This study researches activity participating motivation, flow experience, and activity limitation of mid-aged men of basketball club members with qualitative research methods, and it is to help understand characteristics of each age. For that, this st...
This study researches activity participating motivation, flow experience, and activity limitation of mid-aged men of basketball club members with qualitative research methods, and it is to help understand characteristics of each age. For that, this study conducted in-depth interviews and telephone interviews over two times in parallel, focusing on study subjects that 8 mid-aged men over 40 years old who has participated in a basketball club over 20years. In addition, describing flow experience of researchers through autoethnography method is to help understand this study. Results of this study are as same as following.
First, this study researched mid-aged men’s participating motivations of basketball club by dividing into starting motivation, participation continuing motivation, and routinized motivation. This study could find that they have participated in the activities through processes from delights of activity itself and other’s eyes, purchasing equipment in accordance with the economic improvement, delight of dining, and routinized habituation. From that, this study could identify delights of activity itself and delights of social gathering for 20 years are main participating motivations.
Second, the participants showed 7 characteristics out of 9 flow characteristics of Csikszentmihalyi (1992). The research participants have had flow experience through continuous assignments and they have experienced delights by endeavoring for their technical improvements. The participants are experiencing unity of action and awareness in basketball activities, and they tell that it could be possible for them to practice consistently. In addition, they expressed they have ever experienced trance phenomena by focusing on a game itself.
Third, the participants of this study experience various limitations to be in activities. They responded that the limitations are physical limitations and frequent injury in physically. In emotionally, they responded that the limitations are fear of injury, fear of team members, and sarcasm hurt from discord among team members in activities. In case of social limitations, they responded to a sense of alienation with colleague or friends, who do not play basketball and discord because of that.
This study found that the mid-aged men in this study could overcome role conflicts in family and workplace, fear for future, and stress through basketball activities. They overcome various burdens of mid-age and limitations and they feel delight by basketball activities. From that, this study verifies that sport activities could provide positive effects for recreations, and this study expects that it could influence positively further researches about various ages.