Daniel J. Elkins

The Contribution of Constraint Negotiation to the Leisure Satisfaction of College Students in Campus Recreational Sports

Satisfaction experienced during leisure activity plays an important role in continued leisure participation. Leisure participation is also affected by leisure constraints. In recent years, the idea of negotiating leisure constraints has emerged as an important area of research. The concept of constraint negotiation suggests that individuals use various methods to overcome constraints and participate in leisure activities. Although research has been done examining the leisure satisfaction of college students, as well as constraint negotiation strategies used by college students, little research has examined the role of negotiation in creating satisfying leisure experiences. The purpose of this study was to examine which type of constraint negotiation strategies contributed to satisfying leisure experiences for college students. The sample of this study consisted of college students at two midwestern universities (N = 363). Results from this study indicate that college students commonly use interpersonal relations, physical fitness, and skill acquisition negotiation strategies in order to participate in leisure activities. Additional results from multiple regression analyses suggest that the strongest predictors of leisure satisfaction are negotiation strategies that involve a social component, the practicing of a skill in order to improve, and a sense of accomplishment during participation. The findings of this study indicate that leisure satisfaction for college students may be associated with the negotiation strategies used to participate in leisure activities.

Leisure motivation of older adults in relation to other adult life stages.

This cross-sectional study examined motivation for participation in physical activity at different adult life stages. T test analysis revealed no differences based on gender. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated differences based on life stage. Individuals in the 18–24 age range were highly motivated by competence mastery factors. In addition, participants older than age 65 were more highly motivated by social aspects of leisure. These results suggest that leisure professionals should seek to offer young adults options that help develop skills while older adult options should be focused less on competency and more on building social environments.

Differences in Employee Perceptions of Entry-Level Competencies of NIRSA Campus Recreation Professionals

Core competencies are defined as skills, knowledge, and abilities that an employee needs to be successful in a job. There has been research examining competencies in a variety of professional recreation settings, including campus recreation. Research in campus recreation has confirmed the understanding of the NIRSA Core Competencies: program delivery; philosophy and theory; personal and professional qualities; legal liabilities and risk management; human resources management; facility planning, management, and design; business management; and research and evaluation. The purpose of this study was to examine competencies of entry-level employees in campus recreation departments. More specifically, this study investigated differences in perceptions of entry-level competencies between entry-level employees, mid-level, and upper-level employees in campus recreation departments. There were 466 campus recreation professionals that participated in the survey research and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests indicated that entry-level employees assign greater importance to specific competencies than employees higher up in the organization.