Living through history: A process model of identity construction in Napoleonic reenactments
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study investigates how participants construct their identities in Napoleonic battle reenactments, applying the Serious Leisure Perspective (SLP) as a theoretical lens. It draws on an eight-year multi-site ethnography (2016–2024) encompassing field observation and 23 semi-structured interviews with reenactors. An ethnographic, SLP-informed thematic analysis indicates that durable benefits—enhancement of self-image, regeneration or recreation, and social interaction or belongingness—lay the foundation to construct serious leisure identities. entry motives orient exploratory effort; social validation operates throughout to shape how effort yields durable benefits and consolidates identity construction; and consolidated identities mobilize further effort that first renews durable benefits, which then stabilizes identity. This finding specifies the sequencing and feedback dynamics through which durable benefits contribute to identity construction.
Source: Journal of Leisure Research
Author: Bowen Chai
Institutions: University of Edinburgh, KU Leuven
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7165207626