Abstract
Leisure activities are important in older adults’ life. With the higher mobility and internationalization of population, the leisure behavior and habits of older adults in different countries have become a popular topic among international scholars. This study was to compare the different leisure activities of older adults in two countries—the US and China—to discuss the possible reasons for the differences from traditional and social-cultural aspects. The sample data (192 Chinese aged over 60) was collected in a metropolis in China—Hangzhou—and was compared with data undertaken by Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published in American Time Use Survey (ATUS). We found that older adults in the US and China spend similar daily leisure time on average; watching TV and walking are the most popular choices of indoor and outdoor leisure activities, respectively, by both Americans and Chinese. Surfing the Internet, communicating with others (indoor) and traditional activities (leisure activities from ancient China, like Taiji, sword dancing, etc.), and physical exercises (outdoor) are the second most popular choices of Chinese older adults; while socializing, reading, working out, and using sports technology equipment for outdoor exercising are popular among older adults in the US. Possible reasons for the differences were discussed from individual differences and collectivist cultures, independent and dependent habits, reliance on family, early education, and the value of young mentality versus conservative spirit.
Highlights
For a long time, sociologists and economists have alerted that global aging trends will line to bombs, placing a heavy burden on social and economic outcomes
Years after retirement are portrayed as affording opportunities to increased leisure time [3], and those will result in the establishment of elderly leisure culture and market, and new understanding on how older adults should live
This paper was published 30 years ago, and the research results are of limited reference value today
Summary
Sociologists and economists have alerted that global aging trends will line to bombs, placing a heavy burden on social and economic outcomes. Older adults’ plans for living and leisure activities after retirement are imperceptibly changing from those in the past. With the deepening of population aging, elderly lifestyle and leisure economic patterns have changed. Choices of leisure activities are believed to be determined by older adults’ social values prevalent in their earlier years, their practice over a lifetime in various pursuits, changes in biologically and socially determined competence, changes in personal needs, and the impeding and facilitating effects of the external environment [2]. Years after retirement are portrayed as affording opportunities to increased leisure time [3], and those will result in the establishment of elderly leisure culture and market, and new understanding on how older adults should live. This paper will conclude with some comparisons about choices of leisure activities between Chinese and American seniors to better understand elderly consumption market so as to provide better service in the future
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