The correlation between perceived freedom and flow experience in recreational cyclists

Aim: The aim is to reveal the correlation between perceived freedom in leisure and flow experience of the cyclists in Turkey. Material and Method: The study group consists of 244 males (Meanage=32.09 ± 10.65) and 602 (Meanage=36.78 ± 12.52) females, in total, 846 voluntary participants (Meanage=35.43 ± 12.19) who use bicycles with recreational purposes in Turkey. The participants answered Perceived Freedom in Leisure Scale (PFLS) and Recreational Flow Experience Scale (RFES). For the analysis of data, descriptive statistics, MANOVA, t test and regression analyses were used. Findings: According to analysis results, it was determined that there is a statistically significant difference for PFLS total scores in the variables of "gender", "marital status", "weekly leisure duration", "participation partners in cycling activity", "participation in cycling festivals", "cycling duration (weekly hours and years)", and "welfare level" whereas there is a statistically significant difference for RFES total scores in the variables of "participation partners in cycling event", "participation in cycling festivals", "cycling duration (weekly hours and years)", "welfare level", "bicycle preference", and "having difficulty in leisure participation". Conclusion: It was concluded that PFLS predicts RFES significantly and positively, and the perceived freedom in leisure levels of the participants explains 16% of the recreational flow experience levels of the participants.