The importance of leisure in older adults living in Spain

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the perceived importance of leisure among seniors living in Spain in 2014. A representative sample of 1239 people aged between 65 and 74 years completed a telephonically administered survey, the findings of which are discussed in this paper. Our analysis contrasts people who considered leisure as important or very important with those who considered it unimportant or of little importance. Much research has been conducted on the attitudes about leisure and their relationship with leisure benefits or well-being while none has directly tackled the question of the importance that individuals attach to leisure. This paper thus contributes to the understanding of leisure and ageing by concluding that there is a significant relationship between the importance assigned to leisure by people and their perceived leisure benefits and subjective and psychological well-being.