The Leisure Perceptions and Leisure Meanings of a Mid-Life Couple Around the Time of Retirement

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how positive perceptions about leisure help people to adjust to the transition between work and retirement. In particular, do perceptions about work, family, or leisure shift during the time when people are working to when they move into retirement? Secondly, do positive perceptions about leisure help people adjust better to retirement? In order to examine these variables over time, longitudinal data was collected between 1987 and 1996 from a wider study entitled “A Study of Leisure During Adulthood,” and a case study design was used to explore the leisure perceptions and leisure meanings of a married couple, Betsy and Ed over a 10-year period around the time of their retirement. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected to examine the research questions that related to attitudes toward leisure, work, family and retirement. Results showed that both Ed and Betsy consistently scored very high scores on both the leisure attitude and perceived freedom in leisure scales. They also ranked leisure higher than work every year of the study, and indicated that they enjoyed participating in leisure and saw its importance in achieving an optimal leisure lifestyle. As a result they achieved a smoother and more successful transition into retirement.

Keywords:

• leisure
• work
• family
• transition
• retirement