Investigation of the flow experience and individual level of individuals participating in recreation activities organized by local governments

The aim of this study was to investigate the flow experiences and subjective well-being of individuals participating in the courses created within the scope of recreation activities in local governments. The universe of the study consist the Eskişehir Odunpazarı Municipality Vocational, art courses and People's Centers; training courses, sports and dance courses, music courses, vocational courses, personal development courses, handicraft courses' participants. Quota sampling method was used to increase the power of the represent the sample universe. The participants were selected by quota sampling method and 850 female participants were reached by direct questionnaire. Developed by Jackson and Eklund (2004) to determine the flow experience, Asci vd. (2007) adapted the Turkish version of the continuous optimal performance mood state scale (SOPDo) was used. This scale consists of 36 expressions, but item 1 and item 11 were lower than 0.30 at the time of adaptation to Turkish and these items were removed and applied as 34 items. In order to determine level of subjective well-being, Diener vd. (2009), and the 8-items Psychological Well-Being Scale, which was adapted to Turkish by Telef (2013), was used. Datas were analyzed by SPSS 23.0 package program. In addition to descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann Whitney Tests were used to determine differences according to the demographic variables of the participants. When the results of the study were examined, it was found that the flow experiences and subjective well-being levels of the individuals participating in the courses created within the scope of recreation activities in local administrations varied. In addition, there was a positive relationship between flow experience and subjective well-being levels. Keywords: Leisure, Recreation, Local Governments, Flow Experience, Subjective Well-being