Abstract
Participation in leisure activities is an important arena for the positive psychological development of adolescents. The present
study set out to examine the relationship between adolescents’ satisfaction of the psychological needs for competence, relatedness,
and autonomy in their participation in leisure activities and their perceived life satisfaction. The aim was to identify the
extent to which satisfaction of the three needs explained the relationship between participation in leisure activities and
life satisfaction. These proposed mechanisms were based on previous empirical work and the theoretical frameworks of self-determination
theory, and were tested in a nationally representative sample of Norwegian adolescents (N = 3,273) aged 15 and 16 years (51.8 % boys). The structural equation analysis showed that competence and relatedness satisfaction
fully mediated the association between participation in activities and life satisfaction. Autonomy satisfaction had a direct
positive effect on life satisfaction but did not show any mediation effect. The positive processes of psychological need satisfaction,
and especially the need for competence and relatedness, experienced in the leisure activity domain thus seem to be beneficial
for adolescents’ well-being. These findings add to previous research investigating the positive impact of need satisfaction
in other important domains in the lives of children and adolescents.
study set out to examine the relationship between adolescents’ satisfaction of the psychological needs for competence, relatedness,
and autonomy in their participation in leisure activities and their perceived life satisfaction. The aim was to identify the
extent to which satisfaction of the three needs explained the relationship between participation in leisure activities and
life satisfaction. These proposed mechanisms were based on previous empirical work and the theoretical frameworks of self-determination
theory, and were tested in a nationally representative sample of Norwegian adolescents (N = 3,273) aged 15 and 16 years (51.8 % boys). The structural equation analysis showed that competence and relatedness satisfaction
fully mediated the association between participation in activities and life satisfaction. Autonomy satisfaction had a direct
positive effect on life satisfaction but did not show any mediation effect. The positive processes of psychological need satisfaction,
and especially the need for competence and relatedness, experienced in the leisure activity domain thus seem to be beneficial
for adolescents’ well-being. These findings add to previous research investigating the positive impact of need satisfaction
in other important domains in the lives of children and adolescents.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Empirical Research
- Pages 1-12
- DOI 10.1007/s10964-012-9776-5
- Authors
- Ingrid Leversen, Department of Health Promotion and Development, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7807, 5020 Bergen, Norway
- Anne G. Danielsen, Department of Education, Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences, and Education, University of Tromsø, 9037 Tromsø, Norway
- Marianne S. Birkeland, Department of Health Promotion and Development, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7807, 5020 Bergen, Norway
- Oddrun Samdal, Department of Health Promotion and Development, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, P.O. Box 7807, 5020 Bergen, Norway
- Journal Journal of Youth and Adolescence
- Online ISSN 1573-6601
- Print ISSN 0047-2891