A Cross-National Study of Leisure Activities

Abstract

The primary goal of this paper is to extend leisure research efforts into the cross-national arena. Five leisure dimensions, drawn from the literature, were operationajized with a set of leisure choice activities. Students and one of their parents in four countries responded to questions about their levels of participation in these activities. Comparing and assessing factor structures across countries, three of the five dimensions were found to be adequately represented by the data. Meaningful differences between respondents' leisure choices and orientations (respondent's composite scores on a set of related activities) are assessed and discussed within segments in the four countries studied. The approach used seems promising in offering greater understanding of cross-cultural leisure choices.