Year: 2016
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Leisure is under-researched in the enrichment and work-life interface literature, despite the fact that it is an increasingly valued life domain among employees.This thesis seeks to address the lack of work in this area by examining the effects of leisure on work through the lens of serious leisure.This thesis has three principal aims: 1) To examine whether serious leisure generates psychological and affective resources 2) To examine whether serious leisure activities improve work performance via these psychological resources 3) To explore the impact of individual episodes of serious leisure activity on work performance and compare this to the impact of habitual patterns of engagement over a longer time scale.I refer to these different approaches as episodic and habitual serious leisure respectively.To address the aims of the thesis I carried out a 10-day daily diary to assess the effects of episodic serious leisure, and a monthly survey over 7 months to assess habitual serious leisure.I found that serious leisure was related to increased self-efficacy, but the pattern of enrichment was different for episodic verses habitual leisure.There was a direct positive effect of time spent in episodic serious leisure on self-efficacy.In contrast to this, the effect of time spent in habitual leisure on self-efficacy was only present for individuals when their work roles were less similar to their leisure roles.I also found differences in the relationship between serious leisure and work and the relationship between casual leisure and work.
Author: Ciara Kelly
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2610281356