The Effect of Epidemiological Restrictions on Youth Leisure Preferences

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of changing leisure preferences of students in an industrial city in the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic. The authors investigate different interpretations of leisure, indicate its main characteristics as a part of free time used for the manifestation of personality individuality, inclinations to activities that bring pleasure, joy. They also highlight the specifics of youth leisure characterized by increased activity in communicating with peers, self-realization and self-affirmation in various types of sports activities, amateur performances, creativity. Based on the materials of empirical research, the paper showsthat young residents of a large industrial and cultural center of Udmurtia, especially in the initial period of the introduction of strict restrictions, significantly changed the content of leisure activities. There was a transition from forms of direct communication with friends during their conduct to indirect contacts in social networks, watching movies, concerts, sports matches on a computer monitor. In the second wave of restrictions introduced in the fall of 2020, there occurred a partial return to the previous ways of organizing leisure. Once again, young people began to meet more often at parties, take walks together, play sports. They have gained valuable experience of adaptation to the new reality which can be used in the future with significant transformations of the conditions of labor and leisure activities of large social groups.