Adolescent Leisure Activities: Social Class, Sex and Ethnic Differences

Abstract

It has been suggested that leisure is increasingly important to quality of life, and that patterns of awareness of and participation in leisure activities are established in adolescence. A study of 520 fifteen‐year‐olds mapped their awareness of leisure opportunities in school and community, explored patterns in the forms of leisure they see as possible for themselves, and examined differences in awareness associated with sex, social class and ethnicity. In all dimensions significant variations were associated with gender; in most cases these tended to diminish, however, with decreasing socioeconomic status. Variations on the basis of ethnicity were limited mainly to home activities.