Dyadic exploration of the relationship of leisure satisfaction, leisure time, and gender to relationship satisfaction

Despite a substantial amount of leisure research, little is known about the leisure activity patterns and satisfaction of couples and their influence, if any, on relationship satisfaction. Further, satisfaction and leisure activity research has been limited to married dyads and has not included a range of romantic partners. Leisure research has focused primarily on individual data, and this impedes fully understanding the joint construction of leisure in a couple and its outcomes. The present research extends efforts by examining the perceptions of dyads in diverse relationships and their effect on their leisure and relationship satisfaction. The model in this study is that gender, joint leisure time, and individual leisure satisfaction affect the relationship satisfaction of both an individual and his or her partner: the partner effect model. Questionnaires self-administered to both members of romantic dyads obtained information on the variables of interest. Results indicated moderate participant leisure satisfaction and a near-significant relationship between gender and relationship satisfaction. However, the model that individual leisure satisfaction would influence both an individual and a partner's relationship satisfaction was not supported by the data. Nonetheless, dyadic research remains a rich area for conceptual and methodological advancement, and therefore subsequent research suggestions are presented.