Viewing Leisure as Wasteful Undermines Enjoyment
Tonietto, Gabriela N., Selin A. Malkoc, Rebecca Walker Reczek, and Michael I. Norton (2021). “Viewing Leisure as Wasteful Undermines Enjoyment.” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104198.
13 Pages Posted: 27 Aug 2021
Date Written: August 24, 2021
Abstract
Engagement in leisure offers a host of benefits for mental and physical health, yet many people view leisure as wasteful and unproductive. Four studies (n = 1310) demonstrate that believing leisure is wasteful undermines enjoyment of enacted leisure activities. Studies 1 and 2 document that people with a general tendency to find leisure wasteful report lower enjoyment of leisure activities on average, especially terminally-motivated leisure (performed as an end in itself) compared to instrumentally-motivated leisure (performed as a means to an end). The belief that leisure is wasteful is also associated with poorer mental health outcomes, including lower reported happiness, and greater reported depression, anxiety, and stress. Establishing causality, Studies 3 and 4 show that priming the belief that leisure is wasteful or unproductive reduces enjoyment of terminally-motivated leisure activities; unfortunately, priming the belief that leisure is productive does not increase enjoyment. We discuss implications for maximizing hedonic utility and well-being.
Keywords: leisure, experiences, enjoyment, well-being
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