Work and Leisure

180 John T. Haworthit has to be used with an understanding of particular situations. It may alsobe the case, as Perri 6 (2002) (www.wellbeing-esrc.com seminar onResearch and Policy for Wellbeing) has strongly argued, that recommendationsfor enhancing well-being in one social group may impinge on the wellbeingof another social group, and that there will be some degree of conflictwhich will need to be handled by negotiation and compromise.Similarly, when considering work and leisure, research can be valuable inproviding information and perspectives for both understanding and policymaking. Research shows the importance of social institutions for both facilitatingand constraining human endeavour in work and leisure. Major issuessuch as the balance between paid work and the rest of life, require global,national, and local perspectives on the role of social institutions in creatingsatisfactory work and leisure in agreed economic frameworks. Research isalso crucial in monitoring the distribution of resources available for work andleisure in different groups in society, whether these are analysed by class, age,gender, ethnicity or location. Equally important in societies characterised bydiversity, is research into the experiences and motivations of individuals withvarying work and leisure lifestyles. Recognising the diversity of humanexperience and requirements, and the social and temporal nature of humanendeavour, means there is no one correct policy for work and leisure. Inrapidly changing societies, time is needed for social practices to meet newrequirements. Research can inform transitions, but does not supplant the roleof negotiation.ReferencesAllison, M. T. and Duncan, M. C. (1987) Women, work and leisure: the days of ourlives. Leisure Sciences 9: 143–62.Allison, M. T. and Duncan, M. C. (1988) Women, work and flow. In M. Csikszentmihalyiand I. S. Csikszentmihalyi (eds) Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies ofFlow in Consciousness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.American Psychologist (2000) 55 special edition.Andrews, F. M. and Withey, S. B. (1974) Developing measures of perceived lifequality: results from several national surveys. Social Indicators Research 1: 1–26.Applebaum, H. A. (1998) The American Work Ethic and the Changing Work Force: AHistorical Perspective. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.Argyle, M. (1987) The Psychology of Happiness. London: Methuen.Beck, U. (2000) The Brave New World of Work. Oxford: Blackwell with Polity.Bradburn, N. M. (1969) The Structure of Psychological Well-being. Chicago: Aldine.Bradburn, N. M. and Caplovitz, D. (1965) Reports of Happiness. Chicago: Aldine.Brief, A. P., Butcher, A. H., George, J. M. and Link, K. E. (1993) Integrating bottomupand top-down theories of subjective well-being: the case of health. Journal ofPersonality and Social Psychology 64: 646–53.Bryce, J. and Haworth, J. T. (2002) Wellbeing and flow in a sample of male and femaleoffice workers. Leisure Studies 21: 249–63.