The role of flow experience and psychological commitment in recreation specialization and life satisfaction: evidence from Chinese marathon participants

Introduction: Earlier research has indicated an insufficient exploration of the way recreation specialization influences marathon runners' life satisfaction. This study proposes a conceptual model designed to clarify the relationships between recreation specialization, flow experience, psychological commitment, and life satisfaction. Methods: Participants included 404 marathon runners randomly selected from the 2022 Shaoxing International Marathon Event in China. They completed self - report measures on recreation specialization, flow experience, psychological commitment, and life satisfaction. A series of mediation analyses using Amos 22.0 and JASP 0.16.1 were conducted for the study hypotheses. Results: The findings show that (a) recreation specialization has a direct and positive impact on life satisfaction; (b) psychological commitment completely mediates the influence of recreation specialization on life satisfaction, and (c) flow experience fully mediates the influence of recreation specialization on life satisfaction, with partially mediating through psychological commitment. Conclusion: These results add to the current literature by shedding light on how engaging in leisure sports can boost runners' life satisfaction and uncovering the hidden mechanisms.