Effects of Personal Activities on Subjective QOL

Abstract

This chapter describes the effects of personal activities on the subjective aspects of QOL. Personal activities cover a large gamut of activities such as physical activities (e.g., sports and recreation), religious activities (e.g., church going), social activities (e.g., socializing with others), volunteering activities (e.g., helping with church-related activities), caregiving (e.g., nursing the elderly), shopping activities (e.g., visiting shopping malls, browsing, and spending money buying things), arts and culture activities (e.g., painting and sculpting), etc. The chapter starts out describing three major theories that link activities with subjective aspects of QOL and the proceeds to describe research linking subjective well-being with specific personal activities.