Relationship between Leisure Activity and Life Satisfaction Essay

Relationship between Leisure Activity and Life Satisfaction - Essay Example (Ragheb & Griffith, 1982). Although these two are distinct, life satisfaction is somewhat related to mind and leisure is related to physical aspect but they share a relationship. In this article I have focused on these few questions; (a) what leisure activities are taken by people (b) How different people participate in different activities (c) What is the relationship between life satisfaction and leisure activity (d) Are few leisure activities strongly related then others to life satisfaction The data is all related to the United States population and is taken from the census of the USA government. From all the data I have gathered, it's found out that frequency of participation in leisure activities also differ by sex, age and income levels. Furthermore there is a positive correlation between leisure activity and life satisfaction. The activity theory which states that the greater the frequency and intimacy of activity, the greater the life satisfaction; and the needs theory which refers to the theoretical frameworks which purport that when individuals satisfy their needs, this in turn has salutary effect on subjective wellbeing which leads to life satisfaction; (Diener and Lucas 2000) have been used in this article. Apart from the busy lives, people want leisure thus they engross themselves in different leisure activities. According to the US census of 2007 out of the total population, 1,255,897 million were attending and participating in various leisure activities. The table 1 below shows this; Activity Participants in the last 12 months/1 Number(000) % Adult educational courses 13462 6.1 Attend shows/art galleries/music & horse race 106796 48.4 Backgammon 3675 1.7 Cooking/baking/barbequing 125588 77.2 Billiard/pool/board games/chess/puzzles 97581 44.1 Bird watching 12498 5.7 Book club/reading books & comics 97390 44.2 Concert on radio 6997 3.2 Dining out 107456 48.7 Electronic games/computer games 63282 28.7 Entertain friends/relatives 90197 40.8 Sport league 6192 2.8 Fly kites 5219 2.4 Furniture refinish/ home decoration/wood work 44245 20 Go to bars/beach/theatre/museum 149346 67.7 Karaoke 9142 4.1 Model making 3501 1.6 painting/drawing 15146 6.9 Photo album/ scrapbook 17782 8.1 Photography 28340 12.8 picnic 22426 10.2 Play bingo/cards/musical instruments 77228 35 Trivia/video/words game 59737 27 Zoo attendance 27081 12.3 Source: Mediamark research. New York, N.Y, According to the table people are involved in different leisure activities; all indoor and out door. People have different moods which set up their way of choosing a leisure activity. Life satisfaction is attained by different people in different ways and so different leisure activity gives people different levels of life satisfaction. As shown, people are mostly interested in Cooking/baking/barbequing and then the priority is given to going to bars/beaches/theatre and museums. The least number of participants are in model making. Thus majority of the US population prefer indoor activity; staying at home and involving themselves in cooking/baking and barbequing which gives them satisfaction; out of the population second preference is given to outdoor activities which satisfy people. Indoor activities like model