Passionate about the sport, dedicated to the club? A systematic review study to the predictors, dimensions and outcomes of membership involvement in recreational sports and leisure

Abstract

Aspects of involvement in sports and active leisure in an organized context have been extensively investigated, but none of these studies provides a comprehensive picture of the membership involvement of members in voluntary clubs (MI). Our research aims to obtain an overview of existing knowledge on MI by conducting a systematic review study of academic articles. The results show that, over the years, insights into MI have increased, inducing a well-elaborated concept. MI appears to be shaped by three main dimensions (i.e., participation, personal relevance, social world), four groups of predictors (i.e., personal characteristics, psychological, organizational, and social aspects) and three levels of outcomes, for individuals (i.e. health, skills, diversion, social connectedness), organizations (i.e., support and loyalty) and society (i.e., healthy life style, social capital, learning communities). Moreover, we show a circular effect of the outcome-aspects that also predict MI. Based on these results, we develop a framework of membership involvement, propose future research directions, and discuss scientific and practical implications.