Investigation of life satisfaction levels of individuals participating in paragliding and hot air balloon activities as outdoor recreation (Pamukkale example)

The aim of the thesis is to examine the life satisfaction levels of individuals participating in paragliding and hot air balloon activities as open space recreation in terms of some variables. The study universe of this thesis consists of volunteer participants who do hot air and paragliding as touristic outdoor activities in Pamukkale district of Denizli province. The sample group consists of 306 participants, reached by convenience sampling method. In the study, the "Life Satisfaction Scale", developed by Diener et al. (1985) and adapted into Turkish by Köker (1991), was used to determine the personal information form and the life satisfaction levels of the participants. It was analyzed with SPSS 22.0 statistical package software program. In the study, T-test was used to determine the differences between two variables, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) analyzes for more than two variables were used. As a result; in individuals participating in recreational activities as open space activities; It has been determined that there is a significant effect on life satisfaction according to marital status, income level, gender, education level and age. It was observed that as the income level and education level of the participants increased, their life satisfaction increased at the right rate. According to the gender variable, the life satisfaction levels of female participants were found to be higher than male participants. It was concluded that the level of life satisfaction of married individuals according to the marital status variable and the elderly individuals according to the age level is higher.