An Evaluation of Leisure Involvement and Social Connectedness from the Perspective of Undergraduate Students

Recent studies on social connectedness have emphasized that the sense of belonging is perceived as a basic need and might lead to psychological and physical health problems if not satisfied. It is further stressed that leisure activities might increase the sense of belonging, foster social wellbeing, and create an infrastructure for healthy generations. In this sense, this study examined the leisure involvement and social connectedness levels of undergraduate students in relation to gender, age, grade, perceived social wellbeing, difficulty with leisure assessment, and adequacy of weekly leisure. The population of the study comprises students of Necmettin Erbakan University and Karamanoğlu Mehmetbey University, while the sample group consists of 263 participants. T-test and ANOVA were conducted in data analysis. According to the results of the research, while there was a significant relationship between social addiction and leisure involvement in perceived social welfare and weekly leisure time variables, no significant relationship was found between gender variable and social addiction and leisure involvement. It was concluded that leisure involvement has an effective role on social commitment and evaluating leisure activities with typical leisure activities can positively affect social connectedness.