Understanding ambivalence in family leisure among three-generation families: ‘It's all part of the package’

Abstract

Although family leisure plays a central role in the development of close family bonds, it is not without its challenges and has been found to be both consensual and conflictual. Furthermore, family leisure researchers have neglected the voices of older adults. Building on Shaw's [1997. “Controversies and Contradictions in Family Leisure: An Analysis of Conflicting Paradigms.” Journal of Leisure Research 29 (1): 98–112] call for a contradictory theory of family leisure and framed by the model of intergenerational ambivalence [Luscher, K., and Pillemer, K. 1998. “Intergenerational Ambivalence: A New Approach to the Study of Parent-child Relations in Later Life.” Journal of Marriage and Family 60 (2): 413–425], the purpose of this interpretive study is to address these two significant gaps in the literature and explore how intergenerational ambivalence is experienced in family leisure in three-generation families (grandparents, parents, and adult grandchildren). Sixteen family triads were interviewed and reflected on both the benefits and challenges of family leisure. The findings provide valuable insights into the ambivalence that is experienced in family leisure across generations. The purposive nature and the generative effect of family leisure, along with the norm of non-interference help families to cope with the feelings of ambivalence that are commonly experienced in their relationships.