Leisure Lifestyles Research Articles

The Light is Darker Than it Appears

It is ironic that, in this, the Age of Communication, instantaneous global access should be confounded, in what appears to be a quasi Newtonian fashion, by an equally powerful, pervasive, and pernicious force for obfuscation. The insinuation of rebadging through euphemisms or adoption of market jargon into the medical culture has achieved a displacement of clear and nondisputational terms and titles with those that are, for the most part, meaningless and irrelevant. I have, slowly, of necessity, adapted to the fact that the Personnel Department is now Human Resources. At the risk of establishing a new and more profound degree of personal naïveté, I actually wondered when first seeing this upstart term whether there were also departments of Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral Resources. What were these Human Resources—a tissue or organ bank? This was not my first exposure to inane euphemisms. During my previous editorship of another journal, the Subscription Department was renamed Fulfillment—and still is! Ergo happiness is guaranteed by receiving one’s journal in a timely fashion. I recently discovered a section of Human Resources that deals with the obligatory gift on retirement known as Leisure Lifestyle— little do they know! Renaming can lead to efficiency, such as the abandonment of steward and stewardess in favor of flight attendant. In other instances, it is presumptuous: janitor/custodian became sanitary engineer. And, taken to a darkly humorous extreme: prostitute as sex-care provider.

Gender dynamics and the social and spatial organization of computer gaming

The increasing popularity of computer gaming and its associated technologies are evidence of the increasing convergence of new technology and leisure practice. The size and popularity of the games industry stands out in contrast to the relative lack of understanding of computer gaming as a serious leisure activity. Previous research on computer gaming has tended to focus on the negative aspects of gaming such as aggression, addiction, and social isolation, rather than viewing it as an activity which forms an important part of many peoples’ leisure lifestyles. This paper examines the relationship between gender and the social and spatial organization of computer gaming. The concept of leisure constraints and resistance are utilised to examine the extent to which technologically-mediated leisure activities, such as computer gaming, are part of wider changes in female access to private and public leisure spaces. Computer gaming is still perceived as a highly gendered activity which has the potential to reinforce traditional conceptualizations of masculinity, femininity and associated leisure activities. However, the popularity of domestic and online gaming among females, and the development of female gaming clans, highlights that leisure activities and spaces are becoming less gendered, and can provide sites for resistance to societal notions of the gender appropriateness of leisure activities.

Older Adults Caring for Older Adults: Physically Active Leisure Lifestyles as a Coping Resource for the Health of Caregivers

There is growing evidence that caregiving workloads contribute to increased stress and decreased leisure participation. Given that physically active leisure can be an important coping resource for older adults, increases in stress and decreases in leisure may put the health of older caregivers in double jeopardy. A model of the impact of caregiver workload on physically active leisure, role-related stress, and physical and mental health, and the role of physically active leisure in ameliorating the negative effects of workload was developed and tested using structural equation modeling procedures. One hundred and fifty-two primary caregivers of individuals 60 years of age or over who were, themselves, 60 years of age or over, participated in a survey of lifestyle and caregiving experiences. Higher caregiving workloads were significantly linked to higher levels of role-related stress and poorer physical health, which in turn, were linked to lower levels of psychological well-being and higher levels of depression. However, having a physically active leisure lifestyle contributed to better physical health and less role-related stress mitigating to some extent the negative effects of workload. Physically active leisure did not appear to be directly affected by caregiver workload; however, other factors involved in living closer to care receivers appear to have a negative influence on frequency of participation in physically active leisure.

The leisure time physical activity, lifestyle and healt profile of black male mid-level managers in the North West Province of South Africa

The leisure time physical activity, lifestyle and healt profile of black male mid-level managers in the North West Province of South Africa

Conceptualising State‐Controlled Resort Islands for an Environment‐Friendly Development of Tourism: The Maldivian Experience

The Maldives host a sophisticated and competitive international tourist industry which has replaced fishing as the dominant economic activity. With their rich tropical reef ecosystems and the abundant biodiversity of their marine environment, a total of 86 uninhabited islands had been converted into Resort Islands by the end of 2000. Resort Islands are equipped with comprehensive facilities for accommodation, food, recreation and leisure. They are also strictly reserved for foreign tourists and guarantee complete privacy. This gives the benefit of averting conflicts of acculturation with local islanders. In the arena of impacts on the physical environment, however, the consumptive leisure lifestyle of the tourists has been harmful to the Resort Islands as seen in sewage, garbage and waste pollution, as well as reef destruction and beach erosion. While the government of the Maldives takes great effort to harmonise tourism and the environment, the growth of mass tourism in the last 20 years has engendered grave environmental impacts. For future sustainable development of the Resort Islands, the tourists' environmental awareness must be increased to promote greater responsibility for the protection of the fragile coral and reef ecosystems of the Maldives.

Leisure lifestyles and tourism: Socio-cultural, economic and spatial change in Lake Macquarie

Tourism influences the social, economic and spatial characteristics of many settlement patterns. Conversely, social, economic and spatial dynamics are also influential in shaping opportunities for and patterns of leisure and tourism. This paper argues that an understanding of this dynamic and recursive relationship in which tourism simultaneously influences and is being influenced by its broader societal context is essential for more effective policy making. The historical development and evolution of leisure and tourism in Lake Macquarie, Australia is examined from the perspective of political economy.

“Just Do It”: Consumption, Commitment, and Identity in the Windsurfing Subculture

Debates about changing contemporary Western societies have emphasized the increasingly fluid and fragmented nature of identities, suggesting that people draw their sense of identity from increasingly diverse sources, including sport and leisure lifestyles. Drawing on ethnographic work on windsurfing subcultures, this article explores the ways in which participants create and perform (sub)cultural identities through their “new sport” consumption and its attendant lifestyle. The paper identifies the main features of the windsurfers’ status system, illustrating that demonstrating commitment, not the conspicuous display of equipment or subcultural style, is central to the meanings the windsurfers give to their participation and subcultural identity. The paper concludes by examining to what degree purported features of contemporary postmodern culture, such as a loss of self-identity, are reflected in such seemingly “image-based” new sport consumption practices.

Convergence and Divergence in Leisure Style among Whites and African Americans: Toward an Interracial Contact Hypothesis

Drawing upon structural theory and social group perspectives, this study examined two propositions developed to explain the relationship between interracial contact and leisure preferences among African Americans and Whites. The first proposition stated that as interracial contact increases, the greater the probability of observing similarity in the leisure preferences of African Americans and Whites. The second stated that the probability of observing similarity in the leisure preferences will be greater among Whites with high or low interracial contact than observing similarity among African Americans with high or low interracial contact. Data to evaluate the propositions came from an on-site survey of Chicago (IL) park users. As hypothesized, Black and White respondents with high interracial contact reported very similar leisure preferences. Also, among African Americans, there was little similarity in the leisure preferences between individuals with high interracial contact and those with low interracial contact. Further, as expected, there was high similarity among Whites with high or low interracial contact. In general, the results of the study highlight the importance of considering social interaction, and interracial contact specifically, in explaining racial differences in leisure participation. The study also demonstrates the importance of examining internal differentiation of African Americans and its implications for leisure lifestyle choices.

From Reconstruction to ‘Leisure Society’: Free Time, Recreational Behaviour and the Discourse on Leisure Time in the West German Recovery Society of the 1950s

Little more than a decade after having lost the Second World War, the society of the western part of Germany, the Federal Republic, had changed fundamentally in the eye of the observer. The economic expert Henry C. Wallich was not the only one to speak of the ‘German miracle’. Not only had the previously achieved industrial standards long been regained and surpassed, but also a boom had set in – as in all of Western Europe – which came to an end only in the 1970s. Simultaneously, both economy and society had been modernised in the process of reconstruction. The transition to a new stage of modernity, ‘society in affluence’, was discussed animatedly. The emergence of new leisure lifestyles in particular was considered a mark of present times. However, in current reviews it is often forgotten that the West German society of the 1950s was to a far greater extent determined by continuity with the interwar period and by the consequences of the war and post-war years than a first glance at the spectacular novelties suggests.

Book Review: Lifelong Leisure Skills and Lifestyles for Persons with Developmental Disabilities

Book Review: Lifelong Leisure Skills and Lifestyles for Persons with Developmental Disabilities

The Franco-Calgarians: French Language, Leisure and Linguistic Life-Style in an Anglophone City.

The Franco-Calgarians: French Language, Leisure and Linguistic Life-Style in an Anglophone City.

Starting, Ceasing, and Replacing Leisure Activities Over the Life-Span

INTRODUCTIONIt has been proposed that leisure behavior is a dialectical process, according to which an individual seeks both stability and change, structure and variety, familiarity and novelty in his or her intrapersonal and interpersonal encounters throughout life cycle (Iso-Ahola, 1980a). In a similar vein, other leisure researchers (Howe, 1988; Kleiber & Kelly, 1980; Kelly, 1987; Mobily, 1987; Osgood & Howe, 1984) have emphasized life-span approach and notion of continuity and change in understanding leisure behavior. Hence, human development is seen as a process of continuity and change, suggesting that the leisure self' develops throughout life, adapting and renewing itself (Mobily, 1987). The tendency toward both novelty and stability (and thus optimal arousal) in leisure behavior (Iso-Ahola, 1980b, 1989) raises a question about how to balance need for continuity and change, variability and routine in leisure. One way to do this is to start new activities or replace old activities with new ones while continuing to participate in some old and familiar activities. several studies have recently explored this issue (Iso-Ahola & Hayllar, 1991; Jackson, 1990; Jackson & Dunn, 1988; McGuire, O'Leary, Yeh, & Dottavio, 1989). The present study extends these efforts and seeks to determine patterns of starting, ceasing, and replacing leisure activities over life-span.Patterns of leisure behavior can be studied at both macro and micro levels. The former focus on determination of general patterns of starting, ceasing and replacing leisure activities at aggregate and sub-group levels of population. The latter, on other hand, refers to intrapersonal patterns of change in leisure behavior. That is, people can be classified into replacers, adders, quitters, and continuers Jackson & Dunn, 1988; McGuire et al., 1989) in relation to actual change or non-change that individuals have made in their leisure behavior over a given time period--in this instance, one year.(1) These two sources of evidence are used in present study to examine patterns of leisure behavior across life-span.BACKGROUND TO THE STUDYLEISURE LIFESTYLESThe study of patterns of leisure behavior (starting, ceasing and replacing) over life-span is important from both individual and societal standpoints. For one thing, such research helps shed light on versus passive leisure lifestyles and their impact on person and society. Economists (Keeler, Manning, Newhouse, Sloss & Wassermann, 1989) have shown that lifetime external costs of relatively inactive persons ($1,900) are greater than those of smokers ($1,000) but less than those of heavy drinkers ($4,600). Such costs suggest that prevention of a sedentary lifestyle is an important individual and societal issue (Kirshenbaum, 1987) and provides an economic rationale for health-promotion programs and leisure lifestyles.Besides its economic benefits, an leisure lifestyle seems to have positive effects on human health (Chalip, Thomas & Voyle, 1992; Coleman & Iso-Ahola, 1993; Iso-Ahola, 1994; Taylor, Sallis & Needle, 1985). For example, Casady (1975, p. 138) has noted that during mainstream years from 20 to 50, those who are happiest and best adjusted are participants in life. They are intellectually alert, socially assertive, engaged with environment and other people. Similarly, Flanagan (1978) found in his nation-wide survey that active recreation was one of six areas showing largest correlation coefficients with indicators of a high quality of life. In addition to mental health benefits (Hull, 1990; Morgan & O'Connor, 1988; Stephens, 1988; Wankel & Berger, 1990), leisure lifestyle has been shown to be beneficial also from physiological standpoint (Blair, 1988; Folsom et al., 1985; Ulrich, Dimberg & Driver, 1990).Research in this area has led Diamond (1984) to her famous axiom, use it or lose it. …

Leisure—Life Styles—Social Equality

Leisure—Life Styles—Social Equality

Leisure Patterns and Needs of Adult Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse

Abstract To deepen the understanding of the role of leisure in the lives of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse, the authors examined the leisure lifestyles and social support systems of four women from an in-patient treatment group.

Leisure lifestyle education for people with disabilities: The leisure supermarket

In this study we aim to explain educational differences in leisure-time physical inactivity in terms of psychosocial and material factors. Cross-sectional data were obtained from the baseline of the Dutch GLOBE study in 1991, including 2598 men and women, aged 15–74 years. Physical inactivity during leisure time was defined as not participating in any activity, such as sports, gardening, walking or cycling. Psychosocial factors included in the study were coping resources, personality, and stressors. Material factors were financial situation, employment status, and living conditions. Logistic regression models were used to calculate educational differences in physical inactivity. Physical inactivity was more prevalent in lower educational groups. Psychosocial factors related to physical inactivity were locus of control, parochialism, neuroticism, emotional social support, active problem focussing, optimistic and palliative coping styles. Material factors associated with physical inactivity were income, employment status and financial problems. All correlates of physical inactivity were unequally distributed over educational groups, except optimistic and palliative coping. Personality and coping style were the main contributors to the observed educational differences in physical inactivity. That is to say, parochialism, locus of control, neuroticism and active problem focussing explained about half of elevated odds ratios of physical inactivity in the lower educational groups. The material factors, equivalent income and employment status explained about 40% of the elevated odds ratios. Psychosocial and material correlates together reduced the odds ratios of lower educational groups by on average 75%. These results have practical consequences for the design of more effective interventions to promote physical activity. In particular, personality and coping style of risk groups, such as lower educational groups, should be taken into consideration at the future development of these interventions, as well as inequalities in material restrictions related to engaging in physical activity. Supplementary interventions focussing on childhood conditions which, partly, influence both personality and physical inactivity may also contribute to a reduction of socio-economic differences in physical inactivity.

AGEING TOWARDS 2000: A CHALLENGE FOR THE RE-FURBISHMENT OF A SELF

This paper offers the view that individuals need to accept a large measure of responsibility for their journey toward and into old age. The challenge is for people approaching retirement to have the courage and foresight to re-invent life in its fullest sense. Many Australians are deceptively unprepared for the likely prospect of spending twenty-five to thirty years in occupational retirement. It is suggested that society needs to encourage individuals during middle-life and beyond to become portfolio people in the sense that they are prepared to add new dimensions and challenges to their lives. A number of perspectives for positive adaptation to later life are provided in conjunction with a philosophical framework for activating a meaningful and productive leisure lifestyle. A great deal of talent is lost in the world from want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whom timidity prevented from making a first effort; who if they could have been induced to begin, would have in all probability gone great lengths in the career of same. The fact is that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can. (Burnside 1976, p.3.)

Adolescent Substance Abuse and Leisure Boredom

The study tested the hypothesis that adolescent substance abusers are more likely to experience leisure as boredom than non-substance abusers. The data supported this hypothesis. It was also found that substance abusers had a tendency to participate more frequently in leisure in general and physical recreation activities in particular. But they also engaged in certain social activities more frequently, such as going for a drive and going to concerts, than non-substance abusers. Because of their personality predisposition toward sensation seeking and low tolerance for constant experiences, substance abusers presumably prefer active leisure lifestyles. But if leisure activities fail to satisfy their need for optimal arousal, leisure boredom results and drug use may be the only alternative. Whether leisure boredom is a cause or an effect (or both) of drug abuse, however, is yet to be determined. As for practical implications, the findings suggest that a more experiential approach in treating adolescent substance abusers may be a better method of handling the problem of substance abuse than traditional cognitive and more passive approaches.

Deviant Leisure and Clandestine Lifestyle: Cockfighting as a Socially Disvalued Sport

Deviant Leisure and Clandestine Lifestyle: Cockfighting as a Socially Disvalued Sport

Leisure lifestyle courses in old age

Leisure lifestyle courses in old age

Continuity and Discontinuity of Leisure Life Styles in Old Age: Results of a Reanalysis

(1989). Continuity and Discontinuity of Leisure Life Styles in Old Age: Results of a Reanalysis. World Leisure & Recreation: Vol. 31, No. 1, pp. 27-28.