The document "Summary - Leisure Behavior & Motivation" explores the concept of spare time, distinguishing between objective (measurable) and subjective (experiential) definitions. It traces the historical evolution of leisure from an elite privilege to a widespread industry influenced by social cha...
‘What is spare time?’
It is not easy to de ne the concept of spare time. The most important reason for this is that spare
time is not a ‘tangible’ concept. It is relatively simple to de ne, for example, what a chair is, since
everybody can describe a chair based on what it looks like. A chair is tangible, spare time is not.
Objective approach of spare time
Objective means based on facts. An objective approach to spare time means that there are no
interpretive di erences possible to the description.
Spare time = all time - work - school - care responsibilities - personal time
Care responsibilities: includes care for other people and household chores.
Personal time: includes sleeping, eating, drinking, showering, dressing and everything else related
to that former.
Example
7 x 24 = 168 hours in a week. If you work 16 hours, go to school for 20 hours and spend 70 hours
on personal time (including sleep). That would mean, according to the objective approach that
you have 62 hours of spare time each week.
This de nition is often called a residual de nition of spare time. Residual is what is left over.
What is the added value of this objective approach?
It is useful where quantitive research is being done. This is research which gures (numbers) are
being analyzed. —> CBS (central bureau for statistics)
For example with this method it is possible to compare the amount of spare time in di erent
countries in order to analyze whether older or younger have more spare time or now and 1950.
Leisure manager wants to know more:
• What do people actually consider spare time?
• What do people prefer to spend their money on?
• Why spend older people there spare time di erent than younger people?
Subjective approach of spare time
It depends on the person to decide whether they experience it as spare time. This can di er per
person, but also per situation.
Based on quality —> experience itself.
Example:
Going to dinner, is that spare time or not? It depends on the persons personal view. If you enjoy
going to dinner with some friends, that it is for you spare time. However if you ‘have’ to go to
dinner with colleagues, it is not spare time for you.
The amount of time that is considered to be spare time di ers per culture, but also the
preferences for spending our spare time are strongly dependent on culture.
For the leisure manager to understand and be able to apply both approaches.
On the one hand it is of great value to know how much spare time the various cultures have and
how that develops.
On the other hand it is important to know what is actually considered as spare time so that we ca
react adequately to the consumer demand.
Objective spare time —> spare time
Subjective spare time —> leisure
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, The objective and subjective approach both have pros and cons. It is almost impossible to nd a
perfect de nition of leisure that everyone in the world wil agree on.
Approach Name Subject Characteristics Relevant if you….
Objective Temporal Time How much spare wish to compare
time available? numbers or
amounts of
countries/groups/
years.
Behavioural Behavior How does one use want to know how
their spare time. people behave and
What does leisure how you ca explain
behavior look like? and in uence that.
Subjective Mental Experience How does one want to understand
experience spare and map people’s
time? motives, feelings
and experiences.
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, Chapter 2 short history of leisure
Spare time is a social concept. It is a phenomenon that is inseparably connected to human acts.
You will not be able to fathom the concept of spare time until you know its history.
Until 1850
Spare time: unknown and for the elite.
Society was divided into a number of classes: social classes.
Clergy—> landowners and prayed for the people.
Nobles —> connected to the church.
Commoners —> people without rights.
Only the elite went to performance and sports.
The commoners were busy staying alive.
Only exceptions were board games (chess) and celebrating holidays.
1850 to 1920
‘Discovery’ of spare time by the masses.
Industrial Revolution
The workers in the industrial cities discovered that there were more possibilities for spending
there spare time than just recovering from hard work.
The factory workers had an 8-hour workday, in the evening they would be free <— spare time was
born. They spend it drinking, gambling, prostitution.
The ‘beer house act’ of 1830 gave each individual the right to open his own beer house. They had
spare time but still were poor and in a bad living situation.
1920 to 1990
From education of society to a leisure industry.
Around 1890-1910 spare time as we know it started.
(KNVB -> 1889 & rst movie theater openend in 1903)
Workers where not only with colleagues at work but also in their spare time.
1919
The labor law was approved.
‘ A working day could not exceed 8 hours.’
This was of great in uence on dutch spare time —> but still spare time was mostly for alcoholism.
1960
The leisure industry really took ight. They got a free Saturday so 8 hour workday plus the entire
weekend o —> more spare time.
But also:
• More work than there were workers, many workers saw their wages increase.
• The rise of automobile made it possible for spare time to be spent outside of the living
environment.
• Introduction of the television in the dutch households.
All of the above led to a rise in the leisure industry
Leisure industry
Demand side:
a consumer with a great freedom of choice and money to spend. He is mobile, able to travel
around the world. They can also see the whole world through television and the internet.
Supply side:
Growing number of companies that have managed to respond to the wishes of the consumer and
to the changing roll of the government during the last decades.
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