Socialization Toward Leisure: A Developmental Approach

Abstract

Exploration of how the leisure socialization process can be investigated requires answers to basic questions of when and with whom leisure is learned. From interviews of adults in a Western community, profiles of the social context and meaning of a wide range of leisure activities have been developed. Activities were found to have been evenly divided among those begun as children and in adult years. Family associations were primary in learning 63 percent. Activities were classified by form and social orientation and then related to periods in the family life cycle. The findings suggest that leisure socialization is a lifelong process. Research implications are outlined that would fill in the picture of a developmental approach to leisure careers.¹