The Impact of Cycling Specialization on Successful Aging and the Mediating Role of Loneliness

Abstract

Recent studies have provided some evidence supporting that cycling specialization (CS) may be positively related to successful aging (SA) among elderly adults. However, there is a gap regarding the examination of the role of loneliness in the relationship between CS and SA. A hypothetical model was proposed to test the relationship between CS, SA, and loneliness. For this purpose, this study randomly conducted a questionnaire survey among 395 cycling participants over the age of 60 in China. The results showed that behavior, cognition, and affect had negative effects on loneliness. Behavior, cognition, and affect were positively associated with SA. Loneliness was negatively related to SA. Furthermore, behavior, cognition, and affect had positive and indirect effects on SA through loneliness. These results offered some new insights for understanding the relationship between CS and SA, especially considering the indirect effect of loneliness. The limitations and implications of the findings were discussed.

The Role of Recreation Specialization and Self-Efficacy on Life Satisfaction: The Mediating Effect of Flow Experience

“…Affect had the highest mean value (M = 3.62, SD = 0.94) on the recreation specialization scale, followed by cognition (M = 3.47, SD = 0.99); behavior had the lowest mean value (M = 2.89, SD = 1.04). These findings are similar to those reported in recent research [ 12 , 16 ]. The respondents also reported feelings of high self-efficacy (M = 7.36, SD = 2.28), suggesting their strong confidence to keep running.…”

“…Recreation specialization was measured with nine items modified from previous studies [ 4 , 16 , 41 ]. It is a measure of a marathoner’s level of interest and involvement.…”

“…Most studies evaluated the degree of an individual’s recreation specialization using a three-dimensional construct [ 15 ], which included behavior, cognition, and affect. Using this construct, scholars have dedicated themselves to examining the influence of recreation specialization on other variables such as successful aging, place identity, and environmental attitude [ 16 , 17 , 18 ]. Moreover, existing literature also provided some evidence to explore the influence of recreation specialization on life satisfaction.…”

The mediating role of psychological commitment between recreation specialization and life satisfaction: Evidence from Xiamen Marathon runners

“…According to the experiences of existing literature (Qiu et al, 2020;Tian et al, 2022), five demographic variables and a behavioral variable were introduced as covariate variables in the…”

“…According to the experiences of existing literature ( Qiu et al, 2020 ; Tian et al, 2022 ), five demographic variables and a behavioral variable were introduced as covariate variables in the proposed model. They are gender, age, marital status, income, education, and the number of running event participation per year.…”