Relationships among self-construal, control, and positive affect in Japanese undergraduate students’ leisure experience

Abstract

ABSTRACTPrevious studies have indicated that control and positive affect, which are known to be important aspects of leisure experience, contribute to our psychological well-being. Recently, Ito and Walker’s (2016. Cultural commonality and specificity in Japanese and Euro-Canadian undergraduate students’ leisure experiences: An exploratory study on control and positive affect. Leisure Sciences, 38, 249–267) experience sampling method (ESM) study identified that Japanese undergraduate students experienced primary control, the adjustment aspect of secondary control, and high- and low-arousal positive affect more, and the acceptance aspect of secondary control less, during leisure versus non-leisure participation. This follow-up ESM study, conducted with 41 Japanese undergraduate students, furthers their work by examining the roles of self-construal and types of leisure activities in regard to the significant relationships between leisure participation and experience. Hierarchical linear modelling results indicated that: (a) the moderator effects of self-construal did not exist between leisure participation and experience, and (b) the relationship between leisure participation and experience did not largely vary across types of leisure activities. This study contributes to the growing, yet still understudied, research theme of non-Western leisure and self-construal.