Caldwell suspects that leisure activities may be associated with a number of defensive traits that enhance a person's resiliency to negative life experiences.
[1][4] Some aspects of leisure activities that can act as protective factors include: "[the activity] being personally meaningful, intrinsically interesting and/or challenging; offering social support and friendships; contributing to a sense of competence and/or self efficacy; offering a sense of personal control, choice and self-determination; and being relaxing and/or distracting the individual from negative life events.
This suggests that leisure satisfaction may primarily be influenced by an individual's subjective well-being level as represented by core affect.
A significant positive correlation was found between family leisure activities and SWB of men and women across different age groups.
Some research has focused on the compatibility between married couples and this influence on the types of leisure activities they choose and the relationship between their overall marital satisfactions.
Some research that focused on the relationship between leisure companionship and marital satisfaction found these couples tended to participate in activities that both partners enjoyed.
[11] In a study published by Orthner et al. in 1975, the overall amount of time spent together in leisure activities is positively related to marital satisfaction for both males and females.
It was found that wives spent more time alone in leisure activities than husbands across the marital career, but this individual participation was negatively correlated with marriage satisfaction.
Essentially the results of this study determined that couples participating in leisure activities together positively correlated with their marriage satisfaction.
Whether a person experiences stressors at work, through depression or brain injuries, leisure satisfaction may ease the stress regardless of the type.
When someone engages in enjoyable leisure activities, their moods tend to increase, which in turn, allows them to better accept everyday stressors.
[1] When faced with difficult job situations one must be able to achieve adequate free time to truly enjoy their leisure activity of choice.
[1] People with mental disabilities often lack the ability or confidence to participate in social events, such as leisure activities.
However, studies such as the one published by Lloyd, King, Lampe, & McDougall in 2001 have been performed to prove the true importance of leisure among patients with mental disabilities.