Work and Leisure

Leisure and health 187digital amplifier to create the surround sound so that they can fully appreciatethe movie-going experience at home. And the experience would not be completewithout an even bigger and wider-screen TV. This promotion of passivelifestyles is done to maintain a healthy economy and in that sense isunintentional, but it is nevertheless a powerful and invisible conspiracyagainst the more active and healthier lifestyle. It makes people increasinglymore reactive to and dependent on stimuli than creators of their own action.Herein lies an answer to the question: ‘If we are so rich, why aren’t wehappy’? (Csikszentmihaly 1999).The promotion of passive home entertainment by the private sector issuccessful for several psychological reasons. First, people have a universaltendency to always take the path of least resistance in terms of time, moneyand effort. If they can have a good TV-watching or movie-going experience athome, they will opt for it rather than go to a local theatre or cinema becauseof savings in time, money and effort. Thus, they will acquire the latest devicethat will make choosing the path of least resistance easier. Second, two trendsabout living in today’s society make people ripe for the passive using of homeentertainment. One, continuous stress due to work, commuting and personalfinances make people mentally exhausted and thus ready for passive homeentertainment. Two, today’s society emphasizes family and family togethernessrather than a personal and individualistic lifestyle. It is socially moreacceptable to find things to do together as a family than individually. This,coupled with the overall importance of the Protestant work ethic, is likely toevoke feelings of guilt if one contemplates involvement in personal leisureactivity. Thus, home entertainment is an easy and convenient solution fora joint family activity. As a result, all of these factors become a powerfulpsychological force that pushes people toward a passive and sedentarylifestyle.Motivation for leisureIf the way we live our lives is the main determinant of our health, lifestylebecomes critical for prevention of health problems. There is plenty of evidencein the literature (for reviews of research, see Iso-Ahola 1994, 1997) thatan active leisure lifestyle is health-promoting. Adoption of such a lifestyle,however, requires a proactive approach to health, but as discussed, mostpeople tend to be reactive in relation to health and consequently passive andsedentary in their leisure. As one person said: ‘Why exercise because you’regoing to die anyway?’ Perhaps most sedentary people are not that cynical anddepressive, but they may not be too far from this way of thinking either. Suchthinking obviously misses the point about health and quality of life and raisesa major question about motivational foundations for leisure.Why are some people active in and ‘serious’ (Stebbins 1992; Stebbins 2001)about their leisure while others do little or nothing in their free time? It is well