Leisure Preferences Research Articles

The Longer Working Week in Australia—Working time Experiences and Preferences of Men

Abstract There has been a polarisation in the hours of work of men, with more working longer hours and more with no work. This paper reports a survey of 600 randomly selected adult men in Brisbane and Adelaide. It find that the involuntary working of long hours is greater than previously estimated, early retirement is most often unwelcome with more preferring part-time jobs and that contrary to ABS findings, nearly half of those in work express a significant degree of leisure preference. An uncrystallised but generalised predisposition to a future with less work presents a not unfavourable environment to any future moves to increase the diversity of men's working hours and to share work.

Occupational and leisure preferences of older adults with mental retardation

This article presents baseline information on the occupational and leisure preferences of a statewide sample of older adults with mild to moderate mental retardation who reside in the State of Oregon, USA. Data were collected through an interview with the older person with mental retardation and through a questionnaire sent to a knowledgeable other who was matched to each older adult. Findings are presented on the types of occupational and leisure activities that were participated in by these older adults, on the level of satisfaction experienced with these activities, and on their preferences for continued participation as they grow older. Results indicate an overwhelming desire for continued participation in occupational and leisure pursuits that are personally meaningful. Strong preferences are expressed for greater variety, frequency, and choice in these activities. Implications of the findings for designing retirement options for older adults with mental retardation are discussed.

Sports participation and health

Two earlier papers, Gratton and Tice (1987a and 1987b) reported the results of preliminary analyses of the association between the way people spend their leisure time and various health indicators. The focus of interest was sports participants and these were contrasted with non-participants under four general headings: health status, health attitudes, health lifestyles, and leisure orientation. The data-base used was the 1980 General Household Survey. This paper summarizes those earlier results and then takes the analysis a stage further in two important respects. Firstly, within the sports participant group, different levels of participation are measured by incorporating data on frequency of participation and level of exertion involved in the activity and hence a more sophisticated measure of participation is derived. Secondly, the analysis is broadened by extending it into two other data-sets, the 197 General Household Survey and the Health and Lifestyle Survey, both of which provide additional informat...

An Application of a Leisure Preference Assessment Protocol for Persons with Severe Handicaps

An investigation was conducted to demonstrate the application of a computerized assessment procedure for determining the leisure preferences of persons with severe handicaps. Three children with severe handicaps who were enrolled in a local public school served as subjects. The experimental apparatus consisted of a switch-activated microcomputer and a computer program designed to interpret the switch activations to produce a variety of leisure activities. A single subject research procedure using a multiple treatment design involving five separate conditions across three subjects was employed. Each subject participated in a series of 3-min sessions during each condition. Each of the five conditions provided students with a choice between two of the following Jive leisure activities: listening to music, watching action videos, activating a blender and drinking a portion of a milkshake, watching a slide show, and feeling the vibrations from a vibrating pad. The results of the investigation demonstrated that the leisure preferences of people with severe handicaps can be assessed systematically.

A Comparison of Outdoor Recreation Preferences and Constraints of Black and White Elderly

Data from the 1982-1983 Nationwide Recreation Survey were used to examine leisure preferences and leisure constraints of a nationally representative sample of black and white respondents aged 65 and above. Results indicated more similarities than differences in outdoor recreation preferences between the black and white respondents. In addition, there were few racial differences in constraints limiting participation in outdoor recreation.

Educational-Occupational Fit and Leisure Orientation as Related to Life Satisfaction

Educational-Occupational Fit and Leisure Orientation as Related to Life Satisfaction

Instructional techniques in alternative communication for students with severe intellectual handicaps

A series of investigations was conducted with three nonspeaking subjects with severe intellectual disabilities to teach use of a pictorial communication device. The interventions were preceded by assessments of the subjects' receptive language and matching abilities, as well as by assessments related to their leisure preferences and sensorimotor status. Individualized interventions based on the prompt-free strategy reported by Mirenda and Santogrossi (1985, Augmentative and Alternative Communication, 1, 143–150) were instituted with the subjects over a 6 week period. None of the subjects acquired the desired response as a result of the prompt-free intervention. One of the subjects acquired the desired communicative response after a “verbal prompt-free” modification was instituted. The results are discussed in terms of the preintervention assessment information and the instructional strategies employed.

Work and leisure relationships: An exploration of life possibilities during adolescence

This study explored the relationship between leisure preferences and work/occupational aspiration for adolescents in Singapore and Australia. Three hypothesized relationships between the domains of "spillover", "compensation", and "segmentation" were investigated. Except for females in the Australian sample, it appeared that adolescents saw leisure preferences and occupational aspirations as two independent spheres of their personal futures, supporting the segmentation hypothesis.

The Stability of Leisure Preferences

The present study investigated the stability of leisure preferences across a two-year time span. Leisure preference data were collected from 126 married couples shortly after their marriages (1981) and again two years later (1983). Results indicate that individuals' preferences for specific leisure activities are significantly and positively correlated across a two-year measurement period, and a gender difference is evidenced in the pattern of stability coefficients. Results also indicate that the average reported preference for specific leisure activities generally declines over time, more significantly so for men than women, and that husbands and wives show no pattern of increased leisure preference similarly over the first two years of marriage. Implications of these results for leisure service delivery are considered.

Use of Computers in Assessment

Activities coordinators in long term care facilities frequently find the amount of paper work required to document their work overwhelming. While this is, in one sense, positive, since regulating agencies now are concerned with documentation in the activities area, it also severely challenges the activities coordinator to find the time necessary to plan, organize and conduct the activities program which is addressed by the documentation. One way to save time now devoted to documentation is to use computers whenever possible. This article describes a computerized model for conducting the resident activity/social assessment. The model includes collecting assessment data in three areas: social/demographic information, functional level information, and leisure information. Leisure information is obtained through the Leisure Diagnostic Battery, which provides an assessment of the resident's perceived freedom, leisure barriers, and leisure preferences.

Leisure and Life-Styles: Towards a Research Agenda

ABSTRACTThis article is an attempt to develop the life-style concept into an agenda for leisure research since to date, according to the authors, neither leisure researchers nor sociologists with other main interests have successfully operationalised the concept. This research agenda should generate the information required to allow entire ways of living to be measured quantitatively. Once accomplished, life-style analysis should «fill the gap» between social structural trends and positions on the one hand, and individuals' leisure experiences, preferences and choices on the other. To do so, they construct the conceptual apparatus of life-style around three patterns: time structures of groups and individuals (structures being of greater help than budgets); social relations surrounding different roles and individuals; and consumption. The term «life-style» describes the sum of these three patterns. This conceptual scheme leads to a research agenda built around five key propositions: life-style research wil...

Leisure Preferences of Elementary-Aged Learning Disabled Boys

Leisure preferences of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade learning disabled (LD) boys were investigated. Results indicate that there are more similarities than differences in leisure choices, although a few minor differences surfaced. LD boys in these grades generally prefer the same types of after-school and weekend activities, and the same sports, hobbies, and television shows as their non-LD peers. If accurate, these results have important implications for selection of instructional materials and promotion of social integration.

An Application of Conjoint Analysis To Leisure Research: Cultural Preferences In Canada

The paper outlines the usefulness of conjoint analysis for studying cultural and leisure preferences. The technique is advantageous because it permits one to make predictions about preferences, by ...

Hierarchy vs. partnership

Simple organizations, composed of operatives and one manager, may be organized as a hierarchy with the manager appropriating all profits or as a partnership with (say) equal shares of profits. Conditions on profitability and the optimal span of control are analyzed. Next, partnerships are considered and alternative incentives and distributions are compared. When partners are free to choose their time inputs, then a sufficiently high preference for leisure as against income will make a partnership more attractive even though it is less profitable.

THE LEISURE DIAGNOSTIC BATTERY: MEASURING PERCEIVED FREEDOM IN LEISURE

ABSTRACT This paper describes the conceptualization and development of instrumentation to measure an individual's perceived freedom in leisure. The instrumentation builds on the leisure as «state of mind» view utilizing elements of attribution theory, and work involving playfulness, optimum arousal, and leisure need satisfaction to build a conceptual basis for understanding leisure as a subjective experience. Scales representing five key concepts were developed. These included perceived leisure competence, perceived leisure locus of control, leisure needs, playfulness, and depth of involvement in leisure. Several other scales or tests representing knowledge of leisure opportunities, leisure preferences, and barriers to leisure fulfillment were also developed. Together these instruments compose the Leisure Diagnostic Battery. Testing revealed acceptable levels of alpha reliability. Validity has been tested utilizing a confirmatory factor analysis and correlations of scale scores with other related variable...

Work and Leisure Orientations Among University Students: Implications for College and University Counselors

This article deals with a study of the work and leisure orientations of 516 university students and provides support for the enhanced role of leisure in career and lifestyle. Implications for college and university counselors engaged in the career‐counseling process are also discussed.

Marx's Hypotheses on the Length of the Working Day

In order to argue that value depends exclusively on labor, Marx had to assume a uniform rate of surplus value (exploitation) across all industries. But if this rate of exploitation is the same everywhere, hours of work have also to be uniform. Marx accordingly insisted that this was so and quoted contemporary evidence in support. A close examination of his sources (nineteenth-century factory inspectors' reports) fails, however, to confirm his prediction. Instead the data are more consistent with the competing neoclassical hypothesis, originating with Jevons, that work hours will vary because workers' labor and leisure preferences vary.

New town leisure: a British-US comparison

The relative influences of resource and cultural differences on leisure behaviour and orientations in a pair of new towns, one in the United States (Reston) and the other in England (Telford) are compared. Three kinds of data were obtained: (a) the investigator lived in Telford for six weeks and participated in formal and informal leisure activities, supplementing observation with informal interviewing; (b) the planning department of Telford Development Corporation supplied materials on residents and their backgrounds, recreation provision and participation, and plans for the future; (c) the survey instrument used with 215 adults in the Reston study was revised and administered to 40 Telford adults.

The Leisure Preferences, Problems, and Needs of the Elderly. Leo H. McAvoy. Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 11, no. 1, First Quarter 1979, pp. 40-47. National Recreation and Park Association, 1601 North Kent Street, Arlington, Virginia 22209. $2.50

The Leisure Preferences, Problems, and Needs of the Elderly. Leo H. McAvoy. Journal of Leisure Research, vol. 11, no. 1, First Quarter 1979, pp. 40-47. National Recreation and Park Association, 1601 North Kent Street, Arlington, Virginia 22209. $2.50

Pre-retirement Life-style and the Degree of Planning for Retirement

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the pre-retirement life-style of adult men, and both the degree of planning for the retirement years and the decision to retire early. Adult males (N = 360) between 55 and 64 years of age were interviewed about their present leisure life-style and the amount of retirement planning they were doing or had done. In order to determine which demographic, attitudinal and social participation variables predict retirement related behavior, Multiple Classification Analysis (MCA) was used. It was found that socioeconomic status, health, involvement in expressive type organizations, job satisfaction and degree of leisure orientation were associated with pre-retirement attitudes toward retirement.