Abstract
Previous studies confirmed that leisure sport participation could contribute to people’s life satisfaction. However, little is known about the predictors of life satisfaction in the context of long-distance running. A model was proposed in this study to examine the relationship between recreation specialization, self-efficacy, flow experience, and life satisfaction. An online questionnaire was distributed to long-distance runners in China, and a total of 404 valid questionnaires were obtained for data analysis in this study. Results indicated that recreation specialization and self-efficacy had a direct and positive effect on runners’ flow experience; recreation specialization, self-efficacy, and flow experience were positively associated with runners’ life satisfaction. Furthermore, flow experience partially mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and life satisfaction, while it fully mediated the role of recreation specialization in life satisfaction. The findings shed some new insights for understanding the influence of leisure sport engagement on people’s life satisfaction.
Highlights
Life satisfaction, a cognitive evaluation of satisfaction with overall life quality, acts as a key dimension of subjective well-being [1]
On the scale flow experience, a higher mean value was found for fluency of performance (M = 5.44, SD = 1.10) than for absorption by activity (M = 5.30, SD = 1.13)
The findings extend the cognition of flow theory by confirming the positive influence of self-efficacy and recreation specialization on flow experience
Summary
A cognitive evaluation of satisfaction with overall life quality, acts as a key dimension of subjective well-being [1]. It has been defined as “a positive assessment of an individual’s whole life according to the criteria determined by him or her” [2]. Previous studies have confirmed that, among various predictors of life satisfaction, physically active leisure can play a significant role in improving people’s life satisfaction [3,10]. Sato et al [3,11] found that participation in long-distance running exerts a positive influence on how people assess their lives. Recent studies confirm that being seriously involved in long-distance running has a positive impact on the marathoner’s subjective well-being [11,12].
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