Authors
Hezhi Liu
Published in
Frontiers in public health. Volume 14. Pages 1883103. Epub Jun 30, 2026.
Abstract
Population aging has become a profound structural challenge in contemporary China. While extensive quantitative research has established a positive correlation between sports participation and older adults' subjective well-being, the underlying mechanisms-how and why this enhancement occurs in everyday life-remain largely undertheorized.
This study aims to move beyond variable-centered explanations and explore the deep meanings and practical logic through which older adults construct well-being via sports participation. Specifically, it asks: (a) What multidimensional, rich experiences of well-being do older adults encounter? (b) How is this well-being actively constructed through sports participation as a "practice of meaning"? (c) How does this constructive process reshape older adults' perceptions and narratives of self, aging, and social relationships?
Adopting a constructivist grounded theory approach (1), the study conducted in-depth interviews and participatory observations with 24 older adults (aged 60-77) who had been engaged in organized sports activities (e.g., Tai Chi, square dancing, gateball, cycling) for at least 6 months. Data were analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding with NVivo 12.
Findings from all 24 participants reveal that sports participation serves as a proactive "practice of life subjectivity" during life transitions. The enhancement of well-being stems from a four-dimensional meaning-making process shared across participants: (a) Bodily return-from the "ailing body" to the "capable body," regaining a sense of life control; (b) Socio-temporal reconstruction-rebuilding daily rhythms through regular activities and producing "routinized communitas" via embodied synchronous collective practices, thereby generating emotional energy on a regular basis; (c) Social role transformation-sports communities become new social stages for acquiring new roles and accumulating novel, low-pressure social capital; (d) Narrative identity shift-integrating sports experiences into life stories, re-authoring aging from a decline narrative into a progressive, value-driven narrative.
A "meaning-centered" theoretical model is proposed, wherein the pursuit of meaning drives self-reconstruction, which in turn generates well-being. Sports participation is essentially a core arena for psychological empowerment and meaning-making. Policy and practice should shift from "providing services" to "enabling practices" to support older adults' spontaneous meaning creation.
PMID:
42454294
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 15 Jul 2026.
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