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and/or social benefits-distinct quality of
serious leisure. Although these studies include other defining qualities of serious
leisure, we focused mainly on the contribution of serious leisure on personal and
social benefits because acknowledging
those tangible benefits frequently facilitates the involvement of individuals in serious leisure.

Emotional Benefits
Several studies have demonstrated that
serious leisure participants who travel to events to participate and compete
as a serious competitors have interacted
well with others by sharing the ethos of
the activity, celebrated a valued social
identity, and furthered their leisure career which became central to their life
and their value system. For example, an
interview and observation of a group
of kayaker tourists indicated the development of serious leisure identity during their kayaking trip. The participants

shared the kayaking ethos or social
world with other kayakers, and the benefits of the serious leisure involvement
encompassed a sense of achievement,
stress relief, and skill acquisition.
Individuals with disabilities have also
benefited from participating in serious
leisure activities. Ian Patterson of the
University of Queensland conducted a
case study of three individuals with disabilities. Although each participant had
a different type of disability-including
a learning disability, mild epilepsy, mild
intellectual disability, and autism-it
was demonstrated that the participants
were able to develop enhanced levels of
self-confidence, skills, and self-esteem
through participation in a serious leisure
activity. Furthermore, separate research
shows that participants with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalopathy placed more emphasis on deriving
hope for the future and maintaining or
restoring self-image and self-confidence

through the creation of art during their
serious leisure pursuits.

Social Benefits
Research has demonstrated that serious
leisure activities provide opportunities
to socialize and compete in an environment of friendship and mutual interest. Serious leisure is extended into the
everyday lives of the participants, and
many serious leisure researches have
been conducted under the qualitative
paradigm, which examines the participants in extraordinary situations.
In discussing " living history " as a serious leisure pursuit, members of the
American Civil War Society reported
the following reasons to commit themselves to serious leisure activities: seeking a meaningful hobby, gaining a social
life, gaining comradeship and enjoying
the educational element. In a study on
volunteerism as serious leisure, more
than 90 percent of the participants in

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www.NRPA .ORG

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December 2009 - Parks & Recreation

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