The Social Psychology of Leisure and Recreation - Essay Example

Running Head: Recreation and Leisure Recreation and Leisure: A Personal Perspective [Client’s Name] [Affiliation] Leisure and recreation are two of the things in life that has evolved so much in time (Goodale & Goodbey, 1998). Comparatively speaking, today’s leisure and recreation are more focused on consumerism than they were 50 or so years ago with the aid of communications technology and behavioral psychology. In today’s world, leisure and recreation almost always equate with expense. It is very rare for individuals to play basketball without wearing shoes that have well-known brands. Similarly, the social bonds created when individuals engage in leisure are less strong today than they were some fifty years ago. Fifty years ago, leisure and recreation is about sincere fun, excitement, and enjoyment people experience when they are with their friends or families. During leisure hours, people talk about life outside work, do things they love to do along with other people, and create social bonds that forges strong communal relationships. Today, leisure is more geared towards how much consumers are willing to purchase the products they see on TV or hear on radio in order for them to have a truly excellent form of leisure. Leisure could not be done without having someone spend money. But just how much has leisure changed from 50 or so years ago? Leisure: Background Leisure is loosely defined as the time a person spends outside work. There are four major definitions of leisure: leisure as a state of being, leisure as time, leisure as an activity, and leisure as a state of mind. Aristotle argues that “the first principle of all action is leisure” (Pol., Bk VII, 3, cited in Dale, Welton & Coe, 1998). He believes that it is because of leisure that everyone is busy. This view of leisure comes from a very philosophical mind who would rather think (leisure) than do manual jobs, which for him are demeaning. The most prominent advantage of the classical view of leisure is that it seeks to develop the mind of individuals (Cushman et al, 1991). During the Renaissance period in Europe, most of the beautiful things are learned leisurely especially by the bourgeois class. It can be argued that the view that held leisure as time away from work came up during the industrial revolution (Bittman, Wajcman & UNSW, 1998). The boom of industry and the need for people to work hard on steel factories, gold mines, and other industries exposes one to long and hard days where leisure can only be experienced if one still have time left after too much work and personal concerns. These events could have sparked the residual theory of leisure. While the concept of leaving what is left of one’s time to leisure is good from an economic point of view, particularly since one is allowed to spend time on productivity, it does not open avenues for one’s holistic development such as the one proposed by Aristotle. From this perspective, one can argue that the concept of leisure as an activity, or the notion that leisure is sought as another activity just like work, evolved from the economic and financial growth of the typical industrial worker (Dare, Welton & Coe, 1998). The socioeconomic gain of the typical workers, and their constant pursuit for activities to fill their time, promotes the transition of the idea of leisure as residual time to leisure as just another activity. Leisure is a state of the mind. One experiences leisure when there is nothing in his thoughts that would make him care about any other concern except developing his own being, like when one watches a cultural show or read Shakespeare. Because leisure opens the mind to things, leisure provides the ideal setting for socialization. When individuals interact with each other or when they socialize, they leave traces of their identities behind and take on other individual’s characteristics. In a way, it can be said that individuals form social interactions so that social interactions can mold individuals. Leisure: Interview A type of leisure that is of interest to the interviewee Sam (real name withheld) is sports. Sam is a baby boomer. He was born in the late 1940s and was one of the many who has engaged most of his leisure time playing sports. Sports can be both competitive and recreational (Sharp, 2008). He observes that leisure and recreation today is more linked with economic activity rather than on fun and excitement. This view somewhat represents the truth in how today’s society practice leisure and recreation. Today’s sports experienced massive changes in every aspects – rules, public reception, publicity, technology, in providing entertainment and the likes – that most of these no longer felt like they were fifty or so years back. “Today’s sports is too modern compared to what we have had in the 1960’s, rules wise, training wise, motivation wise, and equipment wise”, relates seventy year-old Sam who was originally from California during his younger years. He is a big fan of Boston Celtics during his earlier years; he watches the National Football League given the chance; and he particularly liked the Major League Baseball games. Some 50 or so years ago, people view leisure as a way to forget their worries from work and to relieve their stress. People then seriously take sports and other recreational activities because these activities take their minds off from their other concerns. Most importantly, the baby boomers were able to sow sincere friendship during their leisure and recreation times as they interact with lots of people when doing these activities. As Sam puts it, ‘During my years, sports are typically played for leisure and enjoyment. People would want to play basketball or watch minor league baseball in order to relieve ourselves from the stress brought about by a lot of work. We make a lot of good friends during these times, which of course, no longer happen nowadays.”Sam thinks that because of technology, people no longer need to get together and interact when watching games. People can just open their cable televisions, or browse their internets in order to watch major league baseball games that take place on the other side of the world (Freysinger & Kelly, 2004). While he has nothing against communication technology, he noticed that people are becoming alienated with each other and are isolated from each other the moment communications technology became too advanced. Despite the massive changes in the physical features of the sports he has had during the 60’s, the social bond associated with sports is still as strong as ever. Individuals and communities are bonded together while watching the game, particularly if they are cheering for the same team. Crowds cheer, boo, laugh, and even cry whenever their teams lose, win, gloat, or get hurt. Technically speaking, this concept of interrelatedness during a sporting event is referred to as associativity (Szymanski, 2006). Associativity, according to Szymanski, is the tendency of individuals to create social networks and organizations outside the family. He added that associativity is a very important factor in the development of modern sports. In the same manner, Stevens agreed that the degree of associativity one gets when watching a sports in the 1960s is basically the same level one observes now. In any particular sporting events, one can see that people tend to share the same set of emotions or throw opposing ones even if they are complete strangers – just because their favorite teams are playing. The only difference Stevens noted is that “today, everyone in the world is bonded by sports as opposed to a few people who gets to watch, listen, and attend to the sporting events they like”. He added that the crowd’s attitude towards sports they like is basically the same. Because of the advances in technology, uniting the whole world through sports and recreation has become possible.   Nonetheless, the interview with Sam opens two interesting aspects of leisure and recreation in the 1950s and 1960s. These are (a) leisure and recreation is people’s means to relieve stress and (b) leisure and recreation opens opportunities for social interaction and hence social development. For Sam who was born during the time when internet technology and the likes are remote possibility, there are a lot of things that have changed on how they spend their leisure hours. According to him, the revolution of the society through its social perspectives, preferences, and present opportunities have contributed much on the development of the society and on the society’s view towards leisure and recreation. This idea is also affirmed by various academic studies on leisure and recreation (Ibrahim, 1991; Cushman et al, 1991). Leisure and recreation, whether as an activity, a state of mind, a state of being, or a time away from work, offers many benefits. For some, leisure and recreation allows social interaction; for others, activities done in leisure are therapeutic. There are studies that indicate that people who have a lot of time to spend for leisurely activities are more satisfied with their life (Edgington, 2006). Other studies indicate that leisurely activities activate endorphins in the body which also enhances cell repair and cell growth (Driver, Brown & Peterson, 1991). Individuals that spends more time doing things leisurely, moving at their own pace, and avoiding the rush of things are noted to be physically healthier and more mentally sound compared to individuals that are always on the go and who are always stressed with what they do (Allison, 1992). Therapeutic Application of Leisure The application of leisure in therapy is quite direct. Doing things leisurely allows one’s health to recover from a long stressful activity. Similarly, taking one’s mind off from work- or family-related issues means that one can be able to regain focus and momentum in a healthy manner. When one spends too much time doing his work, one will eventually come to a point where his body could no longer take stressful situations and his health may fail him. If one spends a certain percentage of his time doing things that could divert him from his work-related concerns, like a pleasant walk in the park, one gets better chances of attaining a healthy and balanced life. It is highly possible that he would meet some of the people in the neighborhood and he could exchange a few good chats with them, creating a healthy atmosphere for the community. Having been able to forget the stressful situation that he experienced from work, and meeting people he knew and connecting with them, one feels better and would probably gain confidence from the experience. From this example alone, one could see that leisure is not only good for one’s health but is also good in developing one’s emotional condition and social interaction. A leisurely walk in the park can bring benefits more than one could ever imagine. These things are but some of the most compelling reasons why individuals need to understand the benefits of rest and recreation in their lives and actually do things leisurely. References Allison, M. T. (1992). Play, leisure, and quality of life : social scientific perspectives. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt. Bittman, M., & University of New South Wales. Social Policy Research Centre. (1998). Social participation and family welfare : the money and time costs of leisure. Sydney: Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales. Bittman, M., Wajcman, J., & University of New South Wales. Social Policy Research Centre. (1998). The rush hour: the quality of leisure time and gender equity. Sydney: Social Policy Research Centre, University of N.S.W. Carter, M. J., Van Andel, G. E., & Robb, G. M. (1995). Therapeutic recreation : a practical approach (2nd ed.). Prospect Heights, Ill.: Waveland Press. 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