Investigating the leisure behavior of Iranians: the structural model of serious leisure, recreation specialization and place attachment

Leisure behavior and its associated factors are complex and manifold. The present study sought to investigate the effects of serious leisure (perseverance, effort, career, identity and ethos) and recreation specialization (economic commitment, experience and lifestyle) on place attachment (place dependence, social bonding and place identity) of individuals (n = 334) participating in leisure activities in Iran. The results showed that 59% of individual differences in recreation specialization and 21% of place attachment variations were due to differences in individual serious leisure behavior, while 20% of differences in place attachment were realized through the participants’ recreation activities. Besides, the structural equation model, the effect of serious leisure and recreation specialization on place attachment of individuals was found to have a desirable and adequate fit (SRMR 0.091). The findings of the present study also indicated that the Iranians’ leisure behavior is mainly affected by the systematic follow-up of leisure time, recreation specialization and also place attachment to sporting recreational spaces.