Assessment of life satisfaction and its selected components in relation to the level of physical activity

Abstract

The issue of life satisfaction (LS) spans many areas and spheres of life; at the same time, it is also determined by many factors. Health, specifically physical health, is the result of physical activity (PA); at the same time, it can also be the cause of mental health, which is closely related to LS. This study focused on university students and their LS and PA and monitored the behaviour of both variables depending on their degree. The participants of the survey were enrolled as full-time students at Palacký University in Olomouc in the Czech Republic; the total number of participants was 511 with the average age of 22.5 years. The standardized LS Questionnaire and the standardized International PA Questionnaire were used to assess LS and level of PA. The higher degree of one’s general LS positively correlated with the higher level of PA. Among the students with high level of PA, the general LS was significantly higher than among students without PA (p = .004; d = 0.57) or with a low level (p = .003; d = 0.4) of PA. Similar results between high and low PA were also obtained in the areas of leisure satisfaction (p = .015; d = 0.41), in satisfaction of sexuality between high and no PA (p = .013; d = 0.5). The obtained results showed that university students with high level of PA assessed their LS significantly better compared to university students with low level of PA (correlation between PA and the subjectively perceived degree of general LS or some of it components such as leisure and sexuality).