Imbalances in the Study of the Relationship between Leisure and Self-Esteem: A Systematic Review

Abstract

This systematic review offers a comprehensive examination of the relationship between leisure and self-esteem. The different perspectives were analyzed according to a framework that includes the different approaches for defining and measuring leisure, and a similar one was proposed for self-esteem. Articles indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) up to the end of 2018 were reviewed, specifically those that contained the keywords “leisure”, “self-esteem” or “self esteem” anywhere in the manuscript. Articles that did not present the qualitative or quantitative instruments needed to evaluate leisure or self-esteem were excluded. A total of 49 articles included the final quantitative synthesis. The overall findings showed that the prevailing methodology was objective (external). As regards content, the following combinations predominated: the behavioral approach to leisure with the unidimensional approach to self-esteem and the experiential approach to leisure with the unidimensional approach to self-esteem. Less studies were observed with the combination of mixed approaches and more comprehensive analyses: the behavioral-experiential combined with the multidimensional. To conclude, this study shows there is a demand for further empirical studies that explore the relationships between leisure and self-esteem. It also identified which approaches are most desirable to expand our understanding of the relationships between leisure and self-esteem.