Perceived Parental Control, Restructuring Ability, and Leisure Motivation: A Cross-Cultural Comparison

ABSTRACT

Leisure is viewed worldwide as an important developmental context for adolescents. As leisure research and programs are shared across nations, it is crucial to examine the cultural equivalence of leisure-related constructs and how they are related. Grounded in self-determination theory, this study explored the influence of perceived parental control and leisure restructuring ability on leisure motivation (amotivation and autonomous motivation) using samples of eighth grade adolescents in the United States and South Africa. Results of multiple-group structural equation modeling showed that the measurement model of the constructs was equivalent across the two samples, but the determinants of leisure motivation differed between the two samples. The findings provide implications for future cross-cultural research in leisure and offer insights on design and adaptation of leisure-based intervention and education programs in different cultural contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• cross-cultural
• leisure motivation
• leisure restructuring
• parental control
• South Africa

Funding

The study was supported by NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) R01 DA017491 and R21 DA13193-01. The writing of this article was supported by NIH National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutes (RIMI), 5T34MH020023. Also, we would like to thank the reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.