Abstract

Promoting successful aging strategies through well-reasoned caregiving programs is, and should be, one of the main objectives of many government policies and their implementing agencies. Well-being has been considered an important indicator of successful aging. Leisure is a key life domain and a core ingredient for overall well-being. Yet, within well-being research, few studies have made the connection between leisure participation as accepted behavior and subjective well-being in senior citizens. This study proposed to examine the applicability of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) in explaining senior citizens’ decision-making processes in terms of leisure participation behavior and the effect of such behavioral engagement on subjective well-being. The respondents were senior citizens in Taiwan who played gateball and were aged 60 years or older. A total of 595 usable responses were obtained and used to answer the research question. The empirical results indicate that performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions are positively and significantly related to senior citizens’ gateball participation behavior. In addition, gateball participation behavior had a positive and significant effect on respondents’ subjective well-being. The results of this study not only extend the application of UTAUT in terms of participation behavior in leisure activities, but also can provide gateball associations and government entities a theoretical model for developing and promoting gateball programs which serve or involve the elderly, as well as helping older adults to pursue satisfactory levels of wellbeing.

Highlights

  • There has been an upward trend in the life spans of the segment of populations that are considered as “aging” commonly encountered in the world

  • The fit indices consisted of the goodness of fit index (GFI), adjusted goodness of fit index (AGFI), root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA), comparative fit index (CFI), and normed-fit index (NFI) [62]

  • The findings revealed that performance expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions were positively correlated with leisure participation behavior

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Summary

Introduction

There has been an upward trend in the life spans of the segment of populations that are considered as “aging” commonly encountered in the world. Navigating and experiencing the phenomenon of advancing in age is a goal that older adults in the world are reasonably expected to consider, and perhaps have some meaningful concerns in relation to. It is an objective of many government policies to address and consider the needs of their aging populations. Physical, emotional, and mental well-being have been considered as some of the major and most important indicators of successful aging. There is the perception that senior citizens require unique and often special attention because of the decline in physical strength, cognitive function, and the narrowing of valuable social networks. It has been found that the majority of senior citizens are fit, live independently, and actively engage in a variety of activities [1,2]

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