A considerable number of sociocultural factors influence personal leisure values and participation in recreational activities on a daily basis.
Although the sociocultural factors have been in existence since time immemorial, the impacts on contemporary society are more pronounced. This paper is obligated to examine critically the influences of age, gender, socioeconomic status, racial and ethnic identity, as well as sexual orientation. In this case, the influences of age in conjunction with leisure vary significantly from childhood to adulthood. Change of age across the lifespan is informed by physical, cognitive, and social behaviors. In spite of the general perception of plenty of time for college students, few of them find enough time to indulge in leisure activities since they are pressured by education and future life responsibilities. Gender inclinations leave many women with less time for involvement in leisure activities as compared to their male counterparts. The aspect of social status dictates the amount of time and money spent on leisure, which favors the upper class as compared to the lower class. Therefore, it is crucial to note that various sociocultural aspects are responsible for enhancing or limiting individuals' participation in leisure activities as examined in this paper.
Age
The aspect of age stands out as one of the major factors that affect one's leisure activities by influencing the motivators, recreational values as well as the patterns of participation. However, there have been differences in individuals' personalities within every age group, there is no doubt that contemporary developments in technology, social trends, economic orientations, and family relationships have a significant shift on the general human behavior in the contemporary society. In essence, the aspect of age changes across the lifespan in terms of physical, social, and cognitive behavior from childhood, adolescents, young adults, middle adults, and older adults.
Recreation as a Leisure Activity in Children Lives
Leisure experiences in children vary from infancy to preteen years with major stages that inform on their plays such as solitary, parallel, associative, cooperative plays. There is no doubt that recreation play heavily contributes to children's cognitive, social, and physical development. In this case, the development of social skills is marked by children interactions among themselves and adults, thus enhancing negotiation skills, emotional well-being, personal awareness, and language development (Davidovitch & Soen 2016).
Spending of Leisure as a Young Adult
Operating as a young adult is marred by several responsibilities, which involves spending most of the time in school. Since most of the time is spent in class and travel, there is little time to engage in social and religious club sporting events, entertainment programs, and cultural activities. Staying close is a good experience since it is coupled with parental supervision, thus lowering the levels of stress that commonly affect many students that spend their lives away from school (Human Kinetics 2013). As a young single adult, it is easier to spend leisure time in a constructive and positive way, in particular participating in physical exercises such as the gym, social clubs, and many other forms of popular entertainment, as well as engaging in creative activities and hobbies that can enrich life not only in college but also in community settings. In some cases, leisure time is characterized by taking a nap, particularly after a long tedious day and weekends. The weekends prove to be the best time for outings with my friends.
Gender
Gender is an important sociocultural factor that plays a pivotal role in the determination of how leisure is spent among the different groups of people. It is imperative to have a clear distinction between the two terms in order to comprehend the different roles assigned to the two groups. In this regard, sex is biological attributes for either being male or female while gender is associated with roles, behaviors, characteristics that the society attaches to females or males. By taking a close look at little children especially boys, they were given cowboys and guns purposefully to encourage masculine roles and behavior that may influence their future career such as a doctor or an airline pilot (Miller 2015). On the other hand, girls were given dolls to stereotypically encourage feminine behavior or roles cooking, sewing, baby caring, and sewing.
Women and Leisure
Women's leisure has been faced with hurdles as compared to men due to the weak and inferiority complex assigned to them. Physical activities are seen as a detraction to womanliness that may have negative effects on motherhood, hence detrimental to their mental health. Women's leisure is important as they move beyond traditional physical fitness and actively engage in outdoor recreational pursuits with intense fitness programs including the gym and CrossFit. Through leisure, women are not only centered around the family but also involve in their own recreational activities such as sports as an extension of childhood gaming activities (Sandoval 2017). The initial differences between women and men's leisure activities have diminished as both genders enjoy leisure activities on an equal basis.
Men and Leisure
True to the fact is that both men and women encounter issues that influence their participation in leisure activities, thus becoming greater constraints to leisure. In this case, both genders may experience constraints at an equal level that either allows them to participate in leisure activities. For instance, structural constraints that are the intervening factors that produce a desire to participate and the actual participation. In many occasions, structural constraints arise due to lack of time as many students are always engaged in schoolwork. Lack of companions to participate in leisure particularly during school days is one of the greater constraints that men face. Consequently, men are more likely to experience constraints pertaining gendered activities than women since they fear of possible perception as feminine. The modern society has provided room for freedom to limit any possible pressure that coerces one to participate in activities.
Race and Ethnicity Factors Influencing Leisure
The race and ethnicity are other key factors that determine leisure behaviors or values. Despite the terms race and ethnicity being used interchangeably, there is a large difference between the two. Race implies one's genetic makeup with diverse biological features exhibited among different groups of people. On the other hand, ethnicity is unique cultural and social factors that are relayed from one generation to another. Some of the traits used to identify ethnic groups include language patterns, religion, family life, recreation, as well as other traits that distinguish them from other groups. In many cases, the aspects of ethnicity and race impact people's cultural sense, thus influencing their recreational life in general. Today, leisure services are more inclusive irrespective of racial or ethnic background. Currently, recreational services have been made more accessible, affordable, safe, relevant to the culture, and welcoming in order to meet the various needs of ethnic or racial groups.
Accessibility
Accessibility implies the close proximity to recreational areas such as parks that are more physically active, healthy with better levels of psychological well-being. In terms of recreational activities and leisure, accessibility revolves around physical access to recreational sites, the availability of transport and financial resources which are not available to many communities. The aspect of transportation proves to be more challenging, making it difficult for people to reach the recreational sites as well as access opportunities for outdoor recreational activities in a rural location. Many individuals with limited family discretionary income are inhibited from accessing recreational sites.
Affordability and Safety
The latter issues limit many racial and ethnic minorities to participate in their recreational activities. Subsequently, the lack of financial resources inhibits individuals from accessing engaging in recreational activities. It is important to note that there is a significant connection between personal safety and income. It implies that individuals from lower-income neighborhoods have a high number of crime rates, hence the residents' concerns about their safety. A high traffic road along with other barriers further makes it impossible and unsafe, particularly for individuals with limited transportation alternatives.
Culturally Relevant and Welcoming
To some extent, many recreational activities have been personalized to individual cultures, as some people feel unwelcome to other cultures, especially African American to the whites. Similarly, some religious orientations or personal values fail to match with others, especially the Muslims and Christians, hence making it difficult for them to mingle. Therefore, to enhance individuals' participation in recreational activities organized by other groups, there must be a sense of welcome.
Socioeconomic Factors Influencing Leisure
In many fashions, the classifications of people placed in the perspective of social class or socioeconomic status, which are based on wealth, income, education, and occupation. There are several categories developed by sociologists as means that categorize different social classes, such as the lower, which is commonly perceived as the poor, working class, lower-middle class, upper middle class, and the upper class (Uvinha 2017). One significant feature of the social class is its effects on leisure. In some sense, the amount of an individual's income and education will directly dictate the amount of discretionary income or free time available for leisure. Traditionally, there has been an underrepresentation of lower classes in relation to their engagement in recreation activities. On the other hand, upper classes have an upper hand due to their large amount of income and education, hence granting them easy access to more prestigious and refined leisure.
In the U.S, the utilization of public resources and nonprofit services is more pronounced among the lower class, the lower middle, and working class. Although the nonprofit and public service agency provides services for all classes, their target of services is centralized more on the middle income and lower class, in particular. Logically speaking, an increase in one's income boosts the chances of accessing more services, which is a clear implication that the upper class will be more exposed to commercial services more exclusively (Uvinha 2017). However, though the commercial agencies provide commercial services to the upper class, the nonprofit and public agencies provide equal opportunities that compete against commercial agencies. The upper class prefers utilizing commercial services mainly for prestige or status since commercial services, which are mainly privatized, tend to provide better services. Despite the many common activities, this transcends all social classes, including socializing, reading, watching television; there are many others that can be placed in the context of each social class exclusively. In addition to that, there are activities that are popular to all classes, yet the level and rate of enjoyment differ considerably.
Sexual Orientation Factors Influencing Leisure
Leisure is largely influenced by the sexual orientation of a person, which is in close proximity to gender. Despite the sexual orientation of every individual that may be classified in terms of bisexual, transgender, heterosexual, or homosexual, the greater focus, in this case, is placed on those who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex communities (LGBTQ). These communities are exposed to additional challenges, situations, and obstacles with regard to their leisure time. In spite of the great strides made towards the acceptance of LGBTQ communities in society, there are significant cases of harassment and discrimination that still exist, thus becoming a greater impediment to their integration in mainstream society. In other words, the LGBTQ communities live in fear with limited association with other members of society, making it difficult for them to participate in leisure activities.
Conclusion
It is evident from the latter discussion that several sociocultural factors, not only in the past but also in the present, influence individuals' engagement in leisure activities and recreational participation. Leisure preferences and patterns change depending on the age, which implies that children will engage more in leisure activities as compared to adults. The major concern in this paper revolves around the lower adult ages especially in the 20s, which is typically a college-going age. Many individuals at this age are deeply rooted in schoolwork as compared as well as pressures that result from the confrontation of the future, including job and family issues. In this respect, they tend to have little time for recreational activities as demonstrated in the time map. On the same note, the racial and ethnic inclinations affect either negatively or positively the time expenditure in recreational activities. Gender has also been stressed as an instrumental element that influences time spent during leisure, as women tend to invest little time in recreational activities as compared to men. Notably, the socioeconomic or social status dictates the amount of income and time spent in leisure activities, with the upper class having more time as compared to the poor.
References
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Miller, C., C. (2015), Boys and Girls, Constrained by Toys and Costumes, The New York Times, Retrieved from
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/31/upshot/boys-and-girls-constrained-by-toys-and-costumes.html
Sandoval, V. L. (2017). The Meaning of Leisure: Definitions and Practices among Migrant and Non-Migrant Women in an Urban Space. Springer.
Uvinha, R. R., Pedrão, C. C., Stoppa, E. A., Isayama, H. F., & de Oliveira, N. R. C. (2017). Leisure practices in Brazil: a national survey on education, income, and social class. World Leisure Journal, 59(4), 294-305.
