chances of being ill is low during the leisure activity

Health benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.928).

  • My leisure activities are physically challenging.

  • I do leisure activities which develop my physical fitness.

  • I participate in my leisure to restore me physically

  • My leisure activities help me to stay healthy.

Economic benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.846).

  • Compared to other leisure activities, participating in this leisure activity is financially affordable.

  • Compared to other leisure activities, equipment required for this leisure activity is financially affordable.

  • Overall, this leisure activity is financially affordable.

Sensory benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.880).

  • In general, the leisure activity pleases my physical senses (sight, sound, touch, scent).

  • In general, the leisure activity environment pleases my physical senses (sight, sound, touch, scent).

  • The leisure activity provides me with sensory pleasure

Escape benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.887).

  • This leisure activity allows me to forget about work.

  • This leisure activity allows me to distance myself from the demands of work.

  • This leisure activity allows me to get a break from the demands of work.

Sensation benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.863).

  • This leisure activity helps me get involved with exciting activities.

  • This leisure activity helps me manage to do exciting things and experience a lot of thrills.

Growth Needs/Benefits

Symbolic benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.903).

  • This leisure activity reflects how I see myself.

  • This leisure activity reflects how I like to see myself.

  • This leisure activity reflects how I believe others see me.

  • This leisure activity reflects how I would like others to see me.

Aesthetic benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.852).

  • The areas or places where I engage in my leisure activities are fresh and clean.

  • The areas or places where I engage in my leisure activities are interesting.

  • The areas or places where I engage in my leisure activities are beautiful.

  • The areas or places where I engage in my leisure activities are well designed.

Moral benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.653).

  • I think this leisure activity is helpful for many people.

  • Through this leisure activity, I was able to contribute to my community.

  • I think this leisure activity is socially responsible.

Mastery benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.871).

  • Through this leisure activity, I was able to challenge myself learning new things.

  • Through this leisure activity, I feel like I have mastered the art of doing this activity.

  • Through this leisure activity, I feel that I was able to sharpen my skill of doing this activity.

Relatedness benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.913).

  • Through this leisure activity, I was able to make new friends.

  • Through this leisure activity, I was able to build strong relationships with others.

  • Through this leisure activity, I was able to spend time with someone special.

Distinctiveness benefits (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.890).

  • How much do you feel like you stand out within this group?

  • How much do you feel unique as you participate in this group?

  • How distinct and separate do you feel within this group?

Personality Characteristics

Safety consciousness (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.856).

  • I always take extra time to do things safely.

  • People think of me as being an extremely safety-minded person.

  • I always avoid dangerous situations.

  • I take a lot of extra time to do something safely even if it slows my performance.

  • I often find myself making sure that other people do things that are safe and healthy.

  • I get upset when I see other people acting dangerously.

  • Doing the safest possible thing is always the best thing

Health consciousness (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.863).

  • I worry that there are harmful chemicals in my food.

  • I am concerned about my drinking water quality. I usually read the ingredients on food labels.

  • I read more health-related articles than I did 3 years ago.

  • I am interested in information about my health.

  • I am concerned about my health all the time.

Price sensitivity (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.881).

  • I’m willing to make an extra effort to find a low price.

  • I am sensitive to differences in prices.

  • I will change what I had planned to buy to take advantage of a lower price

Aesthetics sensitivity (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.835).

  • Do you seem to be aware of subtleties in your environment?

  • Are you deeply moved by the arts or music?

  • Do you notice and enjoy delicate or fine scents, tastes, sounds, works of art?

Escapism (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.818).

  • I liked the sense of “escapism” of the experience.

  • Leisure experiences allowed me to forget some real-life problems.

  • Leisure experiences allowed me to relax and relieve the stress of everyday life.

Sensation seeking (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.864).

  • I would like to explore strange places (experience seeking)

  • I like to do frightening things (thrill and adventure seeking)

  • I like new and exciting experiences, even if I must break the rules (disinhibition)

  • I prefer friends who are exciting and unpredictable (boredom susceptibility)

Status consciousness (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.942).

  • I would engage in this activity because it has status.

  • I am interested in new leisure activity with status.

  • I would pay more for a new activity if it had status.

  • The status of a leisure activity is important to me.

  • A leisure activity is more valuable to me if it has some snob appeal.

Aestheticism (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.887).

  • I value artistic, aesthetic experiences.

  • I have many artistic interests.

  • I am sophisticated in art, music, or literature.

Moral sensitivity (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.841).

  • On a typical day, I face several ethical dilemmas.

  • Many of the decisions that I make have ethical dimensions.

  • I regularly think about the ethical implications of my decisions.

  • I think about the morality of my actions almost every day.

Mastery-seeking (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.774).

  • I achieve specific goals that I set myself.

  • My plans almost always lead to success

  • I like to be challenged

Extroversion (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.896).

  • I enjoy talking to strangers.

  • I am a very friendly person.

  • I prefer to be with people who are exciting rather than quiet.

  • I like doing exciting things with people more than just talking quietly.

  • I am a leader of others

  • I like making decisions for groups

  • I do not enjoy being alone

  • When relaxing I prefer being with others rather than being alone.

Need for distinction (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.858).

  • I engage in this leisure activity to create a more distinctive personal image.

  • The more commonplace a leisure activity is among the general population, the less interested I am in doing it.

  • I often think of the things I do in terms of how I can use them to shape a more unusual personal image.

  • I have often violated the understood rules of my social group regarding what to do for leisure activity.

Leisure wellbeing (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.870).

  • I am satisfied with my leisure life overall.

  • I am satisfied with my leisure activities overall.

Appendix 2. Detailed Mediation Effect Testing Results

Tables 11 and 12

Table 11 Mediation Test Results for Basic Need Leisure Benefits (H5)
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Table 12 Mediation Test Results for Growth Need Leisure Benefits (H6)
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Appendix 3 Pearson Correlations among the Constructs

Table 13

Table 13 Pearson Correlations among the Constructs (including personality variables)
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Lee, DJ., Yu, G.B. & Sirgy, M.J. Testing The Benefits Theory of Leisure Wellbeing. Applied Research Quality Life 18, 2705–2748 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-023-10204-w

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