Some social psychological determinants of perceptions of leisure: Preliminary evidence

Based upon Neulinger's (1974) theoretical model, the study examined the effects of perceived freedom (low vs. high), motivation (intrinsic vs. extrinsic), and goal (instrumental vs. final) on male and female subjects’ perceptions of leisure. In full support of the model, an analysis of variance revealed that the main effects of perceived freedom, motivation, and goal were statistically highly significant. Specifically, these results indicated that it was high rather than low perceived freedom, intrinsic rather than extrinsic motivation, and final rather than instrumental goal that increased subjects’ perceptions of leisure. But the data also produced three statistically significant interactions involving freedom and motivation, freedom and goal, and sex and motivation. The first two interactions suggested that perceived freedom is the critical regulator of subjective definitions of leisure in that the positive effects of intrinsic motivation and “final” goal orientation materialized largely under the condition of high perceived freedom. The interaction involving sex and motivation indicated that intrinsic motivation increased female subjects’ perceptions of leisure, while it had a relatively negligible effect on male subjects’ perceptions of leisure.