 Aristotle’s Three Levels of
• Amusement – at the base
 Lowest form of leisure
 Discouraged by philosophers
• Recreation – in the middle
 Lower form of leisure
 Deemed acceptable
• Contemplation – at the top
 Highest form of leisure
 Encouraged
 Inquiry into the natural world
 Contemplate the meaning of life
Leisure
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Base – Physiological needs
• Food, drink, etc…
• Safety Needs
• Security, Psychological safety
• Belongingness and Love Needs
• Affiliation, Acceptance, Affection
• Esteem Needs
• Competence, Approval, Recognition
• Self-Actualization
• Maslow believed that after fulfilling their basic physiological
needs humans will move upward on the hierarchy and ultimately
seek the full use and exploration of talents, capacities and
potential. Which equals self actualization.
 Flow
Experience - Csikszentmihalyi
• Challenge requiring skill
• Merging of action and awareness
• Clear goals
• Concentration on task at hand
• Sense of control
• Loss of self-consciousness – mindfulness
 Total emersion in activity
 Transformation of time
• Change in perception of time
Leisure as Time
Time based definitions of leisure appeared
because of the transition to the modern
organization of work.

The motivation to work was assumed to
be the desire for wages received in
exchange for surrendering control over
one’s activities for a specified time at a
specified place.

Leisure came to be defined as a time
when one was not getting paid, away from
work and in control of one’s undertakings
Leisure as an Activity

Leisure is defined as activity when
pursued for its own sake and for
enjoyment or fun.

One of the problems with the
conceptualization of leisure as activity
is that not all traditionally identified
activities are leisure for every person.
Leisure as Psychological Experiences or
State of Mind
 Psychological definitions of leisure
distinguish between leisure and nonleisure in 3 ways:
Leisure is freely chosen
Leisure is done for its own sake
Leisure allows the participant
a sense of control over the
outcome
Leisure as a Cultural Construct
 All of the previous definitions of leisure
separate leisure from other activities.
 Today, the separation of leisure and work
are not absolute due to changing work
schedules and technology.
 Expressive
acts
Expressive acts are concerned with the process, (the
journey not the destination) doing something that
you enjoy that the outcome is less important
 Instrumental
Acts or Values
Instrumental acts are concerned with the outcomes
(they are testable and measureable), these are
typically acts that we should or must complete such
as attending class, work or doing chores.
What kind of act do you think leisure interests are?
Leisure activities are more likely to be
expressive acts, less concerned with the
outcome than the process. These
definitions can also help someone define
whether something is a leisure interest or
“work”
 Play: Activities
in which one engages
freely and from which one derives
personal satisfaction.
• Other definitions imply a lack of formal
organization that is implicit of play (know this).
 Play
is universal across cultures and even
across species.
 Implications are that there is a biological
purpose to develop kinesthetic
awareness.
 Studies have even found traces of a “play
center” in the brain.
 Play provides stability and a process of
learning.
Factors that motivate play:
desire to belong
undergo new experiences
to achieve recognition
to express ones self
Biological
Interpretations of Play
The young play across species because
they are impelled to play by certain
biological traits.
 Karl
Groos (a swiss philosopher)
theorized that play prepares the young
for demands of life.
• Ex. Long before a kitten captures a mouse, it
practices the act by playing with a ball or wads
of paper. Humans have a longer play dominated
stage.
Psychological
Interpretations of Play
Erikson and Piaget (theorist) believed that play
is essential for the establishment of self and
that certain types of play are critical to certain
stages of development (especially for children)
Sociological
Interpretations of Play
Joseph Lee: need to belong can be filled
through play through “membership” in a
group.
George Mead: believed that play is
second only to language in the
development of the social self
Cultural
Interpretations of Play
Culture considers the relationship of play to the
customs of a given society
Forms of play have permeated almost all
human activities since the dawn of civilization
and that play has helped humankind create
society
Three things affect the cultural aspects of play:
Quality of time
Peer pressure
Social norms
Cultures define work and leisure differently; in
the same way that some people view
different activities as work while others
view them as leisure, the same is true with
different cultures
 The
structure and value of work will
determine how a culture views leisure
• This varies from country to country