Youth Leisure: Advances in Understanding the Relationships Between Self-Management and Life Satisfaction

This study examines the relationship between leisure self-management and life satisfaction in early adulthood (ages 18–29). Specifically, it asks to what extent leisure self-management, operationalised as the satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness in leisure, is associated with life satisfaction, and whether this association holds once sociodemographic characteristics are taken into account. Using a descriptive-correlational design, the Leisure Self-Management Scale and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) were administered to 468 young adults residing in the Basque Autonomous Community (Spain). The scale was dominated by a strong general factor, supporting the use of an overall score. Leisure Self-Management was positively associated with life satisfaction (r = 0.51), more strongly than leisure participation in previous studies, and the association held after controlling for sociodemographic variables. An unanticipated gender pattern also emerged: although young women scored slightly higher on leisure self-management, at equal levels of self-management they reported lower life satisfaction than young men. These findings point to self-managed leisure as a relevant correlate of youth well-being and suggest that the conditions under which young women and men exercise it deserve further study.