An Integration of Constraints and Benefits Within an Older Women's Social Club: An Examination, Extension and Critique

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate and extend aspects of Crompton, Jackson, and Witt's (2005) integrated model of constraints and benefits with a convenience sample of participants in the Red Hat Society® (N = 3,573), a social club for women aged 50 and older. In addition to constraints and benefits, model factors included motivations, attitudes, organization-based values, and sociodemographic factors (e.g., age, education, income, health). The extended model positing more pathways among factors was a better fit of the data and provided significant additional explanation of participation and realized benefits. Both gendered constraints and organization-based constraints contributed to the final model. The largest contributor to perceived benefits and participation was the value of dressing up. The investigators discuss the implications of these findings in relation to previous research and for the development of social leisure programs for middle-aged and older women in park and recreation settings.

Keywords:

• motivations
• attitudes
• values
• gendered constraints
• organization-based constraints

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Red Hat Society® and its members for participating in this study.

Notes

¹ RMSEA (root mean square error of approximation) is an absolute fit index used to determine how well the model fits the population covariance matrix, with values of .08 or lower indicating an acceptable fit of the data (Browne & Cudeck, 1993). Incremental fit indices, including the comparative fit index (CFI), incremental fit index (IFI), normed fit index (NFI), and Tucker-Lewis index (TLI; also called the non-normed fit index), compare the hypothesized model to the baseline, or null, model (Byrne, 2001), with values of .90 or higher suggesting an acceptable fit (Marsh, Hau, & Wen, 2004).