ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between leisure activities and an individual’s quality of life. Specifically, the study seeks to outline how engaging in leisure activities, such as those of arts and culture, as well as travelling, affects the psychological wellness of the elderly. Our study solves the omitted variables bias and time variant variables problems evident in existing research on this topic through an analytical model that combines the ‘fixed effects model’ and the ‘ordered logit model’. Thus, it offers a more accurate representation of the effects of leisure activities on the quality of life of the elderly. We find that leisure activities can improve the quality of life of the elderly and those who are restricted by financial and physical limitations. Furthermore, travelling is found to have a greater positive effect on the elderly than do arts and cultural activities. Our results suggest that these engagements must be promoted to enhance the quality of life of the elderly, which bears implications for policy makers involved in the betterment of the lives of senior citizens.

摘要

这项研究的目的是研究休闲活动与个人生活质量之间的关系。具体而言，该研究旨在概述从事休闲活动（如艺术和文化活动）以及旅行如何影响老年人的心理健康。我们的研究通过结合“固定效应模型”和“有序对数模型”的分析模型，解决了有关该主题的现有研究中明显存在的遗漏变量偏差和时变变量问题。因此，它可以更准确地表示休闲活动对老年人生活质量的影响。我们发现，休闲活动可以改善老年人以及受到经济和身体限制的老年人的生活质量。此外，人们发现，旅行比艺术和文化活动对老年人有更大的积极影响。我们的结果表明，必须促进这些参与以提高老年人的生活质量，这对参与改善老年人生活的政策制定者有影响。