Work hard, play hard: Leisure satisfaction and work engagement among Turkish women

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have found physical activity to be associated with decreased organizational cynicism and low performance OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine work engagement and leisure satisfaction in Turkish women with regard to recreational physical activity participation and marital status, and to test the relationship between age and work experience, work engagement and leisure satisfaction. METHODS: Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES) and Leisure Satisfaction Scale (LSS) were administered to assess women workers' work engagement and leisure satisfaction. The sample for this project consisted of 317 women workers living in Turkey Ankara. RESULTS: The analysis indicated that there were statistically significant differences in all sub-dimensions of UWES and LSS between single and married participants, with single participants having higher mean scores. There were also statistically significant differences in "vigor" and "dedication" sub-dimensions of UWES, and in all sub-dimensions of LSS regarding to recreational physical activity participation. The results demonstrated that the mean scores of physically active women are higher than the non-active group. CONCLUSIONS: As a result, the data points to exercise participation as a rich source of information about work engagement and leisure satisfaction, and the positive use of leisure counseling as a work engagement.