Leisure Nostalgia as a Catalyst for Serious Leisure and Reciprocal Support: A Cross-Cultural Study of Korean and Chinese Youth

This study examined how leisure nostalgia influences hope, habit, serious leisure, and reciprocal social support within the framework of the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions. Data were collected from 607 Millennial and Generation Z runners in South Korea (n = 281) and China (n = 326). The results supported all proposed hypotheses. Notably, the multigroup analysis revealed significant differences in the direct pathways. Among Chinese participants, hope had a stronger effect on reciprocal social support. By comparison, habit more strongly predicted serious leisure engagement among Korean participants. These differences may reflect Chinese runners’ collectivist orientation, which channels hope into social support, and the structured culture of Korean running crews, which amplifies the role of habit in fostering serious leisure. These findings extend the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions to the leisure context and underscore cultural influences on emotional and behavioral patterns.