INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SERIOUS LEISURE, EVENT SATISFACTION AND PERCEIVED HEALTH OUTCOMES OF RECREATION: THE OUTDOOR SPORTS EXAMPLE

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between serious leisure, event satisfaction and perceived health outcomes from recreation for individuals interested in outdoor sports and to determine whether these parameters differed in terms of some variables. The research included 293 volunteer outdoor sports participants (mean age 29.23±8.47 years). The participants answered the Serious Leisure Inventory-Short Form (SLI-SF), Event Satisfaction Scale (ESS) and Perceived Health Outcomes in Recreation Scale (PHORS). The analysis results found that the mean points for the SLI-SF, ESS and PHORS were not significantly different according to gender (p>0.05). According to the frequency of event participation, statistically significant differences were identified for all subscales of the SLI-SF, the ESS and all other subscales of PHORS apart from the prevention of a worse condition subscale (p<0.05). Additionally, there were statistically significant correlations identified between the mean SLI-SF, ESS and PHORS scores with the number of years of involvement in outdoor sports (p<0.05). In conclusion, individuals participating more frequently in outdoor sports activities were observed to have increases in serious leisure, event satisfaction and perceived health levels. At the same time, with the increase in the number of years of involvement of participants in outdoor sports, it can be said that there are increases in serious leisure, event satisfaction and health perception levels related to realization of a psychological experience.