Square Dancing as a Leisure Pursuit Connecting to Meaning in Life among Taiwanese Middle-Aged Adults

Abstract

Identifying predictors of meaning in life (MIL) among middle-aged adults is important to promote their well-being. To inform efforts to foster well-being for middle-aged adults, the purpose of this study was to examine whether transcendent experiences mediate the relationships between two types of leisure social support (leisure instrumental support and leisure emotional support) and MIL in this population. In total, 236 middle-aged adults participated in the study. We used in-person surveys to collect data on leisure instrumental support, leisure emotional support, transcendent experiences, and MIL as well as analyzed data conducting structural equation modeling. Results indicated that high levels of leisure instrumental support predicted high levels of transcendent experiences; high levels of transcendent experiences predicted high levels of MIL; and high levels of leisure instrumental support and leisure emotional support predicted high levels of MIL. We discuss implications of these results in terms of facilitating MIL experienced by middle-aged adults.