Does Leisure Involvement Relate to Interdependent Happiness Among Japanese Masters Athletes?

Leisure’s effects on happiness have been discussed for over two millennia since the ancient Greek period (e.g., Aristotle). More recently, leisure has become increasingly regarded as a critical domain that contributes to our happiness (Kuykendall, Tay, & Ng, 2015). Although such positive relationships between leisure and happiness are widely acknowledged in all cultures, Hitokoto and Uchida (2015) highlighted that people in different cultures view happiness differently and developed the Interdependent Happiness Scale. This scale specifically measures an overarching construct of collective happiness (e.g., making others happy) (Hitokoto & Uchida, 2015). In contrast, non-Western research on happiness is still rare in leisure studies (Ito, Walker, & Liang, 2014). More importantly, given different cultural views on happiness, it is important to employ a culturally constructed happiness scale to capture more accurate relationships between leisure and happiness. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine how involvement with masters games participation relates to interdependent happiness among Japanese masters athletes. Specifically, this study focuses on Japanese masters athletes because of: (a) a growing interest in masters games in Japan by hosting the Kansai World Masters Games 2021; (b) important roles of leisure in the aged Japanese society (e.g., reducing costs related to the formal welfare system); and (c) a positive association between overall leisure involvement and happiness among Chinese university students (Lu & Hu, 2005). To address the research purpose, a questionnaire survey will be conducted at the International Japan Masters Athletics in Wakayama in October 2017. Multiple regression analyses will be performed by using four factors of involvement (attraction, centrality, social bonding, identity expression: Kyle, Absher, Hammitt, & Cavin, 2006) as independent variables and interdependent happiness as a dependent variable. Both theoretical and practical implications will be discussed in light of an interdependent perspective on happiness.