Subjective Well-Being in Sport Participants and Spectators

Dear Colleagues,

To understand individual well-being, scholars from various disciplines have developed two main approaches: the bottom-up and the top-down (Diener, 1984) approach. The bottom-up perspective views well-being as a cumulative evaluation of an individual’s life experiences. In contrast, the top-down approach suggests that well-being is shaped by stable internal traits and predispositions, as well as external factors like material wealth and financial status. This distinction provides a theoretical foundation for sports studies, which typically adopt the bottom-up approach to emphasize the effects of high quality sporting experiences on the subjective well-being of sport participants and spectators (Kim & James, 2019; Kumai et al., 2024; Silva et al., 2020). This premise highlights how subjective well-being is a cognitive perception of a quality sporting environment (Inoue et al., 2020; Kumai et al., 2024), rather than an inherent tendency or pre-determined status.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, our social and health systems did not adequately support our well-being. However, engaging in and watching sports became crucial for enhancing people’s mental health during this challenging period, helping to alleviate the mental strain and health risks associated with the virus (Du et al., 2024; Kim et al., 2022). As we move into the post-COVID-19 era, our views on well-being have changed, influenced by economic challenges, a shift toward an individualized work culture, and changes in social relationships. Consequently, there is a renewed focus on sports as a way of promoting well-being (Delia et al., 2022). This shift highlights the need for sports scholars to examine the subjective well-being of participants and spectators, utilizing data and perspectives relevant to the post-COVID-19 context.

Given this emerging need, we invite you to contribute to this Special Issue, “Subjective Well-Being in Sport Participants and Spectators”. The scope of this Issue encompasses a wide range of topics related to the connection between quality sporting experiences and positive psychology. Some key questions we aim to explore include how technology in sport consumption contributes to subjective well-being (e.g., Kim et al., 2024) and how sport organizations utilize their resources to enhance participants’ subjective well-being (Kinoshita et al., 2023). Additionally, we seek to understand how sport consumers’ subjective well-being may vary across different countries or specific populations (Ito et al., 2017). This Special Issue examines various sports settings and encourages empirical approaches to understanding the subjective well-being of sport participants and spectators. We value diverse perspectives and encourage you to share your insights on this timely topic.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Reference:

Delia, E. B., James, J. D., & Wann, D. L. (2022). Does being a sport fan provide meaning in life? Journal of Sport Management, 36(1), 45–55.

Diener, E. (1984). Subjective well-being. Psychological Bulletin, 95(3), 542–575.

Du H., Baker, T. A., Su, Y., Byon K., & Katz, M. (2024). Sport spectator well-being: A scoping review. Sport Management Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/14413523.2024.2421064

Inoue, Y., Sato, M., & Filo, K. (2020). Transformative sport service research: Linking sport services with well-being. Journal of Sport Management, 34(4), 285–290.

Ito, E., Walker, G. J., Liu, H., & Mitas, O. (2016). A Cross-Cultural/National Study of Canadian, Chinese, and Japanese University Students’ Leisure Satisfaction and Subjective Well-Being. Leisure Sciences, 39(2), 186–204.

Kim, J., & James, J. D. (2019). Sport and happiness: Understanding the relations among sport consumption activities, long-and short-term subjective well-being, and psychological need fulfillment. Journal of Sport Management, 33(2), 119–132.

Kim, J., Walia, B., & Sanders, S. (2023). Exploring soccer video games as a channel to promote well-being and soccer appreciation among North American adults. Soccer & Society, 25(1), 29–44.

Kinoshita, K., MacIntosh, E., & Sato, S. (2023). Creating sport environments for youth to thrive: understanding the mechanism to intentions to continue sport and subjective well-being. International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 22(5), 1209–1228.

Kumai, T., Yoshida, M., Inoue, Y., Gordon, B. S., & Biscaia, R. (2024). A multidimensional scale for assessing sport fan well-being: an examination in the context of professional baseball. Managing Sport and Leisure, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/23750472.2024.2392567

Silva, A., Monteiro, D., & Sobreiro, P. (2020). Effects of sports participation and the perceived value of elite sport on subjective well-being. Sport in Society, 23(7), 1202–1216.

Dr. Kyusoo Chung
Dr. Hoyeol Yu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• subjective well-being
• sport participants
• sport spectators
• sport consumption
• sporting environment