Network Analysis of Serious Leisure and Life Satisfaction

Network Analysis of Serious Leisure and Life Satisfaction | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Network Analysis of Serious Leisure and Life Satisfaction Mushi Cai, Kazuhiko Saito This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8014924/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 12 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Serious leisure involves the systematic pursuit of leisure activities that offer meaningful engagement and personal fulfilment. While prior studies have linked serious leisure to enhanced life satisfaction, the complex interplay among its various dimensions remains underexplored. This study addresses that gap by employing network analysis to visualise both direct and indirect pathways between serious leisure qualities and life satisfaction, uncovering nuanced relationships that are often overlooked. Data from individuals engaged in serious leisure revealed a positive overall association, with the rewards dimension showing stronger connections to life satisfaction than the seriousness dimension. Direct predictors included financial rewards, ethos, group maintenance, group attraction, career contingencies, and re-creation. By integrating expected influence and bridge expected influence indices, self-actualisation and identification were identified as important nodes exerting indirect effects. The findings refine the understanding of serious leisure by emphasising the differential contributions of its dimensions and components, and offer guidance for designing leisure interventions to enhance life satisfaction and overall quality of life. Physical sciences/Mathematics and computing Biological sciences/Psychology Social science/Psychology serious leisure life satisfaction network analysis quality of life Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 23 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 20 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 07 Apr, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 23 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 21 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Mar, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 16 Mar, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 30 Jan, 2026 Editor invited by journal 16 Nov, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 12 Nov, 2025 First submitted to journal 12 Nov, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8014924","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":607841933,"identity":"ed541e9b-1c8b-4706-abda-3e992ee564ec","order_by":0,"name":"Mushi Cai","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABFklEQVRIie3Qv0vEMBTA8VcC7dKca4qi/8I7Av7A4uKf4VIpXKeCt91wSECoi3+Ak/4LvclzSyn0loCr25HJ5YZzs6Bg6uBkDruJ5LuF8OG9BMDl+ostriv9+h7vIjEHT7DvC2IlSqU8EiPegzwn+4yK+ryEL/KLvQYySVg0r7OHgGrdzg/PtkSI8DaF4MBCIllJHKssf7wKOKeK5bcyRO+mAXJkGYmVMGP847ysfX/bK1gulisEKoCgtJAaUIY+ydCQqDXkvpvysYk0MBS0OE06wqghpSFk05RIhSlhajQ0ixHekZn0L+qdhlnfMli+LNr1JN7Dp8bTbXGZ30ky06tpnNp+7OfMSizFXqTrpD9xuVyuf9on/eZbl2f/iEcAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Hiroshima University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mushi","middleName":"","lastName":"Cai","suffix":""},{"id":607841935,"identity":"177398bb-1fad-43a1-a04e-7c2695dced3e","order_by":1,"name":"Kazuhiko Saito","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Hiroshima University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Kazuhiko","middleName":"","lastName":"Saito","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-11-03 05:23:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8014924/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8014924/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104854773,"identity":"887fd005-23cc-439a-97fe-4c4a24634ee2","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-18 03:18:44","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":876125,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscriptnov.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8014924/v1_covered_df1da8ec-4ea2-4ff8-9901-cef0ebc85b18.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Network Analysis of Serious Leisure and Life Satisfaction","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"humanities-and-social-sciences-communications","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"palcomms","sideBox":"Learn more about [Humanities \u0026 Social Sciences Communications](http://www.nature.com/palcomms/)","snPcode":"41599","submissionUrl":"https://submission.springernature.com/new-submission/41599/3","title":"Humanities and Social Sciences Communications","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"serious leisure, life satisfaction, network analysis, quality of life","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8014924/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8014924/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Serious leisure involves the systematic pursuit of leisure activities that offer meaningful engagement and personal fulfilment. 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