Extending the activity theory : the impact of leisure involvement on academic motivation and life satisfaction of university students in Singapore

Abstract

Introduction: Many students in Singapore Universities are experiencing high levels of stress and burnout during the course of their studies. Based on the global rankings of universities, local universities such as Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and National University of Singapore (NUS) are ranked comparably at the top with universities such as Harvard University (“QS World University Rankings 2018”, 2017). Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of leisure involvement on life satisfaction and academic motivation of university students in Singapore. Hypothesis: It is hypothesized that H1: There is a positive relationship between leisure involvement and life satisfaction and H2: There is a positive relationship between leisure involvement and life satisfaction. Methods: Participants were randomly chosen to answer a questionnaire measuring leisure involvement, academic motivation and life satisfaction. CFA and SEM were then used in SPSS, AMOS to measure the variables of the constructs, testing for goodness of fit, AVE, composite reliability and Cronbach alpha. Results: Model fit for CFA and SEM was achieved. For CFA, Chi-square = 1,002.009, Df = 526, CFI = 0.924, TLI = 0.909, RMSEA = 0.060. For SEM, Chi-square = 1142.791, Df = 574, CFI = 0.909, TLI = 0.901, RMSEA = 0.063. The results showed a positive relationship between leisure involvement with academic motivation and life satisfaction, (H1: 0.447, P < 0.001; H2: 0.464, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Results from this study will allow students to be more aware of the benefits of leisure and how it increases their life satisfaction and academic motivation.