The relationship of early life experiences to later life leisure involvement

Abstract

Data from the 1982Data from the -1983 Nationwide Recreation Survey were used to determine whether late life differences in leisure behavior reflect a response to early life patterns or present-day socioeconomic differences. Individuals aged 65 and over were categorized as either "expanders" or "contractors" based on their pattern of leisure involvement. Differences in lifelong learning of leisure activities between these two groups were examined. In addition, a discriminant analysis was done to determine whether present-day differences on socio-demographic variables were effective in differentiating between expanders and contractors. Results showed that expanders altered their leisure patterns by the addition of new activities throughout the life span whereas contractors learned most of their outdoor recreation activities before age 21. However, none of the socio-demographic variables used in this study were effective in differentiating between the expanders and contractors. ). An important area of leisure research involves examination of the relationship between leisure behavior in early and later life. Two key questions that underlie such studies are (a) does lifelong learning of leisure activities take place as Kelly (1982) has suggested, and (b) what factors affect the addition or deletion of skills across the life span?While research in this area has sampled individuals across many age categories, there has not been a focus on older adults (age 65 and over). Such targeting would permit examination of the relationship of early to later leisure involvement. In addition, this perspective could yield information not found when examining adults in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine data on persons over the age of 65 to determine whether there is a relationship between later life leisure behavior, early life leisure patterns, and current socioeconomic status.

Local residents’ perceptions of the impacts of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 on Barbados: Comparisons of pre- and post-games

“…As the effects of megaevents are often long-term (Mihalik & Cummings, 1995), using a 6-month interval to measure changing views on perceived impacts might not have been sufficient.The need for regular research and analysis has long been encouraged, given the vast potential for host community involvement and development, global media awareness, and future tourism enhancement (Hall, 1989;Mihalik & Simonetta, 1999;Ritchie, 1984;Ritchie & Aitken, 1984, 1985Ritchie & Lyons, 1987). Further, there has been a call for greater longitudinal research on different aspects of leisure studies (Crawford, Godbey, & Crouter, 1986;McGuire, Dottavio, & O'Leary, 1987). More accurate and useful information is likely to be provided from regular assessment of residents' perceptions from the moment the decision is made to host the event until some period after the event.…”

Expanding, Reducing, Concentrating and Diffusing: Post Retirement Leisure Behavior and Life Satisfaction

“…Some research suggested that stability begins in childhood. McGuire, Dottavio and O'Leary (1987), for example, discovered that half of the activities adults participated in were started at a young age. Other activities resulted from interests and tendencies developed in adulthood.…”

Adolescent and adult leisure patterns: A 37‐year follow‐up study

“…Most of the extant research on the relationship of youth activities to adult leisure was carried out a decade or more ago (for exceptions to this generalization, see Lindsay 1984;McGuire, Dottavio, and O'Leary 1987). During the intervening period, the media have given increasing attention to the idea that various leisure pursuits may enhance physical Downloaded by [University of Auckland Library] at 15:26 15 March 2015 and mental well-being, the population has been exposed to a wide variety of leisure activities through television and other mass communication, and the social norms and stereotypes associated with traditional definitions of leisure-time activities based on gender and age have been questioned.…”