Background

How can serious leisure participation impact well-being both within and beyond leisure time? Serious leisure has largely been studied in reference to general life satisfaction and health outcomes, but less research exists to examine whether serious leisure participation may improve well-being at work, thus making a case for organizations to encourage healthy leisure time (Heo et al., 2010; Heo et al., 2018; Kim et al., 2015; Lee & Hwang, 2018; Liu, 2014; Liu & Yu, 2015; Stebbins, 2018).

Aims

The study examined relationships between degree of leisure seriousness and leisure, life, and job satisfaction, as moderated by job workload. We predicted that serious leisure participation was positively correlated with leisure, life, and job satisfaction. Further, as job workload increases, then serious leisure is less needed to obtain a sense of self-development and overcoming challenges, and so impacts all three forms of satisfaction less.

Method

Two hundred forty-one participants sampled from Amazon MTurk reported on a chosen activity for serious leisure qualities, the mental workload of their job and activity, and leisure, life, and job satisfaction.

Results

Serious leisure participation positively correlated with leisure, life, and job satisfaction. Contrary to our predictions, for job and life satisfaction, this relationship was strongest for those with higher subjective workloads. For leisure satisfaction, the moderating influence of job workload was non-significant.

Conclusion

The results suggest that serious leisure participation may not only improve leisure time, but also aspects of our well-being in general, warranting further research to confirm the directionality of these relationships. The study both informs individuals on how to improve their health through leisure, and urges organizations to invest resources into leisure time for their employees.