rls 263 1. understanding leisure with social psychology

physical sciences

studies the more observable, natural, biological, material world (e.g., biology, physics, chemistry)

• more measurable and often something you can SEE i.e., heart rate, body changes; how is my BODY reacting?

social sciences

Studies thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of people and how they relate to others (e.g., psychology, sociology)

• less measurable and often something you CANNOT see i.e., thoughts, feelings, perceptions, subjective opinions; how is my BRAIN reacting?

In leisure, using a social science approach…

helps researchers, practitioners, and stakeholders to examine people’s leisure behaviours and experiences, and the factors that influence them, to better design and deliver relevant services.

some leisure statistics

• Green spaces have positive associations with mental wellness, but more evidence is needed to inform planning (Houlden et al., 2018).

• Higher involvement in leisure activities in older adults was positively related to better health (Chang et al., 2014).

• Those involved with sport tend to reflect higher levels of happiness than those that are not involved in sport (Balish et al, 2016)

true or false: there is one definition of leisure

false! it is a subjective term.

what are leisure behaviours seen as?

a function of the interactions between internal psychological dispositions and situational influences that are part of an individual’s social environment.

internal psychological dispositions

dispositions may include perceptions, feelings, emotions, beliefs, attitudes, needs, personality characteristics; INTERNAL factors

situational influences

may include other people (e.g., friends, family, colleagues, peers), group norms, current events and trends, media; EXTERNAL factors

social psychology of leisure

the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours during or regarding leisure are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people.

• how other poeple can influence you and the way you do things (ex. they’re watching, you think someone may be thinking about you, any reason relating to pressure of others that changes the way you do something changes)

in the social psychology of leisure, what is the focus on?

the INDIVIDUAL and how they behave in and perceive their social world.

scientific method in the social psychology of leisure

a method that involves making observations or gathering information in a systematic way using controlled inquiry and a rational approach (^^considering different, extraneous factors when explaining results + finding the time where things are the most unaffected) to explanation. can involve many methods.

breaking down the terms in the definition of the scientific method

• Making observations or gathering information refers to noticing something, collecting, or generating data through a variety of means. It is any data that we have to answer our question(s).

• Systematic way means being deliberate, thorough, and organized in how we plan our exploration.

• Controlled inquiry looks to account for variables and outside variables that may influence the findings, results, data, or our subsequent interpretations.

• Rational approach involves using theory, educated reasoning, and logic to guide our exploration.

in the psychology of leisure, questions must…

be answerable by the scientific method

three types of information used in the scientific method

• descriptive information

• cause and effect relationship

• underlying linking mechanism

descriptive information

• a type of information used in the scientific method

• Describes basic facts about the problem or research question.

• Does not determine cause, but rather helps you see what is happening

• “What is happening?”

cause and effect relationship

• a type of information used in the scientific method

• Determines whether one variable influences, or causes, another. helps you find out if what you’re doing gives good results for people or not

• Could include positive or negative changes (i.e., increase or decrease).

• “DOES X lead to Y?”

underlying linking mechanism

• a type of information used in the scientific method

• Examined if there is evidence of a relationship between variables.

• Considering social and psychological explanations for the link.

• “WHY or HOW does X lead to Y?”

social psychological ways of looking at problems

• There are three competing views regarding how to best understand and predict people’s behaviour

• They differ based on the types of factors that are seen as the most useful in explaining one’s experience.

• Each places a different emphasis on social situations (i.e., external factors) and the person (i.e., internal psychological factors)

the three social psychological ways of looking at problems

• the situation (stimulus-response approach)

• the person (organism-response approach)

• the situation by the person (stimulus-organism-response appraoch)

the situation (stimulus-response approach)

• You cannot easily observe attitudes, thoughts, feelings, and motivations.

• Social situations or settings are the stimuli that cause a behaviour or response, and these can become predictable.

• Rooted in the idea that if a behaviour is rewarded, it’s likely to happen again.

• People behave in a certain way in certain settings as there is a positive outcome (e.g., enjoyment, achievement).

• Limited in that individual differences are not considered.

• (you cannot control the person, but you CAN control the environment in order to make predictable responses.)

• Something in or about the environment triggers behaviour.

• Rewarded behaviour is likely to happen again.

the person (organism-response approach)

• Based on the assumption that individuals possess stable and enduring differences in their needs, attitudes, motivations and personalities.

• Such differences are thought to lead people to behave in a consistent manner across a wide range of situations, but differently from other people.

• Surveys and personality tests are often used in organism-response approaches.

• However, in reality, there is not always consistency in how people act from situation to situation.

• Places very little emphasis on environmental factors.

• Stable internal psychological traits drive behaviour.

• People act consistently across settings due to internal factors.

the situation by the person (stimulus-organism-response appraoch)

• Approaches that take both the stimulus (i.e., situation) and the organism (i.e., the person) into account are labeled interactionist.

• Interactionist approaches assume that behaviour and experience are understood by considering both the influence of the social situation and the influence of the psychological characteristics of the individual.

• People may perceive and respond to the same objective situations quite differently.

• The person and environment cannot be separated. They BOTH play a role in how someone behaves. always!

• The situation may sometimes have a larger influence on a behaviour or experience and at other times personal factors may be more influential.

  • they’re not always equal! maybe barriers can be overcome if you personally really wanna go, or maybe law or other factors prevent you from engaging

• The same situation will affect people differently depending on their internal factors, and people’s psychological traits will cause them to interact differently with their engaged in these environments.