The Social and Personality Correlates of Outdoor Recreation

Abstract

The sociocultural system, through rewards such as status, sociability of group activities, value orientations, attitudes, and the like, evokes outdoor recreation preferences, as is revealed by actual participation rates. Physical activ ity associated with many forms of outdoor recreation leads to more vigorous health. Physical activity groups, such as athletes engaged in a particular sport, exhibit personality traits that are different from those of nonathletes. However, it has not been demonstrated that personality traits are altered through participating in physical exercise or sport. Persons with different socioeconomic characteristics exhibit different recreation participation rates. From 1960 to 1965, these rates have been changing. Major increases in passive recreational activities have occurred, but participation rates in activities that require large allocations of natural resources have increased very little. Active forms of recreation, chiefly characterizing youth, have increased notably, while backwoods activities have increased only slightly.