Influence Of Leisure Activities

Leisure is such an important part of human life that it has been included as a basic human right by the United Nations. Leisure can involve doing things that make you feel good and provide a sense of pleasure. Leisure is thus linked to good health as it reduces the stress on a person arising from the pressures of everyday living. The actual amount of leisure time and the activities that people engage in their leisure time varies considerably across societies and cultures and even within them based on differences in age groups, gender, social class, and personality type (Carr, 1997). This essay is a study on the impact of these and other factors on the choice of leisure activities.

In order to understand the impact of various socio-cultural factors on leisure activities I have developed and analyzed my leisure activities during a typical week (attached in the appendix). The objective is to actively and consciously understand the factors shaping my leisure time and activities. The essay starts with a summary of my leisure activities that gives an idea of a typical week in my life. This is followed by a critical analysis of socio-cultural factors, which in my view impacts my choice of leisure activities and the time I spend on them.

I have found that my leisure time and activities have been greatly impacted by the combination of the following two socio-cultural factors – the sedentary lifestyle brought about by the advent of internet and the emphasis on maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle. Internet has no doubt made the social interactions easier and faster, but at the same time it promotes a hectic and inactive lifestyle that needs to be consciously balanced by focused physical activities. I am constrained by the common mod...

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...rinciples by considering my own leisure activities as the basis of analysis. I have attempted to understand how much is the choice of leisure activities dependent on my socio-cultural environment. From the analysis, I have come to the conclusion that economic background definitely impacts both the time and type of leisure activities. Curiously, age does have a significant impact, though not in the context of physical capability and mental interests. People belonging to different age groups, in my view, have socially expected tasks. This has made younger people busier and more time constrained than older people, thus affecting their leisure activities. However, the biggest impact of leisure activities has been the advent of technology – chiefly mobile communication and internet – that has led to the explosive growth of social media as a form of mass leisure activity.