Basic psychological need satisfaction and affect within the leisure sphere

Research on leisure and well-being in non-Western contexts is rare. Our study addresses this issue by investigating whether satisfaction of three basic psychological needs – autonomy, competence and/or relatedness – influences four types of affective well-being – high-arousal positive (HAP) affect, low-arousal positive (LAP) affect, high-arousal negative (HAN) affect and/or low-arousal negative (LAN) affect – within the leisure sphere. Telephone survey data were collected from 583 Hong Kong Chinese employees. Structural equation modelling indicated that (1) autonomy, competence and relatedness need satisfaction were all significantly and positively correlated with HAP affect; (2) autonomy need satisfaction alone was significantly and positively related with LAP affect; and (3) autonomy need satisfaction alone was significantly and negatively associated with both LAN and HAN affects. Taken together, these results suggest that fulfilment of basic psychological needs, especially the need for autonomy, contributes to people’s overall affective well-being, within the leisure sphere. We discuss our findings in terms of two frameworks: basic psychological needs theory and the DRAMMA leisure model. We also explicate the practical implications of our study and provide future research recommendations.     

Industrial tourists' behavioral intention toward slow travel in Taiwan

Taiwan has experienced rapid growth in the last decade, especially in the number of international tourists and domestic leisure travelers it receives. In response to pressures to minimize the negative environmental impacts of such visits (i.e. greenhouse gas emissions) and reshape the notion of sustainable destinations, since 2010 the concept of slow travel has been promoted by governments and the tourism industry. Consequently, calls to expand programs connecting various destinations (e.g. the establishment of industrial tourism) using slower modes of transportation have begun to emerge. In an effort to elucidate the key factors that motivate a traveler's intention to engage in slow travel, this study has constructed a research model that incorporates slow travel's three core elements: the mode of slow travel, tourism experience and environmental consciousness. Particularly, this study has focused on industrial tourists who typically rely on cars to reach destinations that have become new tourism hotspots. The quality of the transportation mode (i.e. a shuttle bus) and the tourism experience were found to be the most powerful determinants of their intentions. This study provides important information to practitioners seeking to market slow travel as a form of sustainable tourism and an alternative to conventional leisure.     

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.     

A Cross-Cultural/National Study of Canadian,Chinese, and Japanese University Students' Leisure Satisfaction and Subjective Well-Being

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine whether Canadian, Chinese, and Japanese university students' leisure satisfaction affected their subjective well-being (SWB) and, if so, how this process was similar and different cross-culturally/nationally. A series of stepwise multiple regressions indicated that, in general, satisfying leisure significantly and positively impacted SWB across all three cultures, but there were also differences between (a) Canada and both China and Japan in terms of aesthetic leisure satisfaction and (b) China and Japan in terms of psychological and physiological leisure satisfaction. Overall, our results suggest that while satisfying leisure significantly, positively, and substantively impacts SWB in both Western and East Asian cultural contexts, culture frequently influences which specific elements are pertinent. This cross-cultural/national study has important theoretical and practical implications for the currently Western-centric leisure literature and for the understanding of the different roles leisure plays in enhancing SWB across cultures, respectively.     

Learning orientation and self-initiated expatriates’ work performance: a moderated-mediation model

The hospitality industry is looking for talent beyond national boundaries. Self-initiated expatriation is a widespread phenomenon that has gained limited attention. This study investigates if learning orientation and cultural distance affect the work performance of self-initiated expatriates. The study also tests the moderated-mediation effect of prior international experience on work performance when mediated through cross-cultural adjustment. The authors collected data from 311 self-initiated expatriates from the Malaysian hotel industry. The results confirm that learning orientation was positively related to work performance when mediated through cross-cultural adjustment. The greater the distance between home and host country culture, the higher the cross-cultural adjustment, thus supporting the cultural distance paradox. Prior international experience moderated the relationship between learning outcome and work performance when mediated through cross-cultural adjustment, thus supporting the moderated-mediation model. This study includes the theoretical and practical implications of the findings. It also outlines the limitations and avenues for further research.     

Exploring the relationship between types of leisure activities and acculturation among Korean immigrants

Research has suggested that leisure engagement facilitates acculturation among immigrants. A dearth of information exists about which types of leisure activities are associated with acculturation among immigrants. This study focused on 434 Korean immigrants in order to determine what types of leisure activities were associated with behavioural acculturation (e.g. language usage and social context) and cultural value acculturation (e.g. collectivism, self-control and success). The results showed that participation in hobbies and indoor activities were the positive predictors of behavioural acculturation, while engagement in cultural and volunteer activities was the negative predictors of behavioural acculturation. In addition, cultural value acculturation had a positive association with social activity engagement, but had a negative association with participation in physical, cultural and volunteering activities. Overall, these findings indicated that engaging in leisure activities is positively associated with acculturation. This study suggests that leisure engagement can be beneficial in the successful acculturation process of the Korean immigrant in Western society.     

Cross-cultural event volunteering: Challenge and intelligence

Globalization and increasing number of international events makes cross-cultural volunteering a popular phenomenon when combined with the greater mobility of people. Focusing on a volunteer's experience at four events in New Zealand and China, this paper aims to explore the challenges and intelligence that encountered at such events. Earley and Ang's cultural intelligence framework is used to explain what contributes to successful cross-cultural volunteering experiences. Drawing upon the autoethnographical data and a critical discourse analysis of volunteer handbooks and emails, the results identified a four-dimensional schema to explain the auto-ethnographical perceptions of what is termed a 'dual' volunteer experience. The analysis suggests that cultural intelligence leads to an enhanced experience, while a lack of intercultural effectiveness leads to challenges. Recommendations for cross-cultural volunteering practice are also presented.     

Perceived Parental Control,Restructuring Ability,and Leisure Motivation: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

ABSTRACT

Leisure is viewed worldwide as an important developmental context for adolescents. As leisure research and programs are shared across nations, it is crucial to examine the cultural equivalence of leisure-related constructs and how they are related. Grounded in self-determination theory, this study explored the influence of perceived parental control and leisure restructuring ability on leisure motivation (amotivation and autonomous motivation) using samples of eighth grade adolescents in the United States and South Africa. Results of multiple-group structural equation modeling showed that the measurement model of the constructs was equivalent across the two samples, but the determinants of leisure motivation differed between the two samples. The findings provide implications for future cross-cultural research in leisure and offer insights on design and adaptation of leisure-based intervention and education programs in different cultural contexts.     

The impact of leisure coping beliefs and strategies on adaptive outcomes

Despite the recent growth of leisure coping research, it is not entirely clear: what aspects of leisure best contribute to coping with stress, and how the mechanisms that link leisure to adaptive outcomes operate. Another limitation of this research has been a tendency to examine leisure coping independent of general coping - coping not directly associated with leisure (e.g., problem-focused coping). To help overcome these limitations, the purpose of this study was to test two models of leisure and coping: (a) an independent model and (b) a buffer model, when the effects of general coping were taken into account. The findings of the study using police and emergency response service workers suggest that the effects of leisure on adaptive outcomes differ depending on the type of leisure coping used. Situation-specific leisure coping strategies (i.e., actual coping behaviors and cognitions available through leisure) were significantly associated with effectiveness of coping, satisfactory coping outcomes, and stress reduction (i.e., immediate adaptive outcomes), whereas enduring leisure coping beliefs (i.e., personality dispositions and beliefs about the role of leisure as a means of managing stress) significantly predicted better physical health (as a long-term outcome), irrespective of the level of stress experienced. Both types of leisure coping had significant 'main effects' supporting the independent model. Also, evidence of the buffer model was found for the effects of leisure coping strategies on moderating the detrimental impact of stress on physical health. Implications of leisure coping research for health promotion and lifestyle intervention are discussed.     

Cross-cultural comparison of the image of Guam perceived by Korean and Japanese leisure travelers: Importance–performance analysis

As international tourism becomes a global phenomenon and its volume increases rapidly, understanding cultural differences and similarities provides destination marketers in a host country with a strategic platform upon which any planning and marketing efforts should be grounded. Based on the theory of cultural value orientation, the current study focuses on a cross-cultural comparison between the two markets most important to Guam tourism: Japanese and Korean leisure travelers. Using Importance–performance analysis, the evaluative image of Guam perceived by Korean travelers is compared with that perceived by Japanese travelers to uncover any differences between these two nationality groups. The results clearly indicate a contrast between the two groups in terms of destination evaluations and behavioral patterns.     

Women,work, and leisure: The days of our lives

Abstract

Utilizing a qualitative research methodology, this study attempts to identify and understand the experience of enjoyment (or lack thereof) within the work and nonwork (i.e., family, leisure) spheres of working women. Specifically, the study attempts to identify the contexts in which professional and blue‐collar women experience flow (Csikszentmihalyi 1975) or its antithesis (i.e., anti‐flow) which can be characterized by boredom, frustration, and anxiety. In addition, the study examines the nature and the meanings of these experiences within the work/nonwork lives of these women.

Findings of this study suggest that professional women tended to experience flow in both work and nonworking settings, while the blue‐collar women tended to experience flow only in their nonwork (i.e., home, leisure) spheres. Both groups experienced some degree of anti‐flow when they performed tasks which were repetitious, tedious, and simplistic, regardless of the setting. While such tasks constituted a very small part of the professional women's jobs, they formed the major part of the blue‐collar women's jobs.     

Examining Rival Models of Leisure Coping Mechanisms

The present study examined the role of leisure in coping with stress and promoting good health. Using police and emergency response service workers (n = 132), this study tested a number of theoretically grounded leisure coping models to discover mechanisms by which leisure coping influences the relationship between stressors and adaptational outcomes (i.e., immediate adaptational outcomes such as coping effectiveness and stress reduction, and physical and mental health). Ensel and Lin's (1991) life stress paradigm was adopted to conceptualize these rival models (eight in total), and structural equation modeling was used to compare goodness of fit among the models to identify the best model. The findings suggest that stressors and leisure coping appear to independently influence adaptational outcomes. Leisure coping facilitated positive immediate adaptational outcomes that subsequently had a positive impact on health, irrespective of the level of stress experienced. The potential contribution of leisure to coping with stress and health is highlighted. Results suggest that the development of enduring beliefs about the role of leisure as ways of coping (i.e., leisure coping beliefs) seems essential for the actual and effective use of leisure as a means to manage stress (i.e., leisure coping strategies). Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Creating Distance from Body Issues: Exploring New Materialist Feminist Possibilities for Renegotiating Gendered Embodiment

Abstract

The body’s active role in the production of gendered embodiments is a key focus for feminist cultural studies and leisure studies. The article draws on new materialist feminist scholarship to explore how gender relations are produced and negotiated in physical culture through one case study example taken from a wider study of young people’s experiences of the body and self-image over time. The article explores how gendered embodiment is assembled through the socio-material circumstances of everyday life. For one particiapnt, 'Ann', “creating distance” from appearance concerns was an embodied process which involved new practices and encounters (e.g., walking for leisure, reading feminist literature) and relationships and engagements with others (e.g., a partner, friends, family). The potential for feminism to open possibilities to imagine the body otherwise is also discussed in relation to recent efforts to foster social justice imperatives in leisure sciences and feminist physical cultural studies.     

Empirical investigation of the relationship between serious leisure and meaning in life among Japanese and Euro-Canadians

ABSTRACT

Serious leisure (SL) is a specific leisure experience characterised by perseverance, leisure career, personal effort, durable benefits, unique ethos, and identification with the activity. As it results in self-actualisation and self-expression, Robert Stebbins has proposed that SL does not only increase participants’ hedonic well-being (e.g. pleasant feelings), but also enhance their eudaimonic well-being [e.g. meaning in life (MIL), self-expressiveness, virtue]. Although this argument makes logical sense, it has not been empirically tested. The purpose of this research is to empirically examine the relationship between SL and eudaimonic well-being focusing on MIL. We used data from 207 Japanese and 202 Euro-Canadian middle-aged and older adults collected through a cross-sectional online survey. After multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, multiple mediation analyses were conducted to test whether SL core characteristics impacted MIL or its sub-dimensions (i.e. purpose, coherence, and significance) both directly and indirectly via personal and interpersonal rewards of SL. Results suggested that among Japanese, SL was positively related to MIL both directly and indirectly via SL’s personal rewards. Among Euro-Canadians, the direct link was limited to only a few MIL sub-dimensions, and indirect effects were not significant. These mixed results were discussed in relation to SL, eudaimonic well-being, and culture.     

The Temporal Phases of Leisure Experience: Expectation,Experience and Reflection of Leisure Participation

While there have been studies whereby the methodology relied on evaluations of pre-, during, and postparticipation experiences, it is far more common that research on leisure does not consider the temporal phases of a leisure experience. Further, many of the studies that have attempted to encompass the multiple temporal phases of experiential leisure involvement have not focused on participants who had established significant leisure careers or long histories of recreation participation in a singular activity. The purpose of this study was to explore the temporal phases of a leisure experience in the context of individuals' in situ attendance at a niche music performance. These phases consisted of participants' expectations before the event, the actual experience during the event, and the memory of that experience after its completion. Because participants wanted to feel in control of their lives, personal reassessments and the prioritization of positive events sought to emphasize the value of their agency. Researchers found that the reconstruction of memory drives desire for future participation as well as the associative expectations of what is to come.     

Make a loyal visitor: a study of leisure experience at Farglory corporate museum in Taiwan

Modern museum operation has evolved from simply providing the public with cultural and historical information to becoming a part of the tourism and leisure industry that provides “edutainment.” In response to intense competition and challenges, museums now place a strong focus on customer experience to elevate their appeal. Targeting newly established corporate museums, this study investigates the relationship between customer leisure motivation, leisure experience, and customer loyalty intention by using a structural equation modelling method. The results show that leisure experience mediates the effect of leisure motivation on loyalty intention. In other words, customer leisure motivation can lead to customer loyalty intention through leisure experience. The results further reveal that act experience dimension provided by corporate museums had significant effects. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Characterizing constraints of leisure: a Foucaultian analysis of leisure constraints

Leisure constraint literature has typically assumed that constraints prevent or modify participation in leisure. In this paper, I take up the work of Michel Foucault (1926–1984) to show that social constraints are not merely restricting of leisure practices. When constraints are characterized as enabling as well as restricting, it is possible to explore when and how constraints enable and to plan to intervene with enabling constraints to improve the opportunities for participation. In order to show both the enabling and restricting effects of social constraints, the focus of the paper is first on how structural constraints of a leisure activity may restrict or enable participants. Next, as another way to emphasize that social constraints are enabling of leisure experience, Michel Foucault's work is taken up to demonstrate how constraints enable skill within a structure. Finally, structural constraints of identity are shown to impact on participation prior to engagement with a leisure experience.     

Towards quality of life: the effects of the wellness tourism experience

ABSTRACT

The wellness tourism sector has experienced a significant worldwide increase. This study aimed to identify the relationships between customer experience, leisure and non-leisure satisfaction, and quality of life in wellness tourism. Specifically, customer experience was evaluated with four dimensions of the experience economy: entertainment, educational, esthetic, and escapist. The findings of this study indicate that customer experience influences leisure satisfaction, which consequently leads to non-leisure satisfaction. It was also found that both leisure and non-leisure satisfaction contribute to customer quality of life. This study provides industry practitioners with practical knowledge for promoting traveler quality of life through wellness tourism and designing effective marketing strategies to this end.