Rodney B. Dieser

Culture, Self-Construal, and Leisure Theory and Practice

According to Markus and Kitayama (1991), although European North Americans are more likely to have independent self-construals (and therefore to value being unique, expressing ones inner attributes, etc.), people in or from Asia, Africa, and Southern Europe are more likely to have interdependent self-construals (and therefore to value belonging, maintaining harmony, etc.). The type of self-construal a person has affects his or her emotions, cognitions, and motivations. In the case of intrinsic motivation, for example, it is often put forth that the key factor affecting this variable is autonomy/personal choice. Recent research suggests, however, that while this may be true for independent selves, relatedness may be more important for interdependent selves. Because intrinsic motivation and autonomy/personal choice are present in many leisure theories, and leisure theories often influence leisure practice, the concept of self-construal may have great import for our field. In order to support this proposition, this article: (a) describes what self-construal is and how it affects intrinsic motivation; (b) reviews some of the major leisure theories that include intrinsic motivation and discusses how the above may affect them; (c) outlines the implications of not incorporating self-construal into leisure practice, using benefits based programming (Rossman & Schlatter, 2000) as an exemplar; and (d) examines some of the conceptual and methodological concerns associated with self-construal.

Genealogy of the United States Therapeutic Recreation Certification Framework

Building upon Foucault’s (1977, 1998) research methodology of genealogy, the purpose of this paper is to highlight how educational disciplinary techniques utilized by the United States National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) unknowingly normalizes people toward the dominant discourse of white Euro‐North American individualistic notions. In particular, the NCTRC uses three types of individualistic technologies of educational discipline: the art of distribution, the examination and the confessional, to create individualistic actions as ‘common sense’ practice in therapeutic recreation. As the NCTRC attempts to gain a greater international and cross‐cultural audience (e.g. Australia, Canada, China, United Kingdom), it may unintentionally assimilate people from different cultures and national backgrounds into a standardized framework of white Euro‐North American individualism, which can result in damaging psychological consequences for clients from diverse cultures. The paper concludes by outlining an interdisciplinary therapeutic recreation certification model that is attentive to cross‐cultural issues, entitled the Mosaic Certification Framework.

Special issues: Global therapeutic recreation: Should the United States therapeutic recreation profession and the United States National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) be replicated in other nations

One of the career options or fields of study within leisure studies/services is therapeutic recreation (TR). Therapeutic recreation uses the modalities of activity therapy, education and recreation/leisure to promote the health and well-being of persons who require specialised care because of illness, disability or social condition. Currently in the United States, the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) is a credentialing body with a mission to certify qualified individuals to practice therapeutic recreation as competent professionals. NCTRC has an explicit vision to be recognised as the largest international body of Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialists. In 2009 the Canadian Therapeutic Recreation Association was the first country outside of the United States to enter a professional partnership with NCTRC, resulting in problematic consequences in the provinces of Alberta, Quebec and Newfoundland, but simultaneously resulting in positive consequences in provinces like Nova Scotia. Scant academic dialogue was occurred related to the global relevance and consequences of the NCTRC becoming a global blueprint to establish competent practice in other countries outside of the United States. The purpose of this paper, which is simultaneously a call for contributions to a forthcoming special issue on the cross-cultural and ethical implications of replicating the United States therapeutic recreation profession, including the NCTRC credentialing framework, in other nations, is to draw attention to some of the core issues embedded with using a United States model of therapeutic recreation certification as a global blueprint.

Happiness and leisure: an ethnodrama, Act I

The purpose of this article is to use the imaginative process of a theatrical script – also called ethnodrama – to explain how leisure is related to happiness within a framework of positive psychology. In particular, this ethnodrama presents an imaginative interdisciplinary scholarly conversation regarding how leisure is related to happiness among the following six thinkers: Jane Addams, Cindy Jackson, Mark Kingwell, Betsy Wearing, Martin Seligman, and Oksana Grybovych. This ethnodrama reflects what the authors believe could be a realistic conversation between six diverse people regarding how leisure is related to happiness through a positive psychology framework.

Integrating flow theory and the serious leisure perspective into mental health counseling

This article explores how flow theory and the serious leisure perspective (SLP) can be integrated into mental health counseling. Although different counseling models have acknowledged the role of leisure in the counseling process, leisure is largely an unknown and superficial concept in the mental health counseling literature. Four broad-based pragmatic ideas regarding how flow theory and the SLP can be integrated into the counseling process include mental health counselors (1) understanding the concepts of serious leisure, casual leisure, project-based leisure, flow (enjoyment), and hedonistic pleasure; (2) becoming aware of various assessment instruments that measure flow and serious leisure; (3) using the provision characteristics of entering flow into the counseling process; and (4) empowering clients to becoming community change agents through serious leisure pursuit, resulting in flow experiences.

A content analysis of the World Leisure Journal: 1958–2012

The World Leisure Journal (2000–present) and its predecessor publication know as IRA Bulletin (1958–1972), WLRA Bulletin (1972–1980) and the WLRA Journal (1981–2000) have served as the major conduit for disseminating information regarding the activities of the World Leisure Organization (WLO) as well as advancing the body of knowledge in recreation and leisure studies and services. As Edginton has offered “over time, WLO has consistently offered its membership a publication highlighting the activities of the organization as well as, in recent year, advancing research and scholarly findings.” The purpose of this study was to conduct a historical content analysis of the World Leisure Journal and its predecessors from 1958 to 2012. Several areas were explored including: (1) core/primary themes as reflected in title, abstracts and keywords; (2) methodology of only research-based articles; (3) geographic distribution of authors; (4) gender of authors; and (5) affiliation of authors. The findings reveal that the geographic distribution of authors finds 44% are North Americans; 27% are European; 14% are drawn from Australia/Oceania; 8% from Asia; 3% from Africa; 2% from South America; and 2% from Middle East. When viewing authorship by gender, 70% of the authors were male and 30% were female. Slight more than 35% of the articles author(s) affiliation were with non-governmental organizations, followed by 24.2% from universities, colleges, or research institutions and 21.5% from the World Leisure and Recreation Journal/World Leisure Journal. A keyword analysis finds that the greatest percentage of articles emphasize a regional focus, followed by papers which focus on lifespan/age groups, leisure terms, leisure values/outcomes, culture/diversity, leisure management/programming and health/wellness. When viewing research methodologies employed 62.50% were identified as quantitative, 31.2% were identified as being qualitative, and 6.2% could be described as mixed method studies. The most prevalent research method utilized was survey research. The majority of articles published following the transition of the journal to a more research-focused one is that the majority of articles can be categorized as research/theoretical, followed by ones offering commentary, professional practice, conceptual frameworks, book reviews, philosophical and other.

Leisure education research and the fundamental attribution error

The purpose of this paper is to summarise and integrate two history-based content analysis studies related to leisure education in order to highlight the pervasive existence of the fundamental attribution error in leisure education research and to outline its problematic consequences. The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overestimate dispositional or internal attributions of a person when explaining or modifying behaviour, and to underestimate the influence of environmental factors. In a span of approximately 30 years, there have been 159 leisure education learning components developed from 27 research studies in which leisure education was treated as an independent research variable. Of these 159 leisure learning components, only six components – or just under 4% – focused attention on changing environmental factors outside of the leisure education participants. Recommendations regarding future leisure education practice and research are provided.

I am hoping you can point me in the right direction regarding playground accessibility: a case study of a community which lacked social policy toward playground accessibility.

Social policy is a step to improving living conditions, enhancing society or preventing social injustices. The playground is a safe place for children and families to develop relationships, experience happiness and enjoy community. While there have been a few case studies examining playground accessibility, a more comprehensive assessment and evaluation of playground accessibility across the leisure profession has not yet been completed. The purpose of this paper is to present a descriptive case study regarding playground accessibility through assessment of accessible design features of playgrounds in two neighbouring communities in the United States. The collective findings of this study raise several issues and ask the question: “Are community park and recreation leaders aware of the lack of inclusive and accessible playground spaces?” Findings from this study can be used to develop social policies that facilitate enable inclusive playgrounds.

Of straw men and melting pots: a response to Cara Aitchison's (2010) ‘Labouring the leisure society thesis…’

In a previous issue of the World Leisure Journal (Volume 52, Issue 4, 2010), Chris Rojek (2010a) authored a paper on leisure and emotional intelligence that included commentary from a number of scholars involved in leisure studies. I co-authored a reply (Edginton & Dieser, 2010) and of the various commentaries presented, I was most moved by that of Cara Aitchison (2010). The aim of this paper is to provide a ‘‘reply’’ to Aitchison’s commentary and engage in a dialogue in the hope that there can be greater understanding regarding the continuing contemporary importance of Rojek’s discussion of the ‘‘leisure society’’ thesis. I provide a counter-argument to Aitchison’s thinking and argue that the leisure society thesis is alive and well in the United States and its persistence, viewed from the perspective of a Foucauldian understanding of power, can be traced to its connections with the American political ideology of the melting pot.

Decreasing Patient Stress and Physician/Medical Workforce Burnout Through Health Care Environments: Uncovering the Serious Leisure Perspective at Mayo Clinic's Campus in Rochester, Minnesota

Abstract Health care environments are places of high stress for both patients and medical professionals. Although organizational efforts of workload and efficiency are often implemented to decrease both patient and physician/medical workforce stress, what is often overlooked is how leisure opportunities and programs located in day‐to‐day experiences and in physically built environments can increase both patient and medical staff enjoyment and pleasure, thus lowering patient stress and physician/medical staff burnout. Combining historical research on the leisure pursuits of Drs William J. Mayo and Charles H. Mayo, literature on leisure, stress, and burnout, and a case study methodology of Mayo Clinics campus in Rochester, Minnesota, the purpose of this study was to describe how the Serious Leisure Perspective (SLP) exists at Mayo Clinic and contributes to relieving stress among patients and preventing burnout among physicians.