Factors Related to Physically Active Leisure among College Students

The purpose of this study was to provide additional information about the complex relation of social cognitive constructs, gender, and active leisure among university students. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to test the hypothesized relations in a sample of 874 undergraduate students. Peer and family support had a moderate direct effect on self-efficacy while self-efficacy had a large direct effect on active leisure. A moderation effect was demonstrated. Peer support was more influential on male respondents' beliefs that they could be active and males reported higher active leisure participation when compared to females. The results of this study provide valuable insight into the mechanisms of influence on active leisure among this university population.     

Preferred Leisure Type,Value Orientations,and Psychological Well-Being Among East Asian Youth

ABSTRACT

This study investigated preferred leisure type and its associations with value orientations and psychological well-being (PWB) among adolescents in South Korea, China, and Japan (N = 6,157). Chi-square analyses were performed to examine differences in preferred leisure type (i.e., active vs. passive) across countries. Overall, adolescents preferred passive to active leisure. A series of logistic regressions showed that students who value religion (Japanese and Korean), community (Chinese), and same-sex friends (Chinese) were more likely to prefer active leisure. Furthermore, active leisure pursuit was associated with high PWB among adolescents in all three countries. Though some of the findings support previous studies suggesting cultural differences in leisure, values, and PWB, similar patterns were observed in the associations between variables among Korean, Chinese, and Japanese adolescents.     

Leisure and work ethics and locus of control

Abstract

Equivocal findings regarding the relationship between attitudes toward leisure and the extent to which people feel in control of their own fate led to the consideration of possible mediating influences. The current study was an attempt to examine the relationship between locus of control and the affective domain of leisure attitude, or leisure “ethic,” while controlling for the influence of work ethic. The possibility of differences between males and females and students and nonstudents led to four separate subgroup analyses. Results indicated that of the four groups, only female students showed a substantial relationship between locus of control and leisure ethic. In this group, leisure ethic was associated with an external locus of control, the tendency to regard the control of life's circumstances as lying outside oneself. In none of the groups was the influence of work ethic great enough to make an appreciable difference in the relationship between locus of control and leisure ethic. The group differences were discussed in terms of sex‐role orientations and career aspirations.     

Empowerment,Resistance, and Leisure among Latino Student Organizations

ABSTRACT

The goal of the study was to examine leisure, empowerment, and resistance among members of Latino student organizations. The study examined how the process of empowerment is being achieved and what roles leisure plays in the empowerment process. Focus groups were conducted with 26 representatives of four Latino student organizations on a campus of a large midwestern university. The findings showed that the empowerment was being achieved by helping students adjust to the university life and succeed in college, by strengthening their cultural heritage and teaching others about the Latino culture, and by helping local underprivileged communities. Leisure was used to foster bonds among group members, to showcase groups' cultural heritage, to make activities organized for others more attractive, and as a form of fundraising and attracting new members.     

Acculturative Stress and Leisure among Chinese International Graduate Students

ABSTRACT

This study explored the roles of leisure participation in helping Chinese international graduate students cope with acculturative stress. In particular, it examined (a) the expectations and preparations with respect to acculturative stress made by the students prior to their arrival to the United States, (b) the acculturative stressors experienced by the students during the postarrival transition phase, (c) the role of leisure participation in coping with acculturative stress, and (d) the limitations of leisure as a coping strategy and the negative impacts of leisure on acculturative stress. Two rounds of semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 first-year Chinese international graduate students attending a large midwestern university. The findings revealed that due to the unique cultural influence and the status of international students, the participants experienced distinctive acculturative stressors. Although leisure participation was an effective tool in combating acculturative stress, in some circumstances it a led to a plethora of negative outcomes.     

Exploring Relationships Between Physical Activity,Leisure Involvement,Self-Efficacy,and Motivation via Participant Segmentation

Research objectives were both applied and conceptual. Actionable segments of physical activity participants were developed using leisure involvement profiles. Also explored were links between leisure involvement, a construct primarily developed and applied in leisure literature, and psychological variables found to influence participation in physical activity literature. A community-based sample of 384 adults completed measures of five involvement facets and psychological, demographic, and behavioral variables. Cluster analysis revealed four groups: Extremely Involved, Quite Involved, Moderately Involved, and Marginally Involved. Scores for physical activity behavior, self-efficacy, motivations, and body mass index were most positive for the Extremely Involved, with a linear decline across the three remaining segments (p < .05). Few demographic between-group differences were found. The data suggest that leisure involvement provides an effective means of segmenting physically active leisure participants for purposes of research and health promotion, and that self-efficacy and motivation for physical activity were predictably linked to involvement.     

Cultural variation in the use of leisure time: Foreign tourists at the Grand Canyon

Abstract

Though time has often been treated as a sociological variable in the study of leisure, common assumptions about cultural variation in the use of leisure time remain largely untested. This study examined the time‐budgets of foreign visitors on organized tours at Grand Canyon National Park. Using over 1,400 observations of 40 tours, we examined the time‐budgets of Japanese, French, and other European tour groups. Significant differences in the allocation of time were found among the Japanese and European groups. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings and of time‐budget studies in general for research and leisure behavior.     

The relationships between stress,health, and physically active leisure as a function of life‐cycle

This article examines relationships between stress, health, and participation in physically active leisure using data collected as part of the 1985 and 1990 U.S. National Health Interview Surveys (NHIS). In particular, the article analyzes: (a) the effects of life‐cycle progression (controlled for gender) on subjectively perceived stress and self‐reported health; (b) the role of physically active leisure in enhancing health or buffering adverse health outcomes of stress; and (c) the effects of selected social‐economic factors, such as education and income, on the relationships between life‐cycle, stress, health, and physically active leisure. According to our analyses: (1) stress is unevenly distributed across the life span; (2) stress‐reducing effects of physically active leisure are present among retired older people more so than in the middle‐aged life‐cycle groups; and (3) direct health‐enhancing effects of participation in physically active leisure are more evident than the buffering effects of leisure on stress‐health relationships. A critical discussion of methodological and substantive issues facing researchers interested in the relationships between leisure, stress, and health is provided.     

The ethics of play,leisure, and recreation in the twentieth century, 1900–1983

Abstract

The association between play, leisure, recreation, value, and free choice leads to the problem of ethics. The purpose of this study was to describe the absolute ultimate end (the highest good) and its relation to play, leisure, and recreation in the twentieth century. This problem was approached by perusing literature from the period 1900 through 1983. Writers were organized by category and period, accompanied by explanation of how play, leisure, and recreation were related to the highest good. Eighty writers considered the question of the absolute ultimate end. Nine categories were discerned, dominated by divine ends and happiness. Play, leisure, and recreation were variously connected with the ultimate ends as both ends and means. Additionally, the practical implications of ethics are discussed using several examples. A partnership between science and philosophy is recommended for further study of ethics. Philosophy of leisure, however, must be revived for this alliance to     

Rethinking Internal Consistency in Cronbach's Alpha

Stress is one byproduct of hectic and busy lives. Therefore, examining active living and leisure in relation to stress and coping offers an important area of study. This paper presents key findings from a multi-year qualitative study of stress and coping. A series of focus groups were conducted with diverse residents of a western Canadian city including: (a) Aboriginal individuals with diabetes, (b) individuals with disabilities, and (c) people who identified as gay or lesbian. The findings emphasized that active leisure is more than physical activity, and that less physical forms of leisure should not be undervalued in the conceptualization of active living and leisure. Coping with stress using active leisure encompassed a wide range of meanings (e.g., spiritual, social, cultural, altruistic, empowerment).     

Leisure and Active Lifestyles: Research Reflections

Leisure researchers have been studying active living for many years. The research, however, has focused more on individual factors than social and environmental determinants that enable physical activity and health. The focus of the introduction to this special issue on “leisure and active lifestyles” is to highlight leisure literature that can be directly tied to active living. These dimensions include outdoor recreation, community recreation areas and facilities, time usage, barriers and constraints, and social interdependence. We provide an overview of the significance of the papers in this special issue and offer some reflections regarding future research related to active living, physical activity, health, and leisure. We underline the value of the holistic approach evident in leisure research and call for broader methods and more collaborative transdisciplinary research.     

Measuring the ABCs of Leisure Experience: Awareness,Boredom, Challenge,Distress

Abstract

The psychometric properties of four aspects of leisure experience (Awareness, Boredom, Challenge, Distress), originally identified and tested with adolescents, were investigated with college students. Findings indicated that the original subscales were internally consistent and could be applied, with minor modification, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, college major, or employment. Interrelationships among the four leisure constructs of Awareness, Boredom, Challenge, and Distress were found to vary as a function of both gender and ethnicity, yielding different profiles of African-American, Asian-American, European-American, and Hispanic-American male and female students.     

Effect of Supervised Work Experience on Perception of Work in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry

ABSTRACT

This study examines how supervised work experiences, among other factors, affect tourism and hospitality undergraduates' perception of work in the industry. Other factors include parents' influence, students' experience with the industry as customers, family connections with the industry, previous industry-related work experience and sources of information about the industry. Perceived importance of tourism to the destination was also included, in view of the specific changes taking place in the tourism environment of the destination under study. Results indicated that undergraduates in junior students were influenced more by their parents while senior students their SWEs. The study offers recommendations to alter or enhance students' perception about industry work.     

Coming to Terms with Leisure and Globalization

Abstract

This article is concerned with the engagement of leisure studies as an academic field and as organized, professional intervention with the phenomenon of globalization, using the exemplificatory case of the World Leisure and Recreation Association’s (now World Leisure’s) Sao Paulo Declaration on Leisure and Globalization as a point of reference. Deploying a combination of globalization theory and ‘autoethnographic’ research in relation to instances of mediated leisure culture, it reflects on conceptual imprecision and potential contradictions in the Declaration as indicative of wider problems in the disciplinary field. Leisure studies researchers are enjoined to avoid complicity in promoting both dystopian and utopian versions of globalization theory, and sceptically to assess the complex interaction of globalizing and other macro/micro processes. The article concludes by arguing for a wide‐ranging, critically reflexive leisure studies research agenda supported by principled strategic interventions in leisure power relations.     

Governing Working Bodies Through Leisure

This paper focuses on what appears to represent the consummate extension and blurring of distinctions between work and leisure, with employers providing some form of leisure opportunities for their employees at, or associated with, the workplace. Empirically, the paper draws upon investigations undertaken with three Scottish-based case study organizations conducted from 1999 to 2001. The results showed that healthy leisure forms are central to contemporary active leisure initiatives at work, but that the docile assimilation of these messages is neither universal nor without contestation.     

EDITORS' NOTE

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the pre- and post-entry attitudes and expectations of university tourism students. A longitudinal study was conducted over three years to determine the degree of “fit” between employment and employee in the tourism industry, an industry often thought of as providing less than satisfactory working conditions. The study found that students are generally satisfied with their working conditions, but that students tend to have unrealistic expectations about the salary they will attract at graduation. In addition results show a significant increase before and after job entry between the importance given to intellectual challenge and the opportunities for promotion. There was also a significant decrease in the perceived importance of opportunities for travel, combining work and leisure, and outdoor work and an active lifestyle. Students' comments on their employment and educational experiences are included and the implications of this study for educators, researchers, students and industry are discussed.     

Recreation and Leisure Research from an Active Living Perspective: Taking a Second Look at Urban Trail Use Data

This paper examines recreation and leisure research within the context of active living, and highlights an apparent gap between the current involvement of recreation and leisure researchers and the potential they could offer to this important and expanding area of inquiry. To illustrate this potential, I looked at two previous studies that focused on the recreational use of urban trails and reanalyzed the data from an active living perspective. In Study 1, individual, social and environmental factors helped distinguish between low, moderate, and high activity level trail uses. In Study 2, use patterns helped distinguish between health-motivated trail users and individuals using trails for recreation and other purposes, but perceptual and demographic data were similar among groups. Findings from similar studies can help inform active living research, and recreation and leisure studies can provide leadership and contributions to a transdisciplinary understanding of active living.     

Prediction of leisure participation from behavioral,normative, and control beliefs: An application of the theory of planned behavior

Abstract

The theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 1985, 1987) is offered as a comprehensive framework for understanding of leisure participation. Salient behavioral, normative, and control beliefs, theoretically the basic determinants of behavior, were assessed with respect to five leisure activities: spending time at the beach, jogging or running, mountain climbing, boating, and biking. College students completed a questionnaire containing measures of these beliefs and of global expressions of attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. One year later the participants reported how often they had performed each behavior in the preceding 12 months. Behavioral beliefs were found to partition into beliefs about affective reactions and beliefs about costs and benefits. Participation in leisure activities was influenced by these affective and instrumental beliefs, as well as by normative beliefs about the expectations of important others and by control beliefs about required resources and other factors that impede or facilitate leisure participation.     

Accessing leisure in an unfamiliar society via mobile instant messaging: A case study of academic sojourners visiting South Korea

ABSTRACT

This paper explores how academic sojourners, unfamiliar with the local language and culture, accessed casual leisure through mobile instant messaging during a short stay of one or two semesters in South Korea. Ninety-six English-speaking academic sojourners on Korean government scholarships covering tuition, room and board in exchange for contact with local university students seeking informal English language practice took part in this study. They represent a shift in academic sojourner mobility from outbound Asian students seeking language study in English-speaking countries to inbound English-speakers providing language support within Asia. Qualitative analysis revealed how casual leisure, the features of South Korea’s advanced digital environment and mobile instant messaging chat rooms coalesced. The findings show how local digital practices complement casual leisure access and how digital practices can become casual leisure despite limits in language ability and cultural understanding. It recommends further exploration of links between leisure, digital environments and mobile instant messaging in other research settings that are experiencing flows of globally mobile populations.