Study of physical education teacher's participation status of recreational activites, status of pyschologial well-being and life satisfaction:Central city Antalya sample

The purpose of the study is to analyze recreational participation, psychological wellbeing and life satisfaction of Physical Education Teachers working in public sector schools in Antalya city center in relation with each other and demographic variables. Population of the study consisted ot 323 physical education teachers working in Public Sector schools under Ministry of Education in Antalya. 267 physical education teachers participated in the study voluntarily, face-to-face questionnaire method was applied, a rate of return of 83% was achieved (Participants? mean age= 35,64 ± 7,52). Data collection tool was a questionnaire consisting of four parts. The first part included questions about demographic information. The second part consisted of questions about participating in recreation activities. Literature and experts were refered for preparing questions in this part. In the third part ?Satisfaction with Life Scale? developed by Diener et al (1985) and adapted to Turkish by Köker (1991) and Yetim (1991). In the fourth part of the questionnaire psychological well-being scales developed by Ryff (1989) and adapted to Turkish culture by Akın (2008) was used. The participants were 52,4% women, 76,0% married, 37,5% without children, 64,0% perceiving a good level of income. When findings concerning participation of subjects to recreation are examined, it is found that weekly participation level was 6-10 hours, weekly participation frequency was 1-2 times (43,4%) or 3-4 times (43,1%). Physical education teachers preferred active participation to sportive and social activities (77,2% and 50,9% respectively), while preferred passive participation (83,1%) to cultural activities. Life satisfaction was higher in the groups with higher participation duration and frequency, meanwhile psychological wellbeing was higher in groups with higher participation duration. Subjects participating actively in sports and social activities had higher life satisfaction than groups participating passively in sports and social activities. Keywords: Leisure, Recreation, Physical Education Teacher, Psychological Well-Being, Life Satisfaction