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Relationships between leisure and life worth living: A content analysis of photographic data
Abstract
Many studies have examined the relationships between leisure and subjective well-being. However, eudaimonic (e.g. meaning) and non-Western perspectives are lacking. Moreover, comparing leisure with other life domains could clarify leisure's unique roles in the pursuit of well-being. This study explores leisure's relationships with ikigai, a Japanese eudaimonic well-being concept. A purposeful sample of 27 Japanese university students provided 247 pictures of ikigai which they categorized into leisure and non-leisure groups. Photographic data were analysed via content analysis. The majority of ikigai pictures were associated with leisure. Compared with non-leisure pictures, leisure photographs were more frequently coded with 'hobby/ leisure' and 'nature', while less frequently coded with 'relationships', 'organizational activities', 'education', and 'values'. Leisure's unique roles in student's pursuit of ikigai relate to providing casual and enjoyable experiences, private time and space, and nature-based experiences. Our findings are discussed in relation to leisure studies, ikigai studies, and research on meaning in life. ARTICLE HISTORY
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This study aims to explore the linkage between residential tourism and eudaimonic well-being. A "value-adding" approach is applied to this analysis with an extended interpretation. Residential tourism involves a prolonged stay in a destination and thus can lead to fundamental changes in environment, lifestyle, social networks, and values. Residential tourist experience is found to have profound impacts on individuals' eudaimonic well-being in the eight aspects of autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, purpose in life, the extension of youth, positive relations with others, self-acceptance, and inner peace. This study advances Ryff's (1989) eudaimonic well-being model and contributes to tourism and mobility research. Implications for residential tourists and destination managers are also provided.
This study explores the tourism experience of Chinese independent travelers in the Arctic region from the perspective of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. We examine 12 “informant, influential and interactive” online travel blogs on Qyer.com, the biggest virtual community for Chinese outbound independent travelers. A three-level manual coding process of qualitative data has shown that hedonic Arctic experiences include “gazing at otherness”, “encounter and interaction”, “immersion in the local community”, “bodily feelings”, and “positive affects”. From eudaimonic perspective, visitors “experience challenges” (environmental, physical, and mental) at first, but they learn to “build capacities” and respond to these challenges. After conquering self-limits, Chinese travelers go through “revitalization of the body”, obtain “high spirits” and achieve “enrichment of the mind”. Some of the experiential outcomes can be explained by traditional Chinese value orientations such as self-cultivation, collectivism, and human–environment harmony. The authors recommend Arctic tourism to be positioned as a highly valued, exotic, and extraordinary destination for independent travelers who aim to enrich their mind and soul above material pleasure.
The science of wellbeing has come a long way from the early days of measuring wellbeing via a nation’s GDP, and wellbeing measures and concepts continue to proliferate to capture its various elements. Yet, much of this activity has reflected concepts from Western cultures, despite the emphasis placed on wellbeing in all corners of the globe. To meet the challenges and opportunities arising from cross-disciplinary research worldwide, the Well-Being for Planet Earth Foundation and the Gallup World Poll have joined forces to add more culturallyrelevant constructs and questions to existing Gallup modules. In this white paper, we review the discussion from the international well-being summit in Kyoto, Japan (August 2019), where nine such additions were proposed and highlight why a more global view of wellbeing is needed. Overall, the new items reflect a richer view of wellbeing than life satisfaction alone and include hedonic and eudaimonic facets of wellbeing, social wellbeing, the role of culture, community, nature, and governance. These additions allow for the measurement of a broader conceptualization of wellbeing, more refined and nuanced cross-cultural comparisons, and facilitate a better examination of the causes of variation in global wellbeing. The new Gallup World Poll additions will be trialled in 2020, with additional inclusions from this summit to be made in 2021.
Music participation is a way of life for many cultures and is an activity that is often passed on generationally. It can become especially important as a leisure activity for maintenance of self- and national identity for people who have migrated to countries of contrasting cultures, such as Australia. This article describes exploratory, qualitative research into the ways in which participatory music-making within communities from immigrant backgrounds in Brisbane, Australia may influence aspects of participants’ wellbeing. The sample for this research included three broadly-defined cultural groups living in the region: people of Baltic origin; people from Latin American and Caribbean backgrounds; and ‘newly arrived’ immigrants and refugees. Interviews with individuals have been analysed to explore the ways in which this involvement might affect mental, social, and emotional wellbeing. Our qualitative analyses demonstrated that beyond these aspects, factors of subjective wellbeing, both hedonic and eudaimonic, were apparent. This article aims to provoke discussions on the divergent ways in which immigrant communities utilise music-making practices to foster different types of wellbeing and the importance of maintaining diversity through cultural practices.
Despite the documented positive outcomes of adventure experiences, subjective well-being (SWB) frameworks have been largely absent from discourse and analyses in adventure studies. This conceptual paper proposes a framework for understanding how adventure recreation experiences promote eudaemonic SWB. In our framework, we propose that adventure recreation fosters eudaemonic aspects of SWB by supporting the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, relatedness and beneficence. The framework also integrates ‘contact with nature’ as an important mechanism through which adventure recreation fosters eudaemonic SWB. Analysis of research and practice across diverse aspects of adventure recreation (leisure, tourism, and education contexts) is used to support the proposed framework and to critically evaluate how psychological models, such as self-determination theory (SDT) and SWB, can advance theory and practice in adventure recreation. We conclude by offering a number of suggestions for future research directions and practical implications.
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.
Subjective well-being (SWB) is an extremely active area of research with about 170,000 articles and books published on the topic in the past 15 years. Methodological and theoretical advances have been notable in this period of time, with the increasing use of longitudinal and experimental designs allowing for a greater understanding of the predictors and outcomes that relate to SWB, along with the process that underlie these associations. In addition, theories about these processes have become more intricate, as findings reveal that many associations with SWB depend on people’s culture and values and the context in which they live. This review provides an overview of many major areas of research, including the measurement of SWB, the demographic and personality-based predictors of SWB, and process-oriented accounts of individual differences in SWB. In addition, because a major new focus in recent years has been the development of national accounts of subjective well-being, we also review attempts to use SWB measures to guide policy decisions.
The purpose of this mixed-methods research project is to theorize the linkage between leisure experience and life worthiness, or what the Japanese call ikigai. A grounded theory analysis of photo-elicitation interview data from 27 Japanese university students led to the inductive development of a substantive theory. This theory was then tested based on online survey data collected from 669 Japanese students using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that leisure pursuits enhance students’ perception of ikigai when they are valued as enjoyable and/or effortful. Moreover, the balance between overall enjoyment and/or effort is found to be a key mediator in the relationship between valuable leisure experience and life worthiness. Ikigai comprises the subjective perceptions that one's daily life is worth living and that it is full of energy and motivation. Our findings are discussed in light of relevant leisure and well-being theories as well as their implications for practice.
Sport spectating provides numerous benefits for sport organisations and individuals. In this paper we use a positive psychology approach to examine the individual-level benefits of sport consumption in order to investigate the activation of five domains of well-being: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA). Using a two-study panel research design, we collected qualitative data from a sample of Australian Rules Football consumers. In the first study, we explored how the PERMA domains were activated during the season. Study two included a follow-up interview with eight initial respondents in the off-season. We found evidence of four PERMA domains that were activated in the sport spectator context by a variety of consumer experiences. The emergence of these domains in both studies suggests sport marketers would benefit from actions including: creating more social spaces within their stadiums, hosting regular off-season events, and creating social-media based competitions which promote fan engagement and interactions throughout the calendar year.
The Leisure and Well-Being Model (LWM) (Carruthers & Hood, 2007; Hood & Carruthers, 2007) is a strengths-based therapeutic recreation (TR) service delivery model that provides a theoretical framework for TR practice designed to facilitate clients’ development of the skills, knowledge, and resources essential to well-being. The model articulates a process by which to increase clients’ capacities related to living well while simultaneously addressing problems and barriers that compromise their efforts to achieve well-being. The purpose of this article is to provide theoretical support, as well as practical strategies, that can be used to articulate and design TR programs that address the outcomes identified by the LWM.
Despite growing interest in meaning in life, many have voiced their concern over the conceptual refinement of the construct itself. Researchers seem to have two main ways to understand what meaning in life means: coherence and purpose, with a third way, significance, gaining increasing attention. Coherence means a sense of comprehensibility and one’s life making sense. Purpose means a sense of core goals, aims, and direction in life. Significance is about a sense of life’s inherent value and having a life worth living. Although some researchers have already noted this trichotomy, the present article provides the first comprehensible theoretical overview that aims to define and pinpoint the differences and connections between these three facets of meaning. By arguing that the time is ripe to move from indiscriminate understanding of meaning into looking at these three facets separately, the article points toward a new future for research on meaning in life.
Although much attention has been paid to culture-specific psychopathologies, there have been no comparable attempts to chart positive mental states that may be particular to certain cultures. This paper outlines the beginnings of a positive cross-cultural lexicography of ‘untranslatable’ words pertaining to well-being, culled from across the world’s languages. A quasi-systematic search uncovered 216 such terms. Using grounded theory, these words were organised into three categories: feelings (comprising positive and complex feelings); relationships (comprising intimacy and pro-sociality) and character (comprising personal resources and spirituality). The paper has two main aims. First, it aims to provide a window onto cultural differences in constructions of well-being, thereby enriching our understanding of well-being. Second, a more ambitious aim is that this lexicon may help expand the emotional vocabulary of English speakers (and indeed speakers of all languages), and consequently enrich their experiences of well-being. The paper concludes by setting out a research agenda to pursue these aims further.
The distinction between hedonic (i.e., subjective well-being) and eudaimonic (i.e., psycho-social functioning) components of well-being is questioned by some researchers on the grounds that these two aspects of well-being are highly correlated. However, I argue that previous research has relied on confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which is likely to overestimate interfactor correlations, because cross-loadings are constrained to be zero in CFA. In contrast, the new method of exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) does not constrain cross-ladings to zero, which results in more accurate factor intercorrelations. The present study used ESEM to reinvestigate the relationship between hedonic and eudaimonic aspects of well-being in a sample of 3986 American adults. The results showed that the ESEM model fitted the data better than the CFA model. As expected, interfactor correlations obtained with ESEM were substantially smaller than those obtained with CFA, indicating greater factor distinctiveness. These results suggest that hedonic and eudaimonic factors are correlated yet largely independent from each other. The results also suggest that ESEM is a more appropriate method than CFA in the study of multi-dimensional constructs, such as mental well-being.
In recent years, participation in flamenco, as a cultural art form, has gained momentum within Spain and internationally. Engagement in flamenco music and dance workshops in Spain has also become an increasingly significant tourism activity. Despite this trend, little research has looked into the nature of leisure experiences of flamenco. This paper seeks to address this knowledge gap by exploring how tourists experience flamenco music and dance courses in the city of Seville. Through a grounded theory research strategy in which in-depth interviews were conducted with twenty participants, the study reveals that four key themes characterise tourists' experiences of flamenco. These are: the social and physical environment, which refers to physical flamenco spaces in Seville and tourists' interactions with instructors and peers; secondly, the experience of challenge, characterised by hardship and sacrifice in the pursuit of flamenco; thirdly, activation of the sensual body or a sense of arousal; and lastly, an intrinsic and deep desire for self-discovery. The study demonstrates that the flamenco tourist experience strongly contributes to self-realisation and fulfilment of those who engage in it, or in other words, that the flamenco tourist experience is eudaimonic in character. The interview findings were linked to literature on self-realisation, self-fulfilment, true self, stress related growth and related eudaimonic themes. Eudaimonia, or a sense of personal expressiveness and self-realisation, has not been previously established in this context. Therefore the research findings provide a theoretical understanding of what a eudaimonic tourist experience of dance and music may look like.
Although research relying on self-report inventories has built an increased appreciation of the importance of meaning in life, such research has strayed somewhat from the original promise of meaning in life research, which was to shed light on the individual experience of meaning. Some research has focused on understanding people’s sources of meaning. However, previous methods have relied on verbal ways of assessing sources of meaning in life. In recognition of the fact that not everyone has highly developed verbal skills – and that even those who do can find it hard to articulate what life means – we offer a new method for understanding individuals’ experiences with meaning in life. In this article, we describe the use of photography to elicit information about people’s sources of meaning and provide inductive qualitative analysis of a pilot study using this method. Photography holds great potential as a new method for seeing meaning through another’s eyes.
Interest in eudaimonia (e.g., growth, meaning, authenticity, excellence) and its distinction from hedonia (e.g., pleasure, enjoyment, comfort, absence of distress) is growing rapidly, as researchers recognize that both concepts are central to the study of well-being. Yet research on these concepts faces challenges as well: findings based on different operationalizations can be quite discrepant; definitions of eudaimonia and hedonia sometimes fall into different categories of analysis (e.g. when eudaimonia is described as a way of functioning, hedonia as an experience); and the terms eudaimonia and hedonia are sometimes defined vaguely or applied to concepts that may be mere correlates. To aid in addressing these challenges, we propose the following terminology and classification for discussing conceptual and operational definitions: (1) degree of centrality – differentiating concepts that are core (i.e., definitional), close-to-core (i.e., given some attention but not central), and major correlates; (2) category of analysis– identifying which of the following categories a definition represents: (a) orientations (orientations, values, motives, and goals), (b) behaviors (behavioral content, activity characteristics), (c) experiences (subjective experiences, emotions, cognitive appraisals), (d) functioning (indices of positive psychological functioning, mental health, flourishing); and (3) level of measurement – identifying whether a definition is used for trait and/or state comparisons. The work of scholars with a program of research on eudaimonia or the distinction between eudaimonia and hedonia is reviewed and discussed within the framework of the proposed classification; several points of convergence and divergence across definitions are highlighted; and important questions and directions for future research are identified.
Leisure is a key life domain and a core ingredient for overall well-being. Yet, within positive psychology, its definition and the psychological pathways by which it evokes happiness are elusive (Diener and Biswas-Diener 2008). In this paper, we seek to address these issues by delineating leisure and presenting a conceptual framework linking leisure to subjective well-being (SWB). Leisure is defined as a multidimensional construct, encompassing both structural and subjective aspects. Respectively, it is the amount of activity/time spent outside of obligated work time and/or perceived engagement in leisure as subjectively defined. To explain the effects of leisure on SWB, a quantitative summary of theories from
363 research articles linking leisure and SWB was conducted. Based on our findings, we propose five core psychological mechanisms that leisure potentially triggers to promote leisure SWB: detachment-recovery, autonomy, mastery, meaning, and affiliation (DRAMMA). These psychological mechanisms promote leisure SWB which leads to enhanced global SWB through a bottom-up theory of SWB. We discuss how future research can use this conceptual model for understanding the interplay between leisure and SWB.
This paper contends that recent developments in the field of positive psychology, particularly in the area of psychological well‐being, in combination with Stebbins's framework of casual versus serious leisure, may provide a new perspective for the understanding of tourism experiences. Based on the experience accounts of three different groups of wellness tourists (i.e., visitors to beauty spas, lifestyle resorts, and spiritual retreats), the aim of this paper is to explore whether tourism experiences can be classified into hedonic or eudaimonic experiences. Aggregated experience accounts were collected through individual, semi‐structured interviews with 27 wellness tourists. Thematic analysis deductively applied Stebbins's characteristics of casual/hedonic and serious/eudaimonic experiences to the data. The results found that the three wellness tourism experiences can be placed along a continuum between hedonic and eudaimonic end‐points. Accordingly, beauty spa visitation was perceived as a purely hedonic tourism activity and spiritual retreat experiences were considered as almost purely eudaimonic. Lifestyle resort experiences were also seen predominantly as eudaimonic, however they sit more towards the middle of the continuum because hedonic outcomes can sometimes be recognised as important ‘by‐products’ of eudaimonic experiences.
Although research identifies both leisure and paid work as important contributors to subjective well-being (SWB), the mechanisms by which they do so remain understudied especially in non-Western contexts. A framework relevant to both leisure and work is basic psychological need theory, which posits that satisfaction of autonomy, relatedness, and competence needs enhances SWB. Therefore, this study examined the influence of basic need satisfaction during leisure and work on domain and global life satisfaction (GLS) among Hong Kong Chinese (HKC) workers. Cross-sectional data were collected through a telephone survey from 585 randomly sampled HKC. Structural equation modeling indicated that: (a) satisfaction of autonomy, relatedness, and competence positively correlated with leisure and work domain satisfaction, except for work competence; and (b) leisure and work domain satisfaction positively and similarly related to GLS. The findings are discussed in relation to the literature on leisure, work, SWB, and culture.
This invited commentary provides a brief history of the social psychology of leisure and describes some research themes this approach should consider focusing on in the future. In both cases, emphasis is placed on cross-cultural/national leisure research.
Participation in active leisure such as skiing and snowboarding can enhance physical and psychological health throughout life. The purpose of this study was to explore snow-sports participation experiences among women who exhibit a commitment to these sports with a focus on well-being outcomes. Thirteen in-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with female skiers and snowboarders. Grounded theory methods were employed where initial open coding was suggestive of the prominence of well-being in the women’s narratives. Subsequent axial and selective coding was guided by Seligman’s five domains of well-being: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA). In the process of theoretical elaboration, a model outlining how these five domains manifest among these women is proposed showing how relationships and engagements are particularly prominent. As snow-sports participation continues to decline, especially among women, suggestions are made to increase women’s participation in these sports, with a focus on well-being.
The aim of this study was to examine how textile crafts are described as a psychological well-being-enhancing leisure activity in female textile craft makers’ narratives. To this, the stories of Rose, Ann, Mary and Sheila are depicted to represent how the eudaimonic intrinsic needs of doing, belonging, becoming and being were expressed in crafting. The qualitative study is based on written narratives of 65 female textile crafters aged 31–88 years. The data were analyzed using content analysis drawing on Wilcock’s theory of eudaimonic well-being. The narratives revealed that crafting improved the participants’ well-being in different ways. The results showed that the focus was not on seeking pleasure and satisfaction or on manufacturing need-based products but, above all, on crafting a richer and more purposeful life through self-actualization and excellence in doing, social connectedness in belonging, self-empowerment in becoming, and relief from stress in being.
Is the need for nature relatedness a basic psychological need? Using
Baumeister and Leary’s need criteria as comparators, we explored
literature arcing across disciplines to find evidence that either supported
or undermined our proposition that the human need for
nature may be a fundamental psychological need. We found that
while nature’s salubrious effects benefited humans across the lifespan,
and largely transcended cultural boundaries, socioeconomic
status, age, and state of health, the benefits of being in nature
depended on choice, perception of safety, and absence of fear. Race,
ethnicity, and gender tended to impede leisure in natural environments.
In concluding that the need for nature relatedness is a basic
psychological need, we discuss practical implications for leisure and
recreation professionals, researchers, educators, architects, and city
planners and proffer several practical interventions in several
domains to benefit both the environment and humanity.
Solitude is a normative human experience throughout the lifespan. Notwithstanding, there continues to be considerable debate regarding the implications of spending time alone. In this chapter, we review theory and research pertaining to the links between solitude and well-being. We begin with an overview of the conceptual and methodological approaches to the psychological study of solitude. This is followed by a brief summary of the evidence demonstrating the various potential costs of spending excessive time alone. We then closely examine the supposition that solitude can also serve beneficial functions, including some promising areas worthy of future investigation. Our goal is to begin to untangle the so-called paradox of solitude: Although spending time alone is believed to serve self-enhancing functions, solitude is often experienced as undesirable and painful.
Exploration of how the leisure socialization process can be investigated requires answers to basic questions of when and with whom leisure is learned. From interviews of adults in a Western community, profiles of the social context and meaning of a wide range of leisure activities have been developed. Activities were found to have been evenly divided among those begun as children and in adult years. Family associations were primary in learning 63 percent. Activities were classified by form and social orientation and then related to periods in the family life cycle. The findings suggest that leisure socialization is a lifelong process. Research implications are outlined that would fill in the picture of a developmental approach to leisure careers.
This study investigates the relationships between specific types of leisure activities and well-being variables (i.e. health perception, life satisfaction and optimism) in older adults. A convenience sample of 188 participants ranging in age from 60 to 90 years (M = 74.99, SD = 5.49) was recruited from three different senior centres in Korea. Three hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationships between specific types of leisure activities (outdoor, physical, hobbies and indoor, cultural, home-centred and social and volunteering) and outcome variables. After controlling for covariates, it was revealed that home-centred and social activities were associated with all outcome variables. Volunteer activities were positively related to health perception and life satisfaction. Positive relationships were also observed between life satisfaction and physical activities, optimism and cultural activities and health perception and outdoor activities. These findings suggest that promoting positive social interaction in recreational settings and encouraging participation in volunteer activities are important factors contributing to successful ageing.
We investigated whether satisfaction of employees’ basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and/or relatedness during leisure positively impacted their leisure domain satisfaction (LSAT) and, in turn, whether LSAT positively influenced their global life satisfaction (GLS). To better understand the above, we simultaneously examined these same relationships in the paid work domain. Useable data were collected from 395 adults employed at least 20 h per week. Structural equation modeling indicated that satisfaction of all three needs positively affected LSAT; with autonomy having the greatest effect. In comparison, although autonomy and relatedness need satisfaction positively affected work domain satisfaction (WSAT), competence’s effect was not significant. LSAT and WSAT positively, and age negatively, affected GLS; collectively explaining 48.6% of the total variance. Our findings largely support basic psychological needs theory in both the leisure and work domains and, furthermore, suggest these two contexts are equally effectual in regard to GLS.
This study clarified characteristics of well-being in Japan, specifically differences between feeling shiawase and feeling ikigai, to elucidate how they relate to eudaimonic well-being and hedonic well-being. Participants were 846 Japanese in their 30s (418 men, 428 women), who responded to a web-based survey. Questionnaire items comprised level of shiawase/ikigai, the presence of a difference between feeling shiawase and feeling ikigai, and, in an open-ended question, the difference between feeling shiawase and feeling ikigai. Results revealed that feeling shiawase is primarily characterized by such feelings as delight and peace; it is oriented toward the present. Feeling ikigai entails actions of devoting oneself to pursuits one enjoys and is associated with feelings of accomplishment and fulfillment. Furthermore, it includes awareness of values such as the purpose of life and the meaning of existence; it is future oriented, as in goal seeking. This study verifies that for Japanese, feeling shiawase is close to hedonic well-being and feeling ikigai is close to eudaimonic well-being. This suggests that it is important to approach Japanese well-being not in technical terms such as eudaimonic well-being; rather, Japanese well-being should be comprehended in terms of ikigai which is an aspect of daily conversation in Japan.
Travel narratives can shape tourist imaginings about places, and are a useful tool for understanding tourist experiences. One long-standing media trope is the transformative potential of travel to Italy, especially for women. In this qualitative phenomenological study, contemporary non-fiction books written by women about their travel experiences in Italy were analysed, using well-being as a theoretical framework. Six well-being dimensions were found to be present in these narratives, with the first five reflecting the dimensions of the DRAMMA model of triggers promoting well-being in leisure, alongside an additional dimension drawn from the PERMA model of well-being. Both hedonic and eudaimonic forms of well-being were mentioned. Identity, in terms of self-discovery and reinventing oneself, underpinned a number of these dimensions. The study extends work on travel imaginings beyond the fictional literary or film context and has practical implications for the promotion of destinations and marketing tourism as an avenue towards well-being.
The purpose of this study is to make clear of the elements in the living environment contributed for the Livability and 'ikigai' of Young adults in hilly and mountainous areas. The analysis resulted in the following contents. 1) For young adults the Livability isn't enough in the present conditions, which is the obstructive of the local community, the interference from the neighborhood etc. The low of livability have a bad influence to intention of permanent dwelling. 2) For the ikigai, the selectivity of the employment condition makes contributions to the rise of the degree.
This book explores, from a leisure studies perspective, the central role that leisure has to play in positive psychology, exploring themes such as flow, fulfilment, altruism, well-being, and interpersonal relationships.
Recent advances in the science of meaning in life have taught us a great deal about the nature of the experience of meaning in life, its antecedents and consequences, and its potential functions. Conclusions based on self-report measures of meaning in life indicate that, as might be expected, it is associated with many aspects of positive functioning. However, this research also indicates that the experience of meaning in life may come from unexpectedly quotidian sources, including positive mood and coherent life experiences. Moreover, the experience of meaning in life may be quite a bit more commonplace than is often portrayed. Attending to the emerging science of meaning in life suggests not only potentially surprising conclusions but new directions for research on this important aspect of well-being.
This study sought to understand the stress experienced by women who lived in a transitional homeless shelter, to explore how the women coped with their stress, and ultimately to identify the role leisure played in helping the women cope. Photo-elicitation was utilized to supplement and clarify data obtained through traditional interviews. Results showed the women experienced a variety of stress, such as chronic stress, negative event stress, and daily hassles. Coping strategies included diversionary activities, getting away, and social support. At times leisure was a coping strategy, while at other times it was a context for coping.
This study empirically tests Walker, Deng, and Dieser's (2005) proposition that ethnicity affects which factors most facilitate people's feelings of intrinsic motivation during leisure; and it extends their work by also examining the effect of gender on these facilitators. A trilingual telephone survey asked Chinese/Canadian (N = 298) and British/Canadian (N = 321) participants to identify a leisure activity they found interesting and enjoyable (i.e., intrinsically motivated) when they were with a close friend. Participants then reported how they perceived varying six facilitators - autonomy/personal choice, autonomy/ mutual choice, relatedness, competence, effort, and role fulfillment - would affect their intrinsic motivation during this leisure situation. Statistical analyses indicated that five of the six facilitators differed by ethnicity, or gender, or both. Study findings are discussed, and theoretical and practical implications are described.
This article provides evidence of a racialized outdoor leisure identity perpetuated in magazine advertisements. The evidence is based on a content analysis of 4000+ advertisements from three magazines (Time, Outside, and Ebony) published between 1984-2000. Advertisements taking place in the Great Outdoors or featuring models participating in wilderness leisure activities rarely include Black models, while advertisements featuring White models regularly make use of Great Outdoors settings and activities. That Black models are confined to urban and suburban environments (within the pages of magazine advertisements), while Whites have exclusive domain over the Great Outdoors, potentially has consequences for how Blacks and Whites perceive wilderness recreation and wilderness spaces.
Social and behavioral scientists have delineated a diverse array of cultural variation in thinking, feeling, and behavior. This chapter summarizes an effort to clarify the sources of cultural variation from a socioecological perspective, focusing on two key factors: residential mobility and relational mobility. Residential mobility refers to the frequency with which people change their residence, whereas relational mobility refers to the degree to which different environments afford individuals with opportunities to form new relationships and end existing ones. A review of the literature on the associations between residential mobility, relational mobility, and psychological constructs such as well-being, interpersonal relationships, and group identity is presented. Although there are many similarities between residential and relational mobility, the two are best considered as related but distinct. Finally, important future directions of research on residential and relational mobilities are summarized.
The current studies were designed to explore the structure of sources of meaning in life among Chinese university students. In Study 1, we content-analyzed 171 students’ answers to the question of what made their lives meaningful and derived 74 frequently mentioned ideas. Then, we composed a questionnaire based on these ideas and administered it to another sample of 523 university students in Study 2. Seven underlying dimensions were identified through exploratory factor analysis: Self-development (i.e., to accomplish one’s aspirations and actualize one’s potential), social commitment (i.e., to contribute to society and to adhere to moral principles), interpersonal relationships (i.e., relationships with family members, friends and others), secular pursuits (i.e., stable jobs, material possessions and social status), experiences in life (i.e., to experience all the joys and sorrows in life), civilization (i.e., reading, thinking, music and arts), and autonomy (i.e., to make decisions freely and take charge of one’s own life). Results are discussed in light of the philosophical influences in Chinese culture, especially those from Confucianism and Taoism.
The use of visual imagery and photography in the research process is a valuable addition to traditional research methods. Visual research methods have been successfully used to engage diverse groups and communities and empower participants in the research process. While many advantages of the use and applicability of visual methods have been described in the leisure literature, certain disadvantages do exist. This study explores potential challenges related to the use of visual research methods. The purpose of this study is to caution leisure researchers to consider underlying challenges related to visual methods that may be specific to individual research projects and contexts. In so doing, I discuss specific challenges related to collecting and analyzing data gathered using the photo-elicitation method in conjunction with in-depth interviews in an ethnography of an urban farmers' market.
Numerous studies show a link between leisure engagement and subjective well-being (SWB). Drawing on common experiential features of leisure, psychological need theories, and bottom-up models of SWB, we suggest that leisure engagement influences SWB via leisure satisfaction. We examine the proposed cross-sectional relations and mediation model using random-effects meta-analyses that include all available populations. To provide a stronger test of causal influence, we also examine longitudinal relations between leisure satisfaction and SWB and effects of experimental leisure interventions on SWB using random effects meta-analyses of all available populations. Findings based on 37 effect sizes and 11,834 individuals reveal that leisure engagement and SWB are moderately associated (inverse-variance weighted r = .26) and mediated by leisure satisfaction. Cross-lagged regression analyses of longitudinal studies, controlling for prior SWB, reveal bottom-up effects of leisure satisfaction on SWB (β = .15) and top-down effects of SWB on leisure satisfaction (β = .16). Experimental studies reveal that leisure interventions enhance SWB (d = 1.02). Compared with working samples, retired samples exhibit a stronger relation between leisure engagement and SWB, and between leisure satisfaction and SWB. Measures of the frequency and diversity of leisure engagement are more strongly associated with SWB than measures of time spent in leisure. Overall, although not minimizing top-down influences, results are consistent with bottom-up models of SWB and suggest that the leisure domain is a potentially important target for enhancing SWB.
If leisure is seen as a significant aspect of the overall quality of life, it is important to develop a technique for measuring leisure which takes into account the essential subjective nature of the leisure experience. In this paper data are presented which illustrate the problems associated with activity-type operational definitions of leisure. Such definitions are seen to ignore individual and situational differences and to assume that leisure can be measured objectively. An alternative technique for defining and measuring leisure is proposed based on empirical research which shows perceived freedom of choice, enjoyment and other perceptual dimensions to be closely associated with the leisure experience. This proposed technique requires further testing on different population groups, but it potentially represents a method of measuring leisure which is both reliable and valid.
There is a gap in knowledge concerning a full understanding of the meanings that people seek to obtain within or from leisure engagements. Understanding these meanings is a foundational knowledge in promoting, strengthening, and changing healthy leisure behavior in society, consequently the need to synthesize what is currently known and offer direction for research is necessary. This paper systematically explains the key meanings that people seek to achieve via leisure, based on a comprehensive literature review. This literature review led to the identification of several overarching leisure-generated meaning groups : (1) connection/belonging, (2) identity, (3) freedom/autonomy, (4) power/control, and (5) competence/mastery. The literature review also suggested that when people achieve these meanings, they frequently experience outcomes of : (a) positive emotions, (b) positive thought-action and (c) human growth and development. Each of these overarching meanings and outcomes is described, and implications for research are discussed.