Individual differences in leisure satisfactions: an investigation of four theories of leisure motivation

The applicability of several theories of leisure motivation to a range of 3 6 activities typically undertaken by younger people has been investigated. The theories were Csikzentmihalyi's theory of flow (theory 1), Bandura's th eory of self-efficacy (theory 2), Apter's theory of telic and paratelic act ivity (theory 3) and a general theory of social motivation (theory 4). Part icipants were 183 young men and women in secondary and tertiary education w ho completed self-report questionnaires containing scales for the frequency , enjoyment, purpose, social satisfaction, skill, ability and challenge whi ch they associated with activities they had personally experienced. The bal ance between skill and challenge implied by theory 1 was found to be charac teristic of all activities, whether or not they could be expected to genera te flow. The data collected in the study provided little support for theory 2. It was possible to distinguish telic and paratelic activities according to theory 3 and to show that the latter were more enjoyable and less purpo sive. Although theory 4 was not relevant to solitary activities, it was sti ll the most generally applicable and even appeared to account for most of t he enjoyment derived from highly purposive activities, which were not other wise greatly enjoyed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.