Showing papers in "Leisure Sciences in 2005"

Early-Life Outdoor Experiences and an Individual's Environmental Attitudes

Abstract: This study investigated the effects of early-life experiences on an individual's environmental beliefs. Data from a survey of 533 university undergraduate students from 20 areas of academic study were analyzed using sequential regression to determine the degree to which current environmental beliefs could be explained by early childhood experiences. Results showed that four of the seven independent variables (appreciative outdoor activities, consumptive outdoor activities, media exposure, and witnessing negative environmental events) explained 14% of the variance in the eco-centric/anthropocentric beliefs. Three of the independent variables (early-life participation in mechanized outdoor activities, education, and involvement with organizations) were not significant predictors of eco-centric/anthropocentric beliefs. Implications for research and practice were discussed.

Determinants of Active Leisure for Women with Young Children—an “Ethic of Care” Prevails

Abstract: Women are significantly less likely than men to participate in physically active leisure. Women with children are less likely to participate in active leisure compared with women who do not have children. Social pressure to fulfil the role of being a good mother has been suggested in discussions regarding constraints to physical activity as has the use of leisure engagement as a means of challenging social expectations and structured gender relations. This study explored determinants of active leisure participation through in-depth interviews with 12 heterosexual mothers of young children who were purposively sampled with contrasting levels of partner support, physical activity, and socioeconomic status. The findings suggested that household norms relating to gender-based time negotiation and ideologies regarding an ethic of care were important determinants of active leisure among women with young children. A better understanding of these issues could be important in the development of strategies for promoting greater participation in physical activity among women.

Association, Sociability, and Civic Culture: The Democratic Effect of Community Gardening

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to compare the democratic values of community garden leaders and non-leaders with the intent to understand the democratic effects of participation in community gardening. The results support Putnam's (2000) assertion that the intensity of membership in voluntary associations is important to the development of democratic citizens. Moreover, the findings reveal the salience of context, namely a leisure-oriented context, in imbuing democratic values. Time spent in a community garden was a stronger, albeit weak, predictor of political citizenship orientations than was time spent talking and visiting with other community gardeners, which implied the significance of the garden space and its public sphere effects.

Leisure and Active Lifestyles: Research Reflections

Abstract: Leisure researchers have been studying active living for many years. The research, however, has focused more on individual factors than social and environmental determinants that enable physical activity and health. The focus of the introduction to this special issue on “leisure and active lifestyles” is to highlight leisure literature that can be directly tied to active living. These dimensions include outdoor recreation, community recreation areas and facilities, time usage, barriers and constraints, and social interdependence. We provide an overview of the significance of the papers in this special issue and offer some reflections regarding future research related to active living, physical activity, health, and leisure. We underline the value of the holistic approach evident in leisure research and call for broader methods and more collaborative transdisciplinary research.

Choice and Experiential Definitions of Leisure

Abstract: “Choice” and “freely chosen,” those once sacrosanct de rigueur elements in standard definitions of leisure as experience (Kelly, 1990, p. 21), have lately been the targets of some bad press. Juniu ...

Factors Influencing the Physically Active Leisure of Children and Youth: A Qualitative Study

Abstract: A phenomenological framework guided data collection and analysis of the prevalent influences on attitudes and behaviors of elementary, junior, and secondary school students towards their physically active leisure. Twenty-two students participated in individual in-depth interviews. Parental influence and outdoor play effected choice and level of physically active leisure for elementary students. Opportunities for organized and non-structured physically active leisure and friends were significant for junior students. Academic responsibilities and organized physically active leisure were influential for secondary students. Common threads were parental influence and the belief that the students were too old to start new activities. These findings highlight the importance of providing opportunities in safe environments for children and youth to participate in a variety of structured and non-structured forms of physically active leisure.

Change and Stability in Park Visitation Constraints Revisited

Abstract: Despite considerable advances in our understanding of constraint composition, antecedent conditions, outcomes, and negotiation behaviors, few studies have tracked how constraints have changed or remained stable over time. This investigation sought to examine the change and stability in park visitation constraints and preferred constraint negotiation strategies across a 10-year period. A 2001 telephone survey of residents from Northeast Ohio was compared with an identical survey administered in 1991. Data from the two surveys were weighted and compared. Perceived constraints and desired constraint negotiation strategies remained relatively stable across time. Relationships between these trends and park agency efforts over the 10-year period are discussed. Future constraint trend analyses should utilize longitudinal designs to examine park visitation constraints, particularly among underserved populations.

“The Night They Took Over”: Misogyny in a Country-Western Gay Bar

Abstract: Informed by feminism and theories of masculinity and space, this ethnography explores how gay men negotiate hegemonic masculinity in response to Lesbian Night, a regular Thursday night occurrence when women outnumber men at a country-western gay bar. Findings are examined to reveal the misogynistic assumptions inherent in gay men's reaction to Lesbian Night. Gay men's attempt to define the bar as a gay male space highlights their allegiance to a normative dialectic that pits men against women, and shows their unwillingness to forgo the authority and power inherent in their position as men. These findings highlight the complexities that lie at the intersection of gender and sexuality, and illustrate leisure spaces as complex and dynamic locations that foster inequity as well as community.

Recreation and Leisure Research from an Active Living Perspective: Taking a Second Look at Urban Trail Use Data

Abstract: This paper examines recreation and leisure research within the context of active living, and highlights an apparent gap between the current involvement of recreation and leisure researchers and the potential they could offer to this important and expanding area of inquiry. To illustrate this potential, I looked at two previous studies that focused on the recreational use of urban trails and reanalyzed the data from an active living perspective. In Study 1, individual, social and environmental factors helped distinguish between low, moderate, and high activity level trail uses. In Study 2, use patterns helped distinguish between health-motivated trail users and individuals using trails for recreation and other purposes, but perceptual and demographic data were similar among groups. Findings from similar studies can help inform active living research, and recreation and leisure studies can provide leadership and contributions to a transdisciplinary understanding of active living.

Measuring the ABCs of Leisure Experience: Awareness, Boredom, Challenge, Distress

Abstract: The psychometric properties of four aspects of leisure experience (Awareness, Boredom, Challenge, Distress), originally identified and tested with adolescents, were investigated with college students. Findings indicated that the original subscales were internally consistent and could be applied, with minor modification, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, college major, or employment. Interrelationships among the four leisure constructs of Awareness, Boredom, Challenge, and Distress were found to vary as a function of both gender and ethnicity, yielding different profiles of African-American, Asian-American, European-American, and Hispanic-American male and female students.

Inter- and Intra-Gender Similarities and Differences in Motivations for Casino Gambling

Abstract: The two objectives of this study were to examine if motivations for casino gambling vary by gender and, based on motivations for casino gambling, to ascertain different types of male and female gamblers. To accomplish these objectives, five casino motivation scales were developed. Nine hundred male and female casino patrons living in two major Canadian metropolitan areas completed a telephone questionnaire. Male study participants rated risk-taking/gambling as a rush and learning/cognitive self-classification as being more important than did female participants. Two types of male casino gamblers existed: men who gave primacy to risk-taking/gambling as a rush and emotional self-classification, and men who gave primacy to communing. Three types of female casino gamblers existed: women who gave primacy to emotional self-classification and escaping everyday problems, women who gave primacy to communing and emotional self-classification, and women who gave primacy to communing alone. Gender theory was...

Understanding Differences in Nonmarket Valuation by Angler Specialization Level

Abstract: Using the concept of recreation specialization, we would expect willingness-to-pay (WTP) differences among participant sub-groups as an expression of increasing commitment to their activity. To expand understanding of predictable angler sub-group differences in economic valuation, a two-stage process was used to investigate WTP differences among heterogeneous sub-groups. Cluster analysis was used with a three dimensional specialization model. A zero truncated binomial regression model was applied to estimate anglers' consumer surplus values per trip. Results supported the expectation that anglers in each group placed a different value on the social benefits associated with fishing and their concerns for possible resource loss.

The Relationship Between Visitor-Based Standards of Quality and Existing Conditions in Parks and Outdoor Recreation

Abstract: Parks and related areas are increasingly adopting management-by-objectives/indicator-based frameworks to protect resources and the quality of visitor experiences. Indicator-based frameworks rely on development of indicators and standards of quality, and research has been developed to measure visitor-based standards of quality. In this research approach, visitors to parks and related areas judge the acceptability of a range of recreation-related impacts to natural/cultural resources and the quality of the visitor experience. The purpose of this paper is to explore the strength and variability of the relationship between visitor-based standards of quality and existing conditions in parks and related areas. Data were derived from studies conducted in 11 U.S. national park system units between 1995 and 2002. Results indicated that visitor-based standards of quality are generally unrelated to existing conditions. Implications of these findings are explored for research on visitor-based standards of qu...

A cross-cultural study of the influence of perceived positive outcomes on participation in regular active recreation: Hong Kong and Australian university students.

Abstract: This study examined the ways that perceptions of positive outcomes of engagement in regular active recreation influence engagement interest, engagement intentions and subsequent engagement in regular active recreation in the two contrasting cultures of Hong Kong and Australia. A total of 927 Hong Kong and 1,018 Australian university students completed survey questionnaires. Findings from the study indicated that having an interest in the activities was an important condition that led to enduring engagement in active recreation. Beliefs about physiological benefits of active recreation had no significant impact on young people's engagement interest, intention, and actual engagement. Perception of affective outcomes was an important motivator for Australian but not for Hong Kong students. Perceptions of psychological outcomes was an important predictor only for Hong Kong students. The findings suggested that cultural values and social, physical, and leisure environments could moderate the cognitive processe...

Accounting for Varying Setting Preferences Among Moose Hunters

Abstract: Recreation planners and managers realize the importance of different tastes and preferences among recreationists. This fact is explicit in recreational planning efforts and in the theories developed to understand recreational behaviors. While market segmentation approaches steeped in behavioral theory provide a rich source of information to planners and managers, we argue that such exogenous market segmentation approaches alone are insufficient to understand the degree of variability in tastes and preferences among recreationists. In this paper we employ a random parameters logit model to account for both the extent and sources of heterogeneity in preferences among recreationists. We illustrate the random parameters logit choice model with an application to the stated choices for hunting sites by moose hunters from northwestern Ontario. The application shows that the random parameters logit represents a considerable improvement over multinomial logit models based on market segmentation approaches.

Modeling spatial patterns of recreational boaters: vessel, behavioral, and geographic considerations.

Abstract: A regression-based framework for modeling recreational boating patterns and estimating preferred on-water destinations was introduced. A survey of 500 boaters provided model input regarding vessel, behavioral, and geographic characteristics. This information was used to construct a travel network within a Geographic Information System to identify major network intersections (pivots) and to calculate the distance traveled along network segments between intersections, as derived model input. Model estimates of preferred destinations and use intensity were compared to mail survey results for validation. The average error between reported and estimated boating destinations was 4.3 miles for a regional application and 3.0 miles for a sub-regional application. In addition to vessel and behavioral considerations, the results highlighted the significance of geographic and network variables in modeling the spatial patterns of recreational boaters and destination choice.

Examining Relationships Among Perceptions of Self, Episode-Specific Evaluations, and Overall Satisfaction with a Leisure Activity

Abstract: Many researchers have investigated leisure experience as a process that includes interactions with others and the environment. Interactions during leisure are known to influence the experience. Based on this tradition, the purpose of this study was to investigate how emotions might relate to interactions that an individual has during leisure experience and to examine the relationships among emotions, episode-specific evaluations, and overall satisfaction. A research model was suggested based on Affect Control Theory, the confirmation/disconfirmation paradigm, Mehrabian and Russell's 1974 approach-avoidance concept, and the sub-domain dependency theory of leisure satisfaction. Findings from analyses of experiences suggested that linkages existed among confirmation of self-identity (a goal), resulting emotions, episode-specific evaluations, and finally to overall satisfaction with a leisure activity.

A Conditioned Attitude Model of Individual Discriminatory Behavior

Abstract: In this paper I present a model of individual-level discrimination that is consistent with the majority of mainstream sociological and psychological theories of discrimination and that reconciles many of the opposing views, to create a fuller and more realistic picture of the complex phenomenon of discrimination. The mechanism that determines whether discrimination occurs and what form it takes consists of three stages. First, an individual uses his or her information set to derive beliefs about a group or an evaluation of its characteristics. Then he or she combines these preexisting beliefs with any new information input received to form an attitude which signifies the degree of hostility or a favorable attitude toward the group members at any particular point in time. Finally, he or she weighs the internal benefits of discrimination against external consequences of such an action and chooses the perceived optimal form of behavior. Based on the predictions of the model, I propose several general policy ...

Altering Perceptions Through Repositioning: An Exercise in Framing

Abstract: This research was conducted to examine the efficacy of repositioning public parks and recreation services in the public mind. Respondents were recruited at various venues throughout a large Canadian city and randomly assigned to one of five groups. After reading hypothetical newspaper format articles, respondents completed questionnaires investigating their beliefs, attitudes, and behavioral intentions regarding a local recreation agency's efforts to reduce youth crime. Four treatment messages contained various combinations of real, psychological, and competitive repositioning messages, while a control group received no information. All types of repositioning messages were effective in improving beliefs and behavioral intentions, but not attitudes. There was no significant evidence that numerical treatment messages were more effective than non-numerical messages or that the cumulative effects of various repositioning messages were more effective than a single type of message. Discussion focuses on efficac...

Leisure Research, Active Lifestyles, and Public Health

Abstract: Leisure researchers have long examined the many ways in which people use their leisure time and interact with leisure-related resources including parks and recreation facilities. This special issue...

Examining Racism, Power, and White Hegemony in Stodolska's Conditioned Attitude Model of Individual Discriminatory Behavior

Abstract: Monica Stodolska has developed a “conditioned attitude model of individual discriminatory behavior” in an attempt to understand and predict how people acquire prejudicial attitudes and how such att

Governing Working Bodies Through Leisure

Abstract: This paper focuses on what appears to represent the consummate extension and blurring of distinctions between work and leisure, with employers providing some form of leisure opportunities for their employees at, or associated with, the workplace Empirically, the paper draws upon investigations undertaken with three Scottish-based case study organizations conducted from 1999 to 2001 The results showed that healthy leisure forms are central to contemporary active leisure initiatives at work, but that the docile assimilation of these messages is neither universal nor without contestation

Implications of the Conditioned Attitude Model of Individual Discriminatory Behavior for Discrimination in Leisure Settings

Abstract: While research on ethnic and racial discrimination in leisure has significantly expanded in recent years, the existing literature on the subject fails to provide much information about the reasons behind discrimination in leisure settings, characteristics of settings and activities associated with a high incidence of discrimination, characteristics of likely victims of racially or ethnically motivated attacks, and possible ways to reduce the frequency and intensity of such attacks. This paper uses the Conditioned Attitude Model of Individual Discriminatory Behavior to predict patterns of discrimination in leisure. It is shown how discrimination patterns may differ in work versus leisure environments. The differences in the nature of discrimination in leisure settings depending on the type of contact between minorities and the mainstream and on the cultural content of activities are isolated. Also, eleven empirically testable propositions regarding discrimination in leisure and work and the relationship be...

A Taste of Healthy Living: A Recreational Opportunity for People at Risk of Developing Type 2 Diabetes

Abstract: The Saanich Peninsula Diabetes Prevention Project was a participatory research project exploring the contribution of recreation programs to the prevention of type 2 diabetes among at-risk populations. Addressing active living, healthy eating, and fostering social inclusion, “A Taste of Healthy Living” was one of the initiatives emerging from the extensive community assessment phase. The purpose of this article is to describe the program's influence on participants' lives. The findings showed that the program encouraged healthy and active lifestyles, and nurtured social capital. Public recreation served as a mechanism for the redistribution of “social wealth.”

Developing Standards for Trail Conditions Using Image Capture Technology

Abstract: This study compares normative standards for trail impacts measured using three alternatives suggested by the literature. During September and October 2002, data were collected from a survey of 281 day hikers at three trail locations in Mudeung-Mountain Provincial Park, Korea. For the overall photo evaluation method (OPEM), respondents were asked to rate the acceptability of bare soil area for each of a series of photographs. For the specific photo evaluation method-1 (SPEM-1), respondents were asked to select a photograph that illustrated the largest acceptable proportion of bare soil area from a series of 10 photographs. For the specific photo evaluation method-2 (SPEM-2), respondents were asked to circle a number representing the largest acceptable proportion of bare soil area on a scale after looking at three referent photographs. Aggregated normative standards varied somewhat for different measurement alternatives and trail locations. Although SPEM-1 was the easiest alternative for respondent...

Discrimination is a societal issue too: moving beyond individual behavior.

Abstract: Monika Stodolska’s model of individual discriminatory behavior addresses the mechanisms that determine the occurrence and forms of discriminatory behavior. These mechanisms include the use of information, the development of beliefs, the formation of attitudes, and assessments about the consequences of possible discriminatory actions. The model builds on previous literature related to attitude development and prejudice, as well as theories of decision-making and individual behavioral predictions. It is potentially a useful model in that it updates previous theorizing and attempts to reconcile some of the opposing views on this topic through the creation of a broader and more complex explanatory system. If the model turns out to have predictive power, it may well be of value for practitioners and others who are seeking to influence individual discriminatory actions. Stodolska says that her revised model is consistent with most mainstream sociological and psychological theories of discrimination. However, it is clear in her paper that the emphasis is on individual psychology rather than on social, societal, or cultural components of discrimination. The role of macro-level factors is given scant attention, and these factors are seen to influence discriminatory behavior only as one type of “conditional factor” whereby state, social or religious institutions might define and enforce certain norms of individual behavior. It could be argued, though, that there are other ways, including some powerful and far-reaching ways, in which society and societal forces influence discrimination and inequitable treatment based on race or ethnicity. These processes need to be addressed, too, if a more complete understanding of discrimination is to be obtained.

Discrimination in the social context of leisure: a response.

Abstract: Monika Stodolska has taken on a complex task in trying to help explain discrimination as it occurs in leisure services. I applaud her efforts to offer a way of thinking about individual discriminatory behavior applied to leisure settings. Emerging conceptual models give new insight for research and practice. In reading the paper(s), I felt overwhelmed with the plethora of ideas related to one another and to understanding “society in leisure” (Coalter, 1999, p. 508). Stodolska’s examination of discrimination stretches researchers toward an ongoing analysis of the complexity of behavior related to attitudes and participation. She has also described the importance of examining constraints by focusing on antecedents and institutional conditions influencing behavior. Since I have an opportunity to comment on this paper, I would like to reinforce several of the points Stodolska articulates and examine further applications of these ideas. I realize it is always easier to criticize an idea or an outcome than it is to recommend concrete changes, but critiques are necessary for a growing body of knowledge. The paper provides a foundation for testing hypotheses and theories and raises queries that can be incorporated into future research. The paper may be seen as totally obsolete (or totally brilliant) ten years from now, but by that time researchers hopefully will have consciously and unconsciously incorporated either the critique or the foundation for this work into their research. Rather than discuss the specific points of these papers, I focus on some of the issues that this paper raised for me. Stodolska’s work offers a rich “playground” for exploring these ideas. Stodolska seems to address two different but interrelated upshots concerning discrimination. One aspect is discrimination within the leisure workforce, and the second is discrimination influencing leisure participation. Possible discrimination regarding women (e.g., Shinew, Anderson, & Arnold, 2000), gay and lesbian people (e.g., Henderson, 1995), and people of color (e.g., Hibbler & Shinew, 1999) within the workforce have been discussed in the leisure literature. Many of the findings parallel what has been found in other human service organizations. Only within the past ten years has a serious study of discrimination in leisure participation been addressed in our field (e.g., Floyd, 1998; Gobster, 1998; McDonald & McAvoy, 1997). Leisure services may or may not hold a uniqueness that suggests we should examine contextual dimensions of organizations that might have specific implications for leisure programming and management. I continue to wonder how or why leisure could be a venue for potential discrimination different from other arenas such as education. Stodolska notes that notions of freedom and choice that we generally associate with leisure are important in

A Conditioned Attitude Model of Individual Discriminatory Behavior—A Rejoinder

Abstract: It was with interest that I read the commentary on my articles in which I outlined a model of discrimination by individuals and formulated a number of propositions aimed at explaining the incidence of discrimination in leisure settings. The spectrum of views expressed in these comments offered a compelling testimony not only to the philosophical and methodological diversity of our field, but also to the depth of controversy associated with most aspects of race relations. The flaws of my model that were included in the critique ranged from its lack of emphasis on the role of societal power structures in promoting discrimination to its apparent irrelevance, given that most forms of human behavior are genetically predetermined. While some commentators suggested that we, as a society, were not doing enough to combat discrimination, others claimed that a mere fact of “scientific modeling” of discrimination masked the true nature of racism and perhaps even perpetuated such injustice, which possibly made it a racist act in itself. Regardless of the opinions expressed about the model and its implications, I believe that the resulting exchange of ideas has been helpful in improving our understanding of the discrimination-related phenomena, which makes it relevant outside of the context of the model’s critique. At this point, I would like to quote Chick, who states in his commentary that “we will only be able to understand, and thereby eliminate, the unmitigated evils of racial, ethic, and gender prejudice and discrimination by attacking them from a scientific perspective, one that is not itself handicapped by prejudice.” While acts of discrimination are ultimately committed by individuals, socio-cultural factors do have a profound influence on individual actions. One of the major critiques of the model revolved around its alleged lack of emphasis on such factors. A notable exception to this theme was Henderson, who complimented the model for attempting to incorporate institutional conditioning factors as modifiers of individual behavior. She stressed the need to focus on the influence of social as well as individual attitudes on people’s lives and on the relative positions of groups in the society. I do concur with Henderson’s assertion, as I believe that within its objectives, the model does succeed in accounting for a whole range of mechanisms through which society can affect the behavior of individuals. To put this point in some context, one needs to consider the fact that most social sciences tend to undergo periodic “shifts” in their dominant paradigms. The field of leisure studies is no exception, as it not only experiences shifts in its own paradigms, but also in the relative emphasis it places on the contributions of the major social science disciplines. While psychological models used to play a major role in many segments of our field, recently we have witnessed a shift toward more sociologically oriented explanations of human behavior. This trend is

Are Prejudice and Discrimination Learned? A Comment on Stodolska

Abstract: Monika Stodolska has assembled and merged several allied theoretical perspectives from psychology and social psychology with the intent to better understand, and perhaps prevent, discrimination tha...