2 Chapter 2 Basic Concepts: Philosophical Analysis of Play, Recreation, and Leisure

Objectives Define, compare, and contrast play, recreation, and leisure. Provide an overview of play theories. Discuss the psychology of play. Identify the six views of leisure as presented in the text. Discuss the interrelationship between play, recreation, and leisure.

The Meaning of Play A form of human or animal activity or behavioral style that is self-motivated and carried on for intrinsic, rather than external, purposes. Often is marked by elements of competition, humor, creative exploration and problem solving, and mimicry or role playing.

The Meaning of Play (cont’d) Historical perspectives Greece: Play has valuable role in the lives of children. Catholic Church: Play comes to be regarded as a social threat. Body thought to detract from spiritual values Effort to curb pleasure pursuits Educators and philosophers defend play. Important aspect of childhood education

Early Theories of Play Surplus-energy theory: Herbert Spencer Play is motivated by the need to burn up excess energy. Does not account for nonphysical play. Does not account for play in people with low levels of energy.

Early Theories of Play (cont’d) Relaxation theory Converse to surplus-energy theory. Play restores energy. Play reenergizes physical and mental energy. Play relaxes individuals.

Early Theories of Play (cont’d) Preparation theory Play helps children practice adult life. Play helps children learn teamwork and role playing. Does not account for adult play.

Early Theories of Play (cont’d) Catharsis theory Play serves as a safety valve for bottled up emotions. Play provides an acceptable channel for expression of aggression or hostility. Helps burn excess energy.

Twentieth-Century Concepts of Play Self-expression theory Play as a need for self-expression. Play allows people to use their abilities and express their personalities. Activities influenced by physiological and anatomic structure, physical fitness level, environment, and family and social background.

Twentieth-Century Concepts of Play (cont’d) Play as a social necessity: Joseph Lee Play as a force in child development and community life. Need for organized play opportunities that served as an alternative to the difficult life children living in poverty faced on the streets. Bullet 1: revised em dash to colon; social necessity lowercase Sub-bullets 1-2: inserted EOS periods for consistency Master edit: Update copyright to 2015

Twentieth-Century Concepts of Play (cont’d) Typologies of play activity Classification characteristic of various cultures: Caillois Agon: competitive activities Alea: games of chance Mimicry: make-believe, role playing Ilinx: pursuit of vertigo or dizziness

Twentieth-Century Concepts of Play (cont’d) Contrasting styles of play Paidia: exuberance, freedom, gaiety Ludus: rules and conventions; represents calculated and contrived activity

Twentieth-Century Concepts of Play (cont’d) Play element in culture: Johan Huizinga Play pervades all of life, with its own ethical value. War as play. Play in the business world.

Psychological Analysis of Play Play in personality development Play prompts enjoyment, freedom, fun, self-expression, creativity, self confidence. Play allows children to learn to interact with others through cooperative, sharing, and conflict-resolution activities.

Psychological Analysis of Play (cont’d) Psychoanalytical perspectives on play Method to gain control and competence. Play represents the child's way of dealing with reality. By playing, reality becomes more acceptable and allows the child to gain mastery over threatening events.

Psychological Analysis of Play (cont’d) Play as creative exploration Stimulus-arousal theory Humans and animals seek stimuli for knowledge, excitement, risk, surprise, and pleasure. Stimuli seeking can be positive or negative. Light, enjoyable, pleasant Frustrating, boring, unpleasant

Psychological Analysis of Play (cont’d) Play as creative exploration Competence-effectance theory Motivated by the need of the player to test the environment, solve problems, and gain a sense of mastery and accomplishment. Cziksentmihalyi's “flow” principle.

The Meaning of Leisure: Six Views Classical value Activity performed for its own sake. Sharply contrasted with work. Pursuits such as art, political debate, philosophical discussion, and learning in general. Leisure is the absence of work.

The Meaning of Leisure: Six Views (cont’d) Leisure as a symbol of social class: Veblen Leisure became the hallmark of the upper class. Changed as working class grew in size. Upper class still participate in a wide variety of expensive, prestigious, and sometimes decadent leisure activities.

The Meaning of Leisure: Six Views (cont’d) Leisure as unobligated time Time free from work or work-related responsibilities. Excludes time devoted to essential life-maintenance activities and other obligations. Contemporary Americans feel increased time pressure.

The Meaning of Leisure: Six Views (cont’d) Leisure as activity Leisure closely related to recreation and activity. Makes little allowance for low-activity leisure pursuits. Feminist critiques focus on irrelevance of work/leisure dichotomy.

The Meaning of Leisure: Six Views (cont’d) Leisure as a state marked by freedom Perceived freedom of the activity. Leisure as promoting personal fulfillment and self-enrichment. Leisure as part of a holistic lifestyle.

The Meaning of Leisure: Six Views (cont’d) Leisure as spiritual expression Leisure is an important means of spiritual expression. Spirituality emerges in leisure through nature, mediation, relaxation, and other activities.

The Meaning of Leisure: Six Views (cont’d) Leisure defined Implies freedom and choice. Customarily used in a variety of ways, including to meet one’s personal needs for reflection, self-enrichment, relaxation, pleasure, and affiliation. May be regarded as a holistic state of being and/or spiritual experience.

The Meaning of Recreation Recreation represents a fusion between play and leisure. Recreation: that which refreshes or restores. Holds the potential for being pleasant, rewarding, and creative. Bullets 1-3: inserted EOS periods for consistency (majority are complete sentences) Bullet 2: revised em dash to colon Master edit: Update copyright to 2015

Contemporary Definitions of Recreation Three categories of recreation: As an activity As a state of being As a social institution

Contemporary Definitions of Recreation (cont’d) Elements of recreation: Activity Excludes idleness and complete rest Voluntary involvement Internal motivation Dependent on state of mind Purpose is pleasure seeking

Contemporary Definitions of Recreation (cont’d) Voluntary participation Generally recreation is viewed as voluntary and without obligation. Teams, leagues, and pressures from family or friends reduce the voluntary nature of recreation.

Contemporary Definitions of Recreation (cont’d) Motives for participation Often goal-oriented. Murphy identified these following types of behaviors: Socializing behaviors Associative behaviors Competitive behaviors Risk-taking behaviors Exploratory behaviors

Contemporary Definitions of Recreation (cont’d) Motives for participation Other motives: Vicarious experiences Sensory stimulation Physical involvement Intellectual pursuits

Contemporary Definitions of Recreation (cont’d) Recreation as an outcome Recreation viewed in terms of benefit it provides. Leisure researchers have studied social-psychological outcomes of participation. Contemporary interest in relationship between recreation and health outcomes.

Contemporary Definitions of Recreation (cont’d) Recreation as a social institution Significant institution in the community. Public, nonprofit, commercial services providers. Professional associations and degree programs emerged.

Contemporary Definitions of Recreation (cont’d) Recreation defined Human activities or experiences that occur in leisure time. Usually, they are voluntarily chosen for intrinsic purposes and are pleasurable, although they may involve a degree of compulsion, extrinsic purpose, and discomfort, or even pain or danger.

Relationships Among Play, Leisure, and Recreation Play is more a form of behavior than activity. Play can occur during work or leisure. Recreation has broader applications and can be provided by agencies that do not have recreation as a primary focus. Armed forces, businesses Recreation can include nonplay-like activities. Traveling, reading, going to museums Leisure is more abstract, focus of research by many different disciplines.