Do More Leisure Time and Leisure Repertoire Make Us Happier? An Investigation of the Curvilinear Relationships

Although the importance of leisure in promoting happiness has been well-documented in the literature, scant attention has been paid if more leisure is always associated with increased happiness or may result in leisure satiation. Using the panel data from 2016 Survey on National Leisure Activity from the Republic of Korea, this study investigated curvilinear relationships between leisure quantity, leisure repertoire, leisure satisfaction, and happiness. Our results showed that both weekday and holiday leisure quantities had inverted U-shape relationships with leisure satisfaction. Weekday leisure quantity also had an inverted U-shape relationship with happiness. However, leisure repertoire did not show curvilinear relationships with leisure satisfaction and happiness. Leisure satisfaction had a U-shape curvilinear relationship with happiness, and it also mediated the curvilinear relationships between weekday leisure quantity and happiness as well as holiday leisure quantity and happiness. We provided interpretations of our findings based on the existing literature, overwork culture in Korea, and cultural capital. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.