Exploring, understanding, and modeling the reciprocal relation between leisure and subjective well-being

Recent cross-disciplinary research in transportation and psychology has shown the importance of considering subjective well-being (SWB) when modeling travel behavior to better understand how travel choice outcomes are experienced. This study takes a step further and analyses leisure activity participation, emotional well-being, and their mutual relationship by developing a recursive modelling framework. Official data from the well-being module associated to the American Time Use Survey is used for the empirical analysis. Complex mutual effects are found across the choice dimensions considered and the emotions experienced. Average treatment effects and marginal effects are also computed to evaluate how feelings are related to travel for leisure activities. It is found that on average, the participation in in-home leisure activity increases the level of happiness, while happiness levels are in turn negatively and strongly associated with in-home leisure activities. It is found that - in relation to out-of-home activity participation - involvement in leisure activity at home positively contributes to higher level of happiness, while individuals that experience positive emotions are less likely to be involved with in home leisure activities. This paper contributes to the general understanding of the complex relations between activity choice, activity location, and well-being and provides enhanced random utility methods for activity based transportation modeling.