The importance of leisure and the psychological mechanisms involved in living a good life: a content analysis of best-possible-selves texts

Paula M Loveday; Geoff Lovell; Christian M Jones

doi:10.1080/17439760.2017.1374441

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The importance of leisure and the psychological mechanisms involved in living a good life: a content analysis of best-possible-selves texts

Journal article

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The importance of leisure and the psychological mechanisms involved in living a good life: a content analysis of best-possible-selves texts

Paula M Loveday, Geoff Lovell and Christian M Jones

Journal of Positive Psychology, Vol.13(1), pp.18-28

2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2017.1374441

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Abstract

affiliation

autonomy

best possible self

detachment-recovery

leisure

mastery

meaning

social interaction

well-being

writing

This paper explored the psychological mechanisms by which leisure enhances well-being by using sentence-by-sentence coding of the best-possible-selves text produced by 112 participants. Of the 1097 sentences, 41% were coded as leisure indicating that leisure is an important component of optimal well-being. The data showed that Australians have significantly less leisure in their daily lives than our sample desired; older and wealthier individuals placed a greater emphasis on leisure but there were no significant differences based on gender. Application of the Detachment-Recovery, Autonomy, Mastery, Meaning, Affiliation (DRAMMA) framework showed the following allocation of sentences to psychological mechanisms: Detachment-Recovery-21%, Autonomy-23%, Mastery-12%, Meaning-11% and Affiliation-33%. In their ideal future, participants imagined that they have the time and money to do what they want, particularly, to travel. We showed leisure is not solely associated with 'having fun'; 59% of participants wanted to use their leisure time to learn, improve, or contribute to society. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

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Title: The importance of leisure and the psychological mechanisms involved in living a good life: a content analysis of best-possible-selves texts
Authors: Paula M Loveday (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts, Business and Law
Geoff Lovell (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts, Business and Law
Christian M Jones (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Arts, Business and Law
Publication details: Journal of Positive Psychology, Vol.13(1), pp.18-28
Publisher: Routledge
Date published: 2018
DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2017.1374441
ISSN: 1743-9760
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Research Institute; Engage Research Lab; School of Law and Society; School of Health and Behavioural Sciences - Legacy
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99451063602621
Output Type: Journal article

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