Analysis of leisure satisfaction and happiness levels of individuals participating in nature and adventure recreation: Sample of Fethiye destination

The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between leisure satisfaction and happiness levels of participants of nature and adventure recreation activities and to compare them in terms of various demographic features. The population of the study consists of participants of nature and adventure related activities such as; paragliding, bungee jumping, adventure track, windsurf, scuba diving, rafting, canyon trekking and kitesurf etc. The sample group consists of 321 volunteers ages of who ranges between 18 to 56. The participants were obtained through convenience sampling method which is one of the tecniques of probability sampling. Data collecting tools of the study are demographic information form prepared by the researcher, "Oxford Happiness Scale-Short Form" and "Leisure Satisfaction Scale". In the evaluation of the data, along with descriptive statistics, t-test, MANOVA and ANOVA were used. To determine the relationship between leisure satisfaction and happiness, Pearson Correlation test and to determine the impact Regression analysis were used. In the light of these, it is determined that the happiness levels of nature and adventure sports participants are high, according to subscale mean score of LSS-T, the first subscale is "relaxation". For happiness and leisure satisfaction data, according to various demographic variables, it is seen that there are statistically significant differences. It is revealed that there is a positive relation between LSS-T and OHS-SF and the impact level of this relation is 16%. In the light of this, it can be said that leisure satisfaction increases the happiness levels of the individuals.