Contribution of Leisure to the Life Satisfaction of Older Adults in Australia and the United States

Abstract

The contribution of leisure to overall satisfaction with life was investigated among older adults from Australia and the United States. Leisure variables included leisure activity participation, leisure satisfaction, and leisure constraints. Life satisfaction was evaluated as a global outcome using Life Satisfaction Index-Z. Cross-sectional, representative samples based on age (50–90 years), gender, and socio-demographic variables were developed within countries (Australia, N = 404, Mage = 67.9 years; US, N = 424, Mage = 67.7 years). Multivariate analysis of variance was employed to examine the effects of age, gender, and country on the leisure variables and global measure of life satisfaction. The two countries were significantly different from one another on all dependent measures, gender effects were found for leisure activity participation, and age cohorts differed significantly on perceived life satisfaction and leisure activity participation. Findings from hierarchical regression analysis showed that age plus all leisure variables, collectively, explained 32.8% of the variance in life satisfaction in the Australia sample and 28% of the variance in life satisfaction in the U.S. sample. Findings are discussed regarding the contribution of the multi-dimensional attributes of leisure to overall life satisfaction in old age. It appeared from this exploratory study that satisfaction with leisure is at least as important as activity participation and, perhaps, even more important in contributing to overall life satisfaction.