‘Why Do People Participate in Long-Distance Running’: Serious Leisure Experiences of Long-Distance Runners in Terms of Self-Determination Theory

Year 2024, Volume: 15 Issue: 3, 432 - 454, 30.12.2024

Sena Nur Doğusan , Funda Koçak

https://doi.org/10.54141/psbd.1530278

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the experiences of individuals who perform long-distance running as a serious leisure activity within the framework of the Self-Determination Theory. According to the theoretical framework, the aim was to understand how participation in a serious leisure activity affects the basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. In this phenomenological study, runners were observed in their own serious leisure area. The semi-structured interview technique was used in the study. Interviews were conducted with 15 women and 21 men, a total of 36 recreational long-distance runners, who participated in running groups in Ankara, Turkey. As a result of the participants’ opinions and observations, themes were formed according to the basic concepts of autonomy, competence, and relatedness within the framework of the Self-Determination Theory. According to the opinions of participants, the effects of participation in long-distance running on the relatedness need were more prominent than other psychological needs. This study reveals that as a serious leisure activity, long-distance running provides participants with a sense of success, psychological relief, and happiness by satisfying different levels of the basic psychological needs of the participants.

Keywords

Basic psychological needs, Phenomenological study, Physical activity, Relatedness, Serious leisure activity

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