The Relationship between Psychosocial Effects and Life Satisfaction of the Korean Elderly: Moderating and Mediating Effects of Leisure Activity Authors

The purpose of this present study first suggest a conceptual framework for life satisfaction of the elderly and examined the relationship among leisure activities, self-efficacy, social support and life satisfaction in terms of moderating and mediating effects with a sample of the elderly in the Korean context by characterizing the causal structure. Specially, this study not only describes the relationship between life satisfaction and leisure activities, self-efficacy and social support, but also provides direct and indirect relationships between life satisfaction and each subscale in the measured variables. Results show that leisure activities positively influence self-efficacy, social support, and life satisfaction. In addition, results show that perceived self-efficacy and social support positively mediate the relationships between leisure activities and life satisfaction in the elderly. Therefore, the current study suggests that helping the elderly to maintain participation in formal and/or informal leisure pursuits has important implications for promoting well-being in later life. Furthermore, designing the appropriate leisure activities for elders could be very helpful in enhancing life satisfaction.