Karaoke as a form of leisure in later life: connections between singing and meaning in life

Identifying predictors of meaning in life (MIL) among older adults is important to promote their well-being. Therefore, to provide practitioners with information to help older adults enhance well-being, we examined a mediated model in which singing commitment is predictive of flow, and flow is predictive of MIL. A total of 305 older adults participated in our study. Participants completed an in-person survey including singing commitment, flow, and MIL scales. We analysed data using structural equation modelling. Results indicated that high levels of singing commitment predicted high levels of flow, and high levels of flow predicted high levels of MIL. The relationship between singing commitment and MIL was fully mediated by flow, and there were no residual direct effects. We discuss implications of these results in terms of increasing meaning in later life, in particular, facilitating flow through singing commitment among older adults who do not have high levels of singing skills.