Mother's Leisure Satisfaction

2892 Words6 Pages

Introduction
A women’s leisure style changes abruptly upon the arrival of children because she is no longer only responsible for her personal needs, but the needs of other human beings. Her time is no longer her own; she coordinates eating, sleeping, school, and homework schedules. In addition to juggling these activities, she has a marriage to sustain, as well as her own personal matters. This can be a lot for one person to handle and leaves little time for personal leisure pursuits for any mother. Mothers tend to be hard-workers, as they spread themselves thin amongst all of the children who are dependent upon them for life. This sense of duty a mother feels towards her children is so strong, many mothers may have a hard time feeling justified in taking time out of family life for leisure.
McCombs’ (1991) research tells us that the concept of “locus of control” can be referred to as “self as agent”. In other words, it is up to the individual to decide on his/her own personal endeavors; this is internal locus of control. McCombs (1991) states that “The self as agent can consciously or unconsciously direct, select, and regulate the use of all knowledge structures and intellectual processes in support of personal goals, intentions, and choices" (p. 6). He continues to say, “the degree to which one chooses to be self-determining is a function of one's realization of the source of agency and personal control" (McCombs, 1991, p. 7). A mother, while running a household, probably does not have the benefit of feeling this locus of control that McCombs’ research explores.

Problem
We want to know if the leisure satisfaction of a woman is dependant on the number of children she has. We believe that as a woman has more children, her level of leisure satisfaction decreases.
Working hypothesis. There is a negative correlation between the number of children a stay-at-home mother has living in the home and her level of leisure satisfaction.
Null hypothesis. There is no correlation between the number of children a stay-at-home mother has and her level of leisure satisfaction.
Dependent variable. The level of stay-at-home mothers’ leisure satisfaction.
Independent variable. Stay-at-home mothers.
Definition of Terms
Stay-at-home mothers. Mothers who do not work or go to school.
Mothers. Those who have chil...

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... of the motherhood role. As a mothers’ children begin to grow older and eventually leave the house, “the women seem to recognize a need to return to leisure experiences which focused more on self” (Bialeschki & Michener, 1994, p. 65). A return is made back to the same leisure behavior and habits that existed before, and the mother finally has the chance to participate in all the years of leisure satisfaction that she missed out on.
Conclusion
The study of a woman’s leisure satisfaction is very important to understand. Mothers need to have time when they can be relaxed and enjoy something that they have chosen to do. So much of their lives are bombarded with obligations and responsibilities, which may serve as constraints to leisure. Many studies have been conducted on leisure and its benefits to life and health. Our study will attempt to fill the gap in the research by exploring the relationship of the number of children a mother has and her leisure satisfaction. Since leisure creates so many health benefits we must come to understand a mother’s need for and lack of leisure time. We must understand it so that we may help mothers to satisfy their leisure needs and appetites.

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