Enhancing the Leisure Experience: Motivations, Meanings, and Constraints

Vocabulary flashcards for the lecture notes on leisure and aging.

Ulyssean living

A proactive, purposeful approach to leisure in later life, framing leisure as a meaningful path that guides an individual's engagement with activities and contributes to personal growth and fulfillment, much like Odysseus's journey.

Objectives of Leisure

The diverse reasons and outcomes individuals seek through leisure engagement, ranging from physical and mental restoration to personal growth and social connection. These objectives include:

• Relaxation: Seeking rest, relief, and variety for the body and mind.
• Diversion: Desiring a change of pace, relief from tension, and engaging in light activities.
• Self-development: Pursuing learning, joining clubs, or participating in cultural activities to increase knowledge and foster personal growth.
• Creativity: Engaging in imaginative production and new forms of cultural or artistic expression.
• Sensual transcendence: Experiencing heightened sensual pleasure and activation of the senses.

Intrinsic motivation

The inherent desire to engage in an activity purely for its own satisfaction, enjoyment, and the pleasure derived from performing it, without expectation of external rewards or pressures.

Self-determination theory

A macro-theory of human motivation, development, and well-being, proposing that individuals have fundamental psychological needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Satisfaction of these needs fosters intrinsic motivation, personal growth, and psychological well-being through activities.

Competence

The fundamental psychological need to feel effective and capable in one's actions, involving a drive toward mastery, exploration, persistence, and continuous self-development.

Autonomy

The fundamental psychological need to feel a sense of self-regulation and control over one's behaviors, choices, and outcomes, extending beyond mere independence to genuinely endorse one's actions.

Relatedness

The fundamental psychological need to feel connected, cared for, and to experience a sense of belonging and meaningful social bonds with others.

Flow

A psychological state, conceptualized by Csikszentmihalyi, characterized by complete absorption, deep enjoyment, and focused concentration in an activity. It occurs when one's skills are perfectly matched to the challenges of the task, avoiding both boredom (if challenges are too low) and anxiety (if challenges are too high).

Optimal arousal

The theory that individuals are motivated to maintain an ideal or 'just right' level of stimulation. When under-aroused, they seek novelty, challenge, and excitement; when over-aroused, they seek calming activities to achieve this preferred state.

Seek and Escape (Iso-Ahola's model)

Iso-Ahola's dualistic model of leisure motivation, explaining that leisure participation is driven by a desire to both 'seek' personal rewards (e.g., self-development, social interaction) and 'escape' from undesirable aspects of one's environment (e.g., daily routines, stress). Both seeking and escaping components are present in most leisure experiences.

Breadth hypothesis

This hypothesis suggests that as the number or variety of an individual’s sources of meaning or domains of engagement expands (e.g., hobbies, relationships, work), their overall personal meaning in life tends to increase.

Depth hypothesis

This hypothesis posits that as an individual's engagement with specific activities or life domains provides higher levels of profound personal meaning, their overall personal meaning in life deepens and becomes more robust.

Components of meaning (Reker & Wong)

According to Reker and Wong, meaning in life encompasses a spectrum of personal significance, ranging from basic needs and pleasure to advanced levels of cosmic and existential understanding. These components include:

• Life satisfaction: General positive evaluation of one's life.
• Purpose: Having goals and a sense of direction.
• Coherence: Understanding how one's life fits together and makes sense.
• Significance: Feeling valued and that one's life matters.
• Existential fulfillment: Connection to broader values, spirituality, or a cosmic perspective.

Types of constraints in leisure

Factors that prevent or limit an individual's participation in or enjoyment of leisure activities. These can be categorized as:

• Intrapersonal constraints: Psychological barriers (e.g., stress, low self-esteem, lack of perceived skill, guilt) that originate within the individual.
• Interpersonal constraints: Barriers arising from interactions with others (e.g., lack of leisure partners, conflicting schedules with friends or family, social expectations).
• Structural constraints: External barriers (e.g., lack of time, financial limitations, health issues, lack of transportation, insufficient facilities, geographical distance).

Constraint responses

Strategies or coping mechanisms individuals employ to negotiate, overcome, or adapt to leisure constraints. These include:

• Cessation: Discontinuing the activity.
• Compensation: Substituting one activity for another.
• Self-improvement: Developing skills or resources to overcome the constraint.
• Modification: Adjusting the activity or participation to fit within the constraints.
• Reshaping: Altering one's perception or goals related to the activity.

Affordances

Environmental properties that 'signal' or provide opportunities for specific actions to an individual. In leisure, affordances are defined by the interaction between an individual's abilities and the possibilities and constraints presented by the environment, shaping potential leisure behaviors.

Benefits of constraints

While often perceived negatively, facing and negotiating leisure constraints can lead to several benefits, such as enhanced problem-solving skills, increased creativity in finding alternative leisure options, development of new interests, greater appreciation for available leisure, and a strengthened sense of self-efficacy and resilience through overcoming challenges.

Two types of interest appraisals

In the context of evaluating activities or situations, these refer to the cognitive processes by which individuals assess the significance and implications of a stimulus for their well-being.

• Primary appraisal: The initial evaluation of a situation or activity for its personal relevance and impact (e.g., 'Is this interesting/threatening/challenging to me?').
• Secondary appraisal: The subsequent evaluation of one's resources and coping options if the situation is deemed relevant (e.g., 'Do I have the skills/time/resources to engage in or deal with this?').