SavedAdd your journal

Journals / Gazi Beden Eğitimi ve Spor Bilimleri Dergisi / 2026 / Volume: 30 Issue: 2

I volunteered: The mediating role of leisure satisfaction in the effect of leisure motivation on the meaning of life

Mehmet Doğan
Ali Sönmez
Bülent Gürbüz
Pages
—
Publication Date
2025-06-30
🏛️Bibliographic metadata and full text access for this article are provided via DergiPark.
DergiPark Record ↗
✨

AI Summary & Key Takeaways

AI Insight
⚡ TL;DR(Too Long; Didn't Read)

The results indicate that leisure motivation has a direct and positive significant effect on the meaning of life (β= 0.46; p<0.01).

📌 3 Key Takeaways

🎯
Objective & Hypothesis:This study aims to test the mediating effect of leisure satisfaction on the relationship between leisure motivation and meaning of life.
📊
Key Findings & Data:A total of 324 volunteers participated in the study, of which 156 (48.1%) were females and 168 (51.9%) were males.
💡
Conclusion & Impact:The results indicate that leisure motivation has a direct and positive significant effect on the meaning of life (β= 0.46; p<0.01).
🔬Design:Survey & Empirical Study
📍Scope:Comprehensive Sample
⚙️Variables:leisure motivation · leisure satisfaction · meaning in life

Abstract

This study aims to test the mediating effect of leisure satisfaction on the relationship between leisure motivation and meaning of life. In the study, data were collected from individuals living in Istanbul using the convenience sampling method. A total of 324 volunteers participated in the study, of which 156 (48.1%) were females and 168 (51.9%) were males. The age of participants ranged from 18 to 63 years (Mean-age: 27.98±10.43). The data collection instrument consisted of two parts; the first part included questions about participants' demographic information, while the second part included the "Leisure Motivation Scale (LMS)," "Leisure Satisfaction Scale (LSS)," and "Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ)" Basic descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation analysis were used to analyze the data. Furthermore, the mediating effect of leisure satisfaction on the relationship between leisure motivation and meaning of life was calculated using SPSS Process Macro (Model 4). Based on the results of Pearson correlation analysis, there were statistically significant, moderately positive relationships between the mean scores of "LMS," "LSS," and "MLQ” (p<0.01). The results indicate that leisure motivation has a direct and positive significant effect on the meaning of life (β= 0.46; p<0.01). Furthermore, it was confirmed that leisure satisfaction plays a mediating role in the relationship between leisure motivation and the meaning of life (β= 0.18; p<0.01). Consequently, an increase in the leisure motivation of volunteers leads to an increase in their leisure satisfaction, which gives more meaning to the individual's life. Therefore, it is significant to identify factors that increase people's participation in volunteer activities and develop awareness programs in this context.

🔖

Cite This Article

Doğan, M., Sönmez, A., Gürbüz, B. (2025). I volunteered: The mediating role of leisure satisfaction in the effect of leisure motivation on the meaning of life. Gazi Beden Eğitimi ve Spor Bilimleri Dergisi, Volume: 30 Issue: 2. https://doi.org/10.53434/gbesbd.1628916

📄 Full Text PDF Viewer

↗New Tab

Loading PDF document...

References (63)

  1. Ahn, B. W., & Song, W. I. (2024). Effect of outdoor leisure participants on leisure identity, leisure flow, leisure satisfaction, and re-participation intention. Societies (Basel, Switzerland), 14(2), 17.
  2. Alexandris, K., Tsorbatzoudis, C., & Grouios, G. (2002). Perceived constraints on recreational sport participation: Investigating their relationship with intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation. Journal of Leisure Research, 34(3), 233-252.
  3. Ayhan, R., & Öçalan, M. (2022). Investigation of Leisure Time Exercise Levels, Leisure Time Constrains and Motivations of Individuals Interested in Kitesurfing. Gazi Journal of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, 27(1), 13-32.
  4. Bailey, A. W., & Fernando, I. K. (2012). Routine and project-based leisure, happiness, and meaning in life. Journal of Leisure Research, 44(2), 139-154.
  5. Beard, J. G., & Ragheb, M. G. (1980). Measuring leisure satisfaction. Journal of Leisure Research, 12(1), 20-33.
  6. Beard, J. G., & Ragheb, M. G. (1983). Measuring leisure motivation. Journal of Leisure Research, 15(3), 219-228.
  7. Beggs, B. A., & Elkins, D. J. (2010). The influence of leisure motivation on leisure satisfaction. LARNet: The Cyber Journal of Applied Leisure and Recreation Research, 1-9.
  8. Bone, J. K., Bu, F., Fluharty, M. E., Paul, E., Sonke, J. K., & Fancourt, D. (2022). Engagement in leisure activities and depression in older adults in the United States: Longitudinal evidence from the Health and Retirement Study. Social Science & Medicine, 294, 114703.
  9. Caldwell, L. L. (2005). Leisure and health: Why is leisure therapeutic? British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 33(1), 7-26.
  10. Chen, M., & Pang, X. (2012). Leisure motivation: An integrative review. Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 40(7), 1075-1081.
  11. Chen, Y. C., Li, R. H., & Chen, S. H. (2013). Relationships among adolescents’ leisure motivation, leisure involvement, and leisure satisfaction: A structural equation model. Social Indicators Research, 110, 1187-1199.
  12. Cho, H. (2024). The impacts of leisure nostalgia on well-being and turnover intention: The mediating roles of leisure satisfaction and work commitment. Leisure Sciences, 46(5), 618-638.
  13. Choi, S. H. (2015). Re-examining the dimensionality of leisure motivation and leisure satisfaction in a multicultural context: Evidence from Macau. Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews, 3(1), 06-10.
  14. Czekierda, K., Banik, A., Park, C. L., & Luszczynska, A. (2017). Meaning in life and physical health: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 11(4), 387-418.
  15. Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2012). Self-determination theory. Handbook of theories of social psychology, 1(20), 416-436.
  16. Demirel, M. A., Vapur, M., Yavuz, E., & Aydın, İ. (2022). The Effect of Leisure Time Nostalgia on Leisure Motivation. Tourism Academic Journal, 9(1), 219-231.
  17. Demirdağ, S., & Kalafat, S. (2015). Demirdağ, S., & Kalafat, S. (2015). Meaning in Life Questionnaire (MLQ): The Study of Adaptation to Turkish, Validity and Reliability, İnönü University Journal of the Faculty of Education, 16(2).
  18. Doğan, M., & Gürbüz, B. (2024). Leisure satisfaction as predictor of social intelligence. Journal of Education and Future, (26), 107-119.
  19. Faletehan, A. F., van Burg, E., Thompson, N. A., & Wempe, J. (2021). Called to volunteer and stay longer: The significance of work calling for volunteering motivation and retention. Voluntary Sector Review, 12(2), 235-255.
  20. Frankl, V. E. (1985). Man’s search for meaning. New York, NY.
  21. George, D., & Mallery, P. (2016). IBM SPSS Statistics 23 step by step (13th ed.). Routledge.
  22. Guinée, J. B., Heijungs, R., Vijver, M. G., Peijnenburg, W. J., & Mendez, G. V. (2022). The meaning of life… cycles: Lessons from and for safe by design studies. Green Chemistry, 24(20), 7787-7800.
  23. Güngörmüş, H. A. (2012). The study of validity and reliability of Turkish version of leisure motivation scale. Energy Education Science and Technology Part B: Social and Educational Studies, 4(3), 1209-1216.
  24. Gürbüz, B. (2017). The conception and perception of leisure in Turkey. In K. Henderson & A. Sivan (Eds.), Leisure from International Voices. Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing.Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Guilford Press.
  25. Hayes, A. F., & Preacher, K. J. (2014). Statistical mediation analysis with a multicategorical independent variable. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 67(3), 451-470.
  26. Henderson, K. (1984). Volunteerism as leisure. Journal of Voluntary Action Research, 13(1), 55-63.
  27. Iso-Ahola, S. E., & Baumeister, R. F. (2023). Leisure and meaning in life. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1074649.
  28. Iwasaki, Y. (2007). Leisure and quality of life in an international and multicultural context: What are major pathways linking leisure to quality of life? Social indicators research, 82, 233-264.
  29. İnal, Ö., & Salar, S. (2020). The Relationship between Leisure Time Physical Activity Constraints and Meaning of Life among University Students. Journal of Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation, 8(1), 45-52.
  30. Jun, J., & Kyle, G. T. (2012). Gender identity, leisure identity, and leisure participation. Journal of Leisure Research, 44(3), 353-378.
  31. Kim, J. H., Brown, S. L., & Yang, H. (2019). Types of leisure, leisure motivation, and well-being in university students. World Leisure Journal, 61(1), 43-57.
  32. Kim, J., Schilling, M. L., Kim, M., & Han, A. (2016). Contribution of leisure satisfaction, acceptance of disability, and social relationships to life satisfaction among Korean individuals with intellectual disability. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 9(3), 157-170.
  33. Kleiber, D. A. (2020). Toward an applied social psychology of leisure. Journal of Leisure Research, 51(5), 618-625.
  34. Koçak, F., & Gürbüz, B. (2024). Promoting social inclusion for adult communities: The moderating role of leisure constraints on life satisfaction in five European countries. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 34(3), e2794.
  35. Leversen, I., Danielsen, A. G., Birkeland, M. S., & Samdal, O. (2012). Basic psychological need satisfaction in leisure activities and adolescents’ life satisfaction. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 1588-1599.
  36. Liu, H. L., Carotta, C. L., Lavender-Stott, E. S., & Garcia, A. S. (2024). Thriving through stress: Leisure satisfaction, hope, growth, and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. World Leisure Journal, 66(1), 72-91.
  37. Mansfield, L., Daykin, N., & Kay, T. (2020). Leisure and wellbeing. Leisure Studies, 39(1), 1-10.
  38. Martela, F., ve Steger, M. F. (2016). The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11(5), 531-545.
  39. Matsumoto, H., Sato, S., Asada, A., & Chiashi, K. (2018). Exploring the relationship among leisure engagement, affective and cognitive leisure involvement, and subjective happiness: A mediating role of leisure satisfaction. World Leisure Journal, 60(2), 111-126.
  40. Molanorouzi, K., Khoo, S., & Morris, T. (2014). Validating the physical activity and leisure motivation scale (PALMS). BMC Public Health, 14, 1-12.
  41. Mortazavi, R., Lalouni, M., Andersson, R., Serlachius, E., Sundberg, C. J., Norrbom, J., Hosseini, R., Pazooki, S., Moaddab, F., & Jarbin, H. (2022). Moderate-to-vigorous group aerobic exercise versus group leisure activities for mild-to-moderate depression in adolescents: Study protocol for a multicentre randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open, 12(7), e060159.
  42. Musick, M. A., & Wilson, J. (2003). Volunteering and depression: The role of psychological and social resources in different age groups. Social science & medicine, 56(2), 259-269.
  43. Neal, J. D., Sirgy, M. J., & Uysal, M. (1999). The role of satisfaction with leisure travel/tourism services and experience in satisfaction with leisure life and overall life. Journal of Business Research, 44(3), 153-163.
  44. Newman, D. B., Tay, L., & Diener, E. (2014). Leisure and subjective well-being: A model of psychological mechanisms as mediating factors. Journal of happiness studies, 15, 555-578.
  45. Nozick, R., & Benatar, D. (2016). Philosophy and the meaning of life. In Life, Death, and Meaning: Key Philosophical Readings on the Big Questions (pp. 65-92).
  46. Omoto, A. M., & Snyder, M. (2002). Considerations of community: The context and process of volunteerism. American behavioral scientist, 45(5), 846-867.
  47. Preacher, K. J., & Kelley, K. (2011). Effect size measures for mediation models: Quantitative strategies for communicating indirect effects. Psychological Methods, 16(2), 93–115.
  48. Ragheb, M. G., & Tate, R. L. (1993). A behavioral model of leisure participation, based on leisure attitude, motivation and satisfaction. Leisure Studies, 12(1), 61-70.
  49. Roberts, K. (2006). Leisure in contemporary society. CABI.
  50. Ryff, C. D., & Singer, B. (1998). The contours of positive human health. Psychological inquiry, 9(1), 1-28.
  51. Same, A., McBride, H., Liddelow, C., Mullan, B., & Harris, C. (2020). Motivations for volunteering time with older adults: A qualitative study. PLOS ONE, 15(5), e0232718.
  52. Satılmış, S. E., Öntürk, Y., Özsoy, D., & Yaraş, A. (2023). Examination of the Relationship between University Students’ Leisure Time Satisfaction and Digital Game Addiction Levels. CBU Journal of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, 18(1), 1-15.
  53. Shin, K., & You, S. (2013). Leisure type, leisure satisfaction, and adolescents’ psychological well-being. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 7(2), 53-62.
  54. Snyder, M., & Omoto, A. M. (2008). Volunteerism: Social issues perspectives and social policy implications. Social issues and policy review, 2(1), 1-36.
  55. Stebbins, R. A. (2015). Leisure and the motive to volunteer: Theories of serious, casual, and project-based leisure. Springer.
  56. Steger, M. F., Frazier, P., Oishi, S., & Kaler, M. (2006). The meaning in life questionnaire: Assessing the presence of and search for meaning in life. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53(1), 80-93.
  57. Steger, M. F., Kashdan, T. B., Sullivan, B. A., & Lorentz, D. (2008). Understanding the search for meaning in life: Personality, cognitive style, and the dynamic between seeking and experiencing meaning. Journal of personality, 76(2), 199-228.
  58. Vallerand, R. J., Pelletier, L. G., Blais, M. R., Briere, N. M., Senecal, C., & Vallieres, E. F. (1992). The Academic Motivation Scale: A measure of intrinsic, extrinsic, and amotivation in education. Educational and psychological measurement, 52(4), 1003-1017.
  59. Vecina, M. L., Chacón, F., Sueiro, M., & Barrón, A. (2012). Volunteer engagement: Does engagement predict the degree of satisfaction among new volunteers and the commitment of those who have been active longer? Applied psychology, 61(1), 130-148.
  60. Wilson, J., & Musick, M. (1999). The effects of volunteering on the volunteer. Law and Contemporary Problems, 62, 141.
  61. Wolf, S. (2012). Meaning in life and why it matters (Vol. 35). Princeton University Press.
  62. Wu, Y., Sun, J., Fan, F., Wang, X., & Peng, Y. (2021). The influence of motivation, attitudes, and obstacles for middle school students’ participation in leisure activities on their leisure satisfaction in Southwest China. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 758858.
  63. Zhou, S., & Kodama Muscente, K. (2023). Meta-analysis of volunteer motives using the volunteer functions inventory to predict volunteer satisfaction, commitment, and behavior. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 52(5), 1331-1356.