The Effects of Serious Leisure Involvement on Subjective Well-Being and Successful Aging: A Case Study of Young-Old Participants in Chinese Seniors’ Universities

Abstract

China is the only country with more than 200 million people aged 60 years and above. The Chinese government considers seniors’ universities to be an important form of leisure in which older people spend their free time. To explore the benefits of this education-oriented form of serious leisure, this study investigates the concept of successful aging and tests the effect of serious leisure involvement in seniors’ universities on the subjective well-being and successful aging of “young-old” participants in the context of China. In addition, this study examines the influence of family structure on the relationship between the above variables based on third-place theory. Although limitations to the approach are identified and discussed, the survey results show that the involvement of the aging population in education-oriented serious leisure activities is significantly associated with successful aging and that subjective well-being partially mediates the relationship between serious leisure involvement and successful aging. Furthermore, the relationship between serious leisure involvement and successful aging differs significantly among groups with different family structures.