Serious leisure

Serious leisure describes the methodical pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer activity that the participant finds interesting, fulfilling, and satisfying. It is a leisure activity because it is something the person is not pressured to do, and it occupies an individual's free time.

Serious leisure is one of three main forms of leisure; the others are casual leisure and project-based leisure. Serious leisure differs from casual leisure because of six characteristics: need to persevere at the activity; availability of a leisure career; need to work to gain skill and knowledge; realization of benefits; unique ethos and social world; and attractive personal and social identity. Casual leisure is primarily immediately rewarding and requires little or no training. These pursuits include reading, conversing, and strolling. Project-based leisure tends to be of short duration or infrequently pursued, but may require training or special knowledge.

Background

Modern ideas about leisure developed in the wake of the Industrial Revolution, when human work life began to be defined as either paid or unpaid activity. Time outside of paid work hours was known as leisure time or free time, and some individuals began occupying some of these hours with hobbies and other activities of interest to them.

The study of leisure began only in the latter half of the twentieth century. The first research journal, Journal of Leisure Research, began in the United States in 1969.

Sociologist Robert A. Stebbins began the study of serious leisure during the 1970s. He was collecting data for a study about amateurs and professionals. He noted that the people who took their leisure activities very seriously were quite clear that their activities were their passions, not just pleasant ways to fill their free time. Stebbins eventually established a theoretical framework he called the Serious Leisure Perspective (SLP). Although serious leisure is regarded as a folk term, he coined the term casual leisure during his research.

Stebbins began his work in the winter of 1973 and 1974. As an amateur musician who had worked professionally in the art for two years, he decided to study amateur musicians for a research paper. He knew that amateur musicians took music very seriously. Stebbins realized that no sociologist or other type of scholar had established a definition of amateur, so he developed that idea as well. Most studies that involved amateurs to that time had focused on children and adolescents, with little research into adult participation in leisure activities. Stebbins focused on musical autobiographies for his paper. After he completed his paper and presented it, he returned to his topic; studying leisure would consume several decades of his professional life.

Stebbins chose to study fields that were not individual pursuits, such as painting or playing golf. He considered instead what he regarded as collective activities, and he focused on the fields of art, entertainment, science, and sport. This allowed him to study social interaction and group culture.

He designed a research project to explore leisure and set about finding the funds to do so. Stebbins spent a year in Texas in the Dallas/Fort Worth area beginning in early 1975, studying amateurs in archaeology, baseball, and theater, and realized he needed to expand his study. He decided he had to focus on more examples and study professionals in the fields as well.

After moving to Canada, Stebbins began working at the University of Calgary. He studied amateur and professional astronomers from 1977 to 1978. The following year, he began researching magicians and explored the entertainment arena. Stebbins studied Canadian football in 1983 and later studied stand-up comics—both categories included Canadians and some Americans working in Canada.

By 1992 he had completed his fifteen-year research project, and he summarized his work in a book. Over time, Stebbins published numerous papers in various professional journals as well.

Overview

Serious leisure, according to Stebbins, is a subcategory of serious pursuits. He further divided his study of serious leisure into three categories: amateurs in art, science, sport, and entertainment; volunteers, described as popular, idea based, material, floral, faunal, and environmental; and hobbyists, involved in collecting, making and tinkering, activity participation, sports and games, and liberal arts pursuits. Stebbins categorized involvement of participants on a scale. Those at the low end, known as neophytes, had been dabblers who became more involved. Those even more involved—participants, moderate devotees, and core devotees—he classified as serious leisure participants. At the high end of the scale, he placed devotee workers, who benefit financially from their serious leisure pursuits.

Pursuits in leisure activities typically follow five stages: beginning, development, establishment, maintenance, and decline. Although the term leisure implies that an individual pursues an activity without any hierarchical interests, this is not always the case. For example, a member of an amateur sports team may be voted captain, or an amateur singer could gain solos that showcase the individual's talent. Achievements may be individual, such as gaining knowledge and skill, or more tangible, such as gaining fame or recognition in one's field. In some fields, such as physically demanding sports, a participant may peak early. In others, such as acting or painting, one may reach milestones of achievement after much work and experience.

Throughout human history, individuals have used free time to pursue interests. Many people have devoted time to hobbies and, despite their amateur status, have made important discoveries.

Amateurs have made significant contributions to many fields. In science, for example, nineteenth-century monk Gregor Johann Mendel was a poor student, but he became dedicated to researching genetics when he began crossing pea plants. He spent nine years crossbreeding the plants and studying the results. He explained in lectures the dominant and recessive traits of the pea plants. He did not receive widespread credit for his work, which is the basis of modern genetics, until the twentieth century. Like Mendel, Joseph Priestley had a calling. He was a clergyman and amateur scientist. Like his friend Benjamin Franklin, Priestley was interested in electricity, as well as other concepts. He invented the eraser, and he discovered carbon dioxide and oxygen.

Amateur astronomer David H. Levy discovered (or shared credit with others) eight comets beginning in 1984. Grote Reber, an engineer, also contributed to the field of astronomy when he built the first radio telescope in his backyard during the 1930s.

Susan Hendrickson, a high school dropout, is a self-educated expert in a number of fields. She discovered the most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossil skeleton ever found. The so-called Tyrannosaurus Sue is in the collection of the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago.

In the age of social media platforms, particularly those where individuals can share their talents and hobbies with the world such as YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, and Instagram, many amateur musicians, cooks, woodworkers, athletes, and video game players have gained millions of followers who appreciate their passion, devotion, advice, and general content. The internet has taken serious leisure to a new level, offering amateurs and hobbyists a place to share their passions and creations with an international audience.

In 2024, Yazdan Mansourian, a senior lecturer at the School of Information and Communication Studies at Charles Sturt University in Australia, developed an additional framework with which to consider serious leisure. Mansourian, who was researching the emotions behind serious leisure activities, dubbed the framework "passionate pastime." Beyond the joy of the leisure activity, Mansourian asserted that there were emotional and mental benefits worth studying as they often led to personal fulfillment, mental wellbeing, positive social interactions. Instead of focusing on the activity, Mansourian pivoted to focus on the affective aspect of leisure activities.

Bibliography

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