Work and Leisure

190 Seppo E. Iso-Ahola and Roger C. Mannellprogrammes within six months. Most of them participate because they havebeen told or have read that they ‘should’ do so. They do not like exercise orhave not found an enjoyable form of exercise for themselves. Most peoplestart exercising for instrumental reasons and extrinsic rewards (e.g. losingweight) and fail to turn it into a more self-determined activity (Iso-Ahola &St. Clair 2000). When one adds to this the fact that exercise has some costs(e.g. fatigue, muscle soreness), is often negatively reinforced or discouragedby the immediate social environment (e.g., an unsupportive spouse), is physicallychallenging, and is perceived to be demanding in terms of time andpreparation, it is no wonder that 50% of exercisers quit within six months(Iso-Ahola 1999).With its potential for freedom and autonomy, leisure can also be motivationallyinsidious. Recalling that the need for autonomy is a primary humanneed, a question then is ‘how can it be minimally satisfied?’ Leisure or freetime choices offer an excellent opportunity for the experience of autonomy.That is, when a person comes home from obligatory work, she/he is free, freeperhaps for the first time during the day, free from work. When people choosenot to do anything in this situation, they feel freedom and are therefore ableto fulfil the basic human need for autonomy. The next step, of course, wouldbe to do something that they want to do, but psychologically it is not necessaryto take such a step to find a sense of freedom. Thus, this need can be atleast partially fulfilled by choosing to exercise, not to exercise, or do nothing.This ironic and insidious effect of leisure may also explain in part why peoplewatch so much TV every day (Iso-Ahola 1999). They first choose to watch TVand in doing so find further freedom in the multitude of channels from whichto choose. However, the irony is that choosing more challenging and effortfulactivity such as exercising has been shown to make people feel better in thelong run (Mannell, Zuzanek & Larson 1988).All of this means that health behaviours to be practised in one’s leisure facea motivational uphill battle. First, today’s society is clearly biased towardpromotion of passive and sedentary lifestyle, especially in the form of homeentertainment. Second, many people have lost their early childhood predispositiontoward intrinsic motivation. Third, many health-behaviours arestarted for wrong (extrinsic) motives, and are perceived to be obligatory innature. Fourth, by choosing to do nothing or to engage in passive homeentertainment in his/her leisure a person is able to fulfil the basic human needfor autonomy and self-determination. Taken together, then, it should not besurprising that passive and sedentary lifestyles are common in present-daysociety.Health benefits of leisureAs the previous discussion has shown, adoption of an active and healthylifestyle is difficult for a variety of psychological reasons. However, there are