Positive Information: Mapping Its Place in the Social Sciences Robert A. Stebbins, FRSC Professor Emeritus University of Calgary Workshop presented at the iConference, 2016, Philadelphia, March, 2016 e-mail: stebbins@ucalgary.ca Serious Leisure Perspective website: www.seriousleisure.net

What is Positive Information? (7) Information is positive when it fosters or expresses any or all of these: positive emotions (e.g., joy, pride, respect) interpersonal relationships (e.g., spousal/partner, friendship), psychological states (e.g., happiness, well-being) psychological processes (e.g., contemplation, community involvement) That information may be documentary (formal) or non-documentary (informal), Informal exemplified by experiential knowledge, rumor/gossip, informal advice.

What is Positiveness? (4) Positiveness is a personal sentiment felt by people who pursue those things in life they desire, the things they do to make their existence, rewarding, attractive, and therefore worth living (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Stebbins, 2009). Pronunciation: [cheek-sent-me-high] Such people feel positive about these aspects of life. Because this sentiment can be common in a person’s life, he or she may also feel positive toward life in general.

Activities and Agency (4) It is through certain activities that people, propelled by their own agency, find positive things in life, which they blend and balance with certain negative things they must also deal with. This is carried out mainly in the domain of leisure and to a lesser extent in that of work. Devotee work (Stebbins, 2004/2014) An activity is a type of pursuit, wherein participants mentally or physically (often both) think or do something, motivated by the hope of achieving a desired end. Activities are found in the domains of work, leisure, and non-work obligation.

Leisure Activities and Positiveness (4) I argue (Stebbins, 2015) that positive interpersonal relationships and positive emotional and cognitive states and processes --- the stuff of positive psychology --- are expressed or realized in myriad leisure activities (i.e., focused sets of particular behaviors). These activities are highly appealing, thereby providing their own motivational push. The more complicated of them -- the serious pursuits -- are, in turn, rooted in surrounding social worlds of people, groups, organizations, services, networks, and a unique history. A powerful personal and social identity typically follows from involvement in these activities.

Types of Leisure (5) In leisure, activities are pursued as: casual leisure (hedonic interests) project-based one-time interests the serious pursuits (amateurism, hobbyism, volunteering, and livelihoods gained from these known as devotee work) (Stebbins, 2007/2015). See the Serious Leisure Perspective at: www.seriousleisure.net/Diagrams.

Information Behavior and Information Activity (2) All this results in a more detailed link between information behavior and information activity than the one proposed by Hektor (2001). Nevertheless, the present model is limited to positive information and information activity in the domain of leisure.

References Hektor, A. (2001). What's the use? Internet and information behavior in everyday life, Linköping Studies in Arts and Science, no. 240. Linköping, Sweden: Linköping University. Seligman, M.E.P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology: An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5-14. Stebbins, R.A. (2004/2014). Between work and leisure: The common ground of two separate worlds. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers. (paperback edition with new Preface, 2014). Stebbins, R.A. (2007/2015). Serious leisure: A perspective for our time. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction (paperback edition with new Preface, 2015).  Stebbins, R. A. (2009). Personal decisions in the public square: Beyond problem solving into a positive sociology. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.  Stebbins, R.A. (2015). Leisure and positive psychology: Linking activities with positiveness. Houndmills, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.