Study: Outdoor Sports Make Women Happier

To what extent does outdoor sport influence mental well-being? The Mental Wellbeing Survey by womeninadventure.com in collaboration with the outdoor film festival Shextreme is dedicated to this question.

In the survey of around 2400 women, 99.6 percent agreed that outdoor activities have a positive influence on their mental well-being. 95 percent confirmed that outdoor sports have a positive influence on their self-confidence. The statements that outdoor sports would increase physical well-being (99.7 %) and personal resilience (94.4 %) received similarly high approval ratings.

The most common words participants associate with their outdoor experience were "happy" (33.3%), "free" (24.1%) and "focused" (20.5%).

Of the interviewees, most women practised hiking (1475), followed by cycling (1103) and running (1015).

Based on the answers given by the participants, the study compiled a satisfaction ranking by type of sport: According to the study, female kayakers have the greatest mental well-being ahead of female skiers, canoeists and swimmers. The lowest mental well-being was measured with climbers.