Leisure or free time, is a period of time spent out of work and essential domestic activity. It is also the period of recreational and discretionary time before or after compulsory activities such as eating and sleeping, going to work or running a business, attending school and doing homework, household chores, and day-to-day stress. The distinction between leisure and compulsory activities is loosely applied, i.e. people sometimes do work-oriented tasks for pleasure as well as for long-term utility.^[1]

For an experience to qualify as leisure, it must meet three criteria: 1) The experience is a state of mind. 2) It must be entered into voluntarily. 3) It must be intrinsically motivating of its own merit. (Neulinger, 1981)

History

Detail from Rest (1896). Charles Sprague Pearce, Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.

Affordable and reliable transport in the form of railways allowed urban workers to travel on their days off, with the first package holidays to seaside resorts appearing in the 1870s, a trend which spread to industrial nations in Europe and North America. As workers channeled their wages into leisure activities, the modern entertainment industry emerged in industrialized nations, catering to entertain workers on their days off. This Victorian concept?the weekend?heralded the beginning of leisure time as it is known today.

Types of leisure

Men relaxing in a cafe overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in Tel Aviv, Israel.

• Active leisure activities involve the exertion of physical or mental energy. Low-impact physical activities include walking and yoga, which expend little energy and have little contact or competition. High-impact activities such as kick-boxing and soccer consume much energy and are competitive. Some active leisure activities involve almost no physical activity, but do require a substantial mental effort, such as playing chess or painting a picture. Active leisure and recreation overlap significantly.

• Passive leisure activities are those in which a person does not exert any significant physical or mental energy, such as going to the cinema, watching television, or gambling on slot machines. Some leisure experts discourage these types of leisure activity, on the grounds that they do not provide the benefits offered by active leisure activities. For example, acting in a community drama (an active leisure activity) could build a person's skills or self-confidence. Nevertheless, passive leisure activities are a good way of relaxing for many people.

Examples of leisure activities

A woman relaxes in an urban park and enjoys a book during her lunch break.

Free time is organized in many schools and institutions. Schools may offer many extracurricular activities including hobby groups, sports activities, and choirs. Other institutions such as retirement homes and hospitals also offer activities such as clubs and meetings for playing games or simply organized periods for conversation.

Most people like socializing with friends for dinner or a drink after a hard day at work. For many young people, having a regular night out a week is a normal part of their free time, whether it is joining friends for a drink in a pub, dining out in a restaurant, watching a film, playing video games or dancing the night away at a club.

Some people do leisure activities that also have a longer-term goal. In some cases, people do a leisure activity that they hope to turn into a full-time activity (e.g., volunteer paramedics who hope to eventually become professional paramedics). Many people also study part-time in evening university or college courses, both for the love of learning, and to help their career prospects.

Cultural differences

Time for leisure varies from one society to the next, although anthropologists have found that hunter-gatherers tend to have significantly more leisure time than people in more complex societies. As a result, band societies such as the Shoshone of the Great Basin came across as extraordinarily lazy to European colonialists.^[3]

Capitalist societies often view active leisure activities positively, because active leisure activities require the purchase of equipment and services, which stimulates the economy. Capitalist societies often accord greater status to members who have more wealth. One of the ways that wealthy people can choose to spend their money is by having additional leisure time.

Workaholics are those who work compulsively at the expense of other activities. (Note though that the pejorative nuance of this word reflects a Western value; in Japan, those who are not workaholics, are considered lazy.) They prefer to work rather than spend time socializing and engaging in other leisure activities. Many see this as a necessary sacrifice to attain high-ranking corporate positions. Increasing attention, however, is being paid to the effects of such imbalance upon the worker and the family (except in Japan, where such values are non-existent).

Throughout its early history, American society has been described as driven by the Protestant work ethic, a cultural view that is said to be inspired by the Protestant preacher John Calvin.

See also

• Lifestyle
• The Theory of the Leisure Class
• Labour Economics
• Conspicuous leisure and conspicuous consumption
• Recreation
• Entertainment
• Leisure Satisfaction

References

Further reading

• Peter Borsay, A History of Leisure: The British Experience since 1500, Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, ISBN 0333930827
• Cross, Gary S. 2004. Encyclopedia of recreation and leisure in America. The Scribner American civilization series. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Charles Scribner's Sons.
• Jenkins, John M., and J. J. J. Pigram. 2003. Encyclopedia of leisure and outdoor recreation. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415252261.

External links

• Peter Burke, The invention of leisure in early modern Europe, Past & Present, Feb, 1995
• The Development of Leisure Amongst the Social Classes During the Industrial Revolution
• See here for a longer bibliography of the subject

ar:??? ???? an:Ozio gn:Mba'apo'y cs:Volný ?as da:Fritid de:Freizeit et:Vaba aeg es:Ocio eo:Amuzo fr:Loisir fy:Frije tiid fur:Timp libar ko:?? io:Liber-tempo is:Tómstundagaman it:Ozio he:???? hu:Szabadid? nl:Vrije tijd ja:???? no:Fritid pl:Czas wolny pt:Lazer ru:????????? ????? scn:Passatempu simple:Leisure sv:Fritid ta:???????????? tr:Otium uk:?????????? wa:Tins fouzeure zh:??