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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psychology of Aging
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1403373

Serious leisure and successful aging among elderly air volleyball players: Examining the mediating role of social support and flow experience

Provisionally accepted
Jingzhong Wang Jingzhong Wang 1*Haibo Tian Haibo Tian 2
  • 1 Zhejiang Industry Polytechnic College, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China
  • 2 Shaoxing University, Shaoxing, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Previous literature has demonstrated that engagement in serious leisure (SL) is associated with subjective well-being among older adults, while the relationship between successful aging (SA) and SL remains unexplored. This study aims to investigated the association between SL, social support (SS), flow experience (FE), and SA. A total of 435 older adults participating in air volleyball events were included in this study. The findings revealed that: (ⅰ) SL directly and positively influences on SS, FE, and SA; (ⅱ) SS is positively related to FE, and FE is positively associated with older adults' SA; (ⅲ) Both SS and FE fully mediate the relationship between SL and SA, with SS partially explaining this mediation through FE. This study builds upon prior research in this field and highlights the significance of SL for the SA among older adults. Future studies should further explore the underlying mechanisms linking serious sport experiences to successful elderly life.

    Keywords: serious leisure, successful aging, air volleyball players, social support, flow experience

    Received: 19 Mar 2024; Accepted: 31 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Wang and Tian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jingzhong Wang, Zhejiang Industry Polytechnic College, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.