International comparative study of COVID-19 leisure in the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic

ABSTRACT

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many European countries, including Czechia and Slovakia, enforced restrictions on the movement of people. This paper demonstrates the structure of leisure activities during the pandemic in these two Central European countries. We used the Catalogue of Leisure Activities (CaLA), which allows a comparison of the structure of activities by independent variables. Two aims were stated: to examine and compare the structure of leisure activities of Czechs and Slovaks, including the gender and educational level differences, and to prove the functionality of CaLA in international research. Data was collected via an online questionnaire and were representative in both countries by age and gender. Pearson’s χ² was used to test statistical dependencies. Czechs and Slovaks differ significantly in leisure activities. No significant differences were found when comparing the leisure activities of men and women in both countries. On the contrary, education affected the structure of leisure activities significantly.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• leisure activities
• Czech
• Slovak
• comparison

Introduction

Leisure is an integral part of everyone’s life. In the past, we have tried to capture the diversity of leisure activities. For capturing leisure activities, we have developed a research instrument, the Catalogue of Leisure Activities (CaLA) (Pospíšil et al., 2022, 2021), to map everyone’s leisure activities and allow the measurement of the structural stratification of leisure activities. Thanks to clustering activities into categories and measuring the leisure activities as a structure, the CaLA allows us to not only research leisure diversity but also to find out how this structural diversity depends on sociodemographic factors. This paper, therefore, aims to take a closer look at the issue of leisure activities on a transnational scale. Using two countries as examples, we want to show the specificities of each nation’s leisure. We have used two countries as an example – the Czech Republic and Slovakia, which are very close to each other. Both nations have a common history and lived together as one country. Their languages are so close that both nations understand each other, even though each speaks its own language. At the same time, we will try to reflect on the functionality of CaLA and the accuracy of capturing leisure activities with this tool. We want to verify its functionality in the Slovak data collection, in another language and cultural environment. Additionally, we have used education level and gender as sociodemographic factors significantly influencing leisure activities in both countries.

Overview – research on leisure activities

Leisure time represents a significant economic, social, psychological and educational potential with a significant impact on the individual and society. Leisure preference and subjective satisfaction with spending leisure time are periodically monitored by international institutions and are a frequent subject of international research. For example, at the EU level, this data was collected and presented by Eurostat (Mercy et al., 2015); in the U.S.A., they are published on Statista.com as annual reports.

Previous research findings indicate that leisure time is determined by demographic and sociocultural factors and the country’s economic level. Apart from specific differences within individual countries, the research findings indicate certain constant trends. Generally, men have more leisure time and use it more actively than women (Avital, 2017; Corbat & González, 2020; Hassing, 2020; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2009; Yerkes et al., 2020). According to the Eurostat data published in 2020 (The Life of Women and Men in Europe – a Statistical Portrait, 2020), men spend more than 150 min on sports and non-work physical activities per week compared to women (35% versus 25%). The difference in the preference for leisure activities is especially pronounced in the case of families with young children, in which mothers prefer childcare and household care over recreational or sports activities, as they are also confronted with economic and social barriers (Hassing, 2020; Riot, 2015). This trend has an upward tendency as the age of the respondents increases.

However, in countries with a high share of spending on culture and recreation and a higher GDP, the differences in how men and women spend their leisure time disappears (Avital, 2017). For example, in a longitudinal study from Sweden, men and women realized leisure activities were the same (Hassing, 2020). Yerkes et al. (2020) reached similar conclusions based on an analysis of data from the ISSP (Social Survey Program), “Leisure and Sport”, collected from 23 countries. According to them, the gender gap in leisure time is minimized in egalitarian countries and increased in countries with conservative gender roles, low levels of state childcare and low female representation in politics. In addition to Europe and the U.S.A., similar tendencies were also noted in Asian countries. For example, in the research of Tomioka et al. (2019), women of retirement age showed an average of 3.9 leisure activities compared to 4.3 activities for men. However, in the group of working respondents of the same age, the average number of activities was the same (4.2).

Unlike men, women use more physically undemanding and culturally oriented activities (Corbat & González, 2020), which is related to the need for regeneration due to the physical burden of taking care of the family and household, but also have an inclination towards certain types of activities. C. Rosa et al. (2023) pointed this out in this context in the differences in gender preferences for outdoor activities among university students in the U.S.A. and Brazil, i.e. there are specific differences between men and women in the focus of leisure activities regardless of family status and sociocultural context. Some activities, for example, of a social nature, are carried out by men and women to the same extent without significant differences (Time Spent in Leisure Activities in 2014, by Gender, Age, and Educational Attainment, 2015). On the other hand, there is no statistically significant difference between men and women in subjective satisfaction with leisure time (Mercy et al., 2015), i.e. women can effectively use available leisure time for regeneration and personal development.

Another factor that affects the choice of leisure activities is the level of education gained. Research findings indicate that there are statistically significant differences between individuals in the way they spend their leisure time in this regard, with the most pronounced differences between those with the lowest and highest levels of education. For example, in the statistical review from the U.S.A. (Time Spent in Leisure Activities in 2014, by Gender, Age, and Educational Attainment, 2015), people with a higher education spent 2.1 h per day watching television, while people with the lowest education spent up to 3.9 h. Another significant difference was the time spent relaxing, which was 0.8 h per day for people with lower education and only 0.2 h for people with higher education. Social status is closely related to educational achievement, as those with higher education tend to hold better-paid jobs and are more likely to do mentally demanding work. In contrast, those with lower education are more likely to hold lower-paid positions and perform physically demanding work. The type of work activity is subsequently reflected in preferences for leisure activities with a complementary tendency. This fact was also confirmed by a meta-analysis of 112 research studies (Beenackers et al., 2012), according to which persons with higher education and persons with a high socioeconomic status perform more physically oriented activities in their leisure time compared to people with a low socioeconomic status and people with lower education. In this context, specific differences between individual countries were also evident. For example, in Scandinavia and the countries of Western Europe, high positive associations were demonstrated (84% and 81%), while in the countries of middle Europe and the Anglo-Saxon region, only half of the associations were positive (46% and 48%), the others were negative. A positive relationship between physically focused leisure activities and education was detected by some researchers already in the schooling period. For example, the longitudinal research of the Finnish authors S. Aaltonen et al. (2016) showed that higher academic results at the ages of 12, 14 and 17 predict a higher level of physically focused leisure activities in the following period of life.

Leisure during the pandemic

The spread of Covid-19 in 2020 and later led to many safety measures all over the world. Several countries had introduced lockdowns legally. Usually, schools and most shops were closed, and only people who could not home office travelled to work. A lot of everyday activities were prohibited or hardly accessible (e.g. team sports, cultural events, public sports activities, visiting museums, galleries, church services, using public transport etc.). These measures naturally led towards changes in how time was being spent: how much time people spent on routine daily activities, how they restructured the use of their time, and how they changed the way of using leisure time.

First, it was shown that people spent less time on activities such as travelling, studying, and sports activities. On the other hand, the time spent on various home-based activities, such as DIY gardening, keeping fit, unpaid childcare, sleep rest, entertainment, socializing and other free time, increased (Brand et al., 2020; Roberts, 2020; Shen et al., 2022). During the pandemic, women spent more time on necessities than men. Women also spent more time on household chores and caretaking. Especially in the case of mothers, the amount of time needed for necessities increased, and only a minority of fathers increased the time spent with childcare and the supervision of homeschooling (Giurge et al., 2021; Hipp & Bünning, 2021; Mutz & Reimers, 2021). A similar situation was detected in Czechia and Slovakia. Respondents confirmed worsening in lifestyle (i.e. changes in sleep quality, sports activity, dietary habits, smoking, frequent watching TV) (Dalecká et al., 2022). Women spent more time caring for ill family members, children, and other relatives than men (Kuruc et al., 2020).

Leisure activities are considered an essential asset because they offer benefits in personal and social domains (Stebbins, 2012) varying according to activity. Some authors refer to the shift in the concept of leisure time during the pandemic, as leisure time was not associated with freedom of choice but with the absence of work opportunities – this kind of leisure could be considered enforced or forced leisure (e. g. Lazcano et al., 2022; Panarese & Azzarita, 2021). At the same time, we could observe the specific situation – people were isolated. On the other hand, isolation, and the impossibility of following the previous routine created the time space for various home-based leisure activities and the necessity to find other/new ways to spend leisure time.

Creativity in finding new leisure activities and their accessibility could be considered critical points associated with mental and physical health. Scholars have shown that not the frequency of leisure activities but a much-less-than-ideal level of engagement remained a significant predictor of lower mental well-being and activity type, change in engagement level and evaluation of engagement predicted depressive symptoms (Shen et al., 2022). People from various countries confirmed reducing their sports or physical activities because of the lack of sufficient facilities or space; the exercise activities were shorter and lighter, and outdoor sports activities were mainly limited to individual sports (Brand et al., 2020; Constandt et al., 2020; Farah et al., 2021). In Sweden, outdoor activities could be realized without the limitation of the number of people was not violated. This has led to a shift sports activities (including indoor) to outdoor spaces. The authors call this process outdoorification (Hedenborg et al., 2022).

Working women reduced their leisure time sports and exercise more than twice as much as working men (Mutz & Reimers, 2021; Nienhuis & Lesser, 2020). Women also reported more barriers and fewer facilitators to physical activities, and in the case of mothers, this reduction could be the result of increased childcare duties (Mutz & Reimers, 2021; Nienhuis & Lesser, 2020). While before quarantine, men and women engaged equally in other leisure activities (eating out, meeting friends and relatives), during quarantine, watching TV, movies, or videos, playing games on the phone aimlessly and exploring new things were preferred by women (Zhuo & Zacharias, 2021). Also, volunteering and engagement in the community were realized differently, and some of those activities were moved to online spaces (Lachance, 2021).

If we focused on children and young people and their free time, restrictions caused inaccessibility of some organized leisure activities, and the time spent on unstructured leisure increased compared to structured leisure (Panarese & Azzarita, 2021). This change was present in sports and exercise activities when children and young people decreased the time spent on them, and the shift from structured to unstructured physical activities such as running, cycling, and walking was observed (Perez et al., 2021). However, sports leisure activities and using social media and technology to keep in touch with friends were confirmed as the most frequent leisure time activities (Cosma et al., 2021). Young people valued their leisure more than before the pandemic, had to give up some of their leisure practices and felt that their leisure would never be the same as before the pandemic. They often suffered boredom, amotivation and perceived lack of community activities (Cosma et al., 2021; Lazcano et al., 2022).

Aim of the research

When considering all the previously mentioned findings, we were interested in how people experience their leisure time during the pandemic in Central Europe. For the analysis and comparative research, The Czech and Slovak Republics were selected as the countries representing the Central European region. Moreover, our intention was not only to examine leisure activities but their stratification and structure. The research was guided when the governments of both countries introduced restrictive measures. In some periods of the pandemic, the movement of people was limited, and the limitations might have impacted leisure activities. During the pandemic crisis, we wanted to see and verify whether there were differences in experiencing and preferring leisure activities in both countries. Moreover, we examined the influence of gender and education of respondents on leisure activity choice. The secondary aim of the research was to test the functionality of the research instrument in a foreign language (Slovak) and its usability for international comparative study. To fulfil the aims of the research we set following hypotheses to be tested:

H1: There is a difference in preference for leisure activities between Czechs and Slovaks.

H2CZ: There is a difference in the preference for leisure activities between men and women in the Czech Republic.

H2SK: There is a difference in the preference for leisure activities between men and women in Slovakia.

H3CZ: There is a difference in the preference for leisure activities depending on respondents’ education in the Czech population.

H3SK: There is a difference in the preference for leisure activities depending on respondents’ education in the Slovak population.

Materials and methods

This research was designed as an ex-post-facto cross-sectional study. The research focused on the broader context of leisure, social threat, values, and ICT skills. Data was collected in the Czech and Slovak Republics using a multidisciplinary questionnaire from September 2020 to January 2022 and was distributed online using the Social Survey Project (Pospíšil, 2018) tool. For clarity, the questionnaire was available in Czech and Slovak. This questionnaire included and used the Catalogue of Leisure Activities (CaLA, version 4.2.0) in Czech and Slovak language. Both versions were checked for language reasons. The response rate could not be detected because of the process of online collection and respondent protection. Only fully filled questionnaires with the final agreement of the respondent were added to the collection. For the reasons of personal data protection and missing agreement, all unfinished questionnaires were automatically removed.

Sample of respondents

In both countries, the collection was conducted nationwide across the country. In each country, a stratified sample of respondents based on data from public Czech and Slovak Statistical offices reports was selected by gender, age, and municipality size. Within these stratification groups, the questionnaire was distributed randomly and widely with the help of about 200 volunteers.

Respondents were approached via social media, telephone, and other forms of communication. Assisted filling of the questionnaire was provided for those respondents who could not complete the questionnaire themselves. When the assisted filling was provided, the personal assistant filled out the online questionnaire when interviewing the respondent. The number of assisted questionnaire completions did not exceed 10 percent. Due to the personal request to complete the questionnaire, we expected a high return rate.

For this reason, the data storage capacity of the database was increased and continuously monitored. The data was completely anonymous. Only the entire completed questionnaire was stored.

In both countries, a total of 5169 respondents participated in the study, of which 2528 were male (48.91%) and 2641 were female (51.09%). In the Czech population, data was obtained from 3399 respondents, of which 1663 (48.93%) were male, and 1736 (51.07%) were female. In Slovakia, 1770 respondents participated in the survey, of which 865 were male (48.87%) and 905 were female (51.13%).

Definition and measurement of variables

The measurement of gender was carried out using a closed scale of male and female. The respondents in both countries were aged 15 years and above. According to age, respondents were categorized into groups of 10 years. As can be seen from Table 1, the sample of respondents can be considered representative of the Czech and Slovak populations by gender and age and size of the municipality (ČSÚ, 2022; Štatistický úrad Slovenskej republiky, 2021).

Table 1. Age groups.

		Age groups						Total
		15–24	25–34	35–44	45–54	55–64	65+
Czech	n	414	546	677	611	508	643	3399
	%	12.18	16.06	19.92	17.98	14.95	18.92	100
Slovak	n	226	282	351	316	263	332	1770
	%	12.77	15.93	19.83	17.85	14.86	18.76	100
Total	n	640	828	1028	927	771	975	5169
	%	12.38	16.02	19.89	17.93	14.92	18.86	100

We used the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2012) to determine the respondents’ education. For the purpose of the measurement, we grouped those ISCED categories, which mean similar or equal degrees achieved. This form of measurement makes the education degree of the respondents comparable in both countries. We distinguish four categories of achieved education: Lower secondary or primary only (ISCED 1 + 2), Upper secondary without direct access to tertiary education (ISCED 3 without sublevels 344 and 354), Upper secondary with direct access to tertiary education (ISCED 3 sublevels 344 and 354) and Tertiary/Higher education (ISCED 4 - 8).

Leisure activities were measured using the Catalogue of Leisure Activities – CaLA (Pospíšil et al., 2022, p. 2021). This tool contains a wide range of leisure activities. Preferred activities are systematically ranked as a categorical variable at the individual activity level and are also grouped into subcategories and categories based on decimal sorting. The catalogue in version 4.2, which has been used for the measurement, it contains 9 main categories, 77 subcategories, and 285 activities. The classification is based on thematic proximity and values’ context of activities and allows the grouping of activities in a similar way to books in a library (Pospíšil et al., 2022, 2021). The classification contains three levels of generality (hundreds, tens, and units), which we have adopted into the CaLA, creating three basic levels in its structure:

• Categories (categorized in hundreds);

• Subcategories (categorized in tens);

• Individual activities (categorized in units).

In this classification system, each individual activity is assigned a code consisting of three digits. An example could be the single activity 555 – Choral Singing. It belongs to subcategory 550 – Vocal Music Art, and also the category 500 – Arts.

The first category Information, IT, Communication and General Issues is dedicated to working with information. It includes publishing magazines, articles, podcasts, typography, working with online applications (e-commerce, investments, diary, applications to support a healthy lifestyle etc.), and working on PCs, tablets, mobile phones, and programming.

The second category, focused on humanities activities, includes several disciplines – philosophy (e.g. activities focused on Western and Eastern philosophy and history, logic, ethics and metaphysics), psychology and social sciences, history, religion, mythology, magic, parapsychology and the occult.

The Literature and Languages category includes reading, linguistics and creative writing activities in mother tongues and foreign languages.

In the Household, Technology and Hobbies (including Nature, Science and Medicine) category, we find two groups of activities. The first is focused on scientifically oriented science and technology activities (e.g. physics, chemistry, geology, technology, biology) and the second contains applied activities in the field of nature, technology and human sciences (e.g. plant growing, animal husbandry, fishing, gastronomy, DYI).

In the activities dedicated to the arts, you will find all kinds of art – music, theatre and film, dance, architecture, painting, etc. Within the category, activities are divided into active and receptive.

Personal Activities, Travelling, Tourism, and Geography combine self-care, self-development, self-satisfaction, and the experience of inner well-being. The activities focus on activities experienced alone and with other people.

In the activities dedicated to sports, the activities are organized by type of sport. In addition, there are sports watching, cheering, coaching and games that are close to sports (e.g. chess, paintball).

Social activities focus on caring for others, social work, correspondence, politics and work for political parties, volunteering, and social events.

The last category focuses on virtual reality activities. The first part of the activities are, e.g. computer games and virtual reality. The second part focuses on social activities in the virtual world, blogs, and websites, chatting and social networks.

For the measurement of activities we used list of activities offered to respondent. For each selected activity additional variables like achieved skills, activity challenge, usual duration, frequency, favour and organization were measured.

Leisure can therefore be analysed at the level of the individual, the group, and a selected part of the population. It is possible to select an entire category of leisure activities as well as an individual activity. The leisure measured with the CaLA can be used as a dependent or independent variable as needed in the hypotheses. Thanks to the aggregative structure and clustering into categories, the CaLA brings an opportunity to understand leisure in a structural way, not only in each category separately, as usual. Therefore, the variable containing leisure activities brings not only information concerning the stratification of the activities but also the possibility to analyse the statistical dependences of this structure with (on) other factorial or inferential variables.

Reliability of leisure activities measurement using the CaLA was proven in our previous study (Pospíšil et al., 2022). The CaLA brings the list of activities, and when leisure activities are measured, the respondents are instructed in detail to enlist all activities they consider as their leisure throughout the year. Nevertheless, the reliability of leisure measurement is difficult to check because the leisure experience changes over time, and differences in repeated measures can bring different results and correspond to reality. Validity of the measurement s closely connected with the very construction of the CaLA. We started to collect the items as a list of well-known activities which came from two sources:

1. Libraries, because the Dewey decimal classification initially inspired the CaLA,

2. Publicly available lists of leisure activities in important areas (e.g. sports, games, arts, etc.).

Additionally, we used the focus groups (and we are continuing this to keep the CaLA updated) to enlarge the lists retrieved from the sources mentioned above. Focus groups not only helped us to maintain and enrich the CaLA, but they were and still are very useful in testing the content validity of the CaLA. This continuous validity check has updated or commented on many items.

Using the questionnaire on two populations (Czech and Slovak) showed that the CaLA is ready for use in other language versions. It has a robust database structure which can be (and is) fully backed up. At the same time, the results showed that it is quite sensitive in comparing populations and can capture even minor differences at the sub-category level, as we have shown here in the discussion.

Statistical procedures

The hypotheses were tested using χ² test of independence for contingency tables (Azen & Walker, 2021; Sheskin, 2011). Statistical procedures were calculated using the Social Survey Project software solution, which was also used for data collection (Pospíšil, 2018). The statistical dependence was recognized significant when p < 0.05. For each cell the adjusted standard residual (z) was calculated. According to Sheskin (2011), the statistical significance for each obtained z was analysed and marked in Tables 2–4 by asterisks (* p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001).

Table 2. Leisure activities structure in the comparison of the Czech Republic a Slovak Republic.

			Country		Total
			Czech	Slovak
Leisure Activities according to CaLA classification	Information, IT, Communication and General Issues	n f z	1770 10.66a% −4.33***	696 4.19% 4.33***	2466 14.85%
	Humanities	n f z	605 3.64% −2.95**	247 1.49% 2.95**	852 5.13%
	Literature and Languages	n f z	1216 7.32% −2,43*	454 2.73% 2,43*	1670 10.06%
	Household, Technology and Hobbies (including Nature, Science and Medicine)	n f z	2275 13.70% −2.49*	820 4.94% 2.49*	3095 18.64%
	Arts	n f z	1007 6.06% 2.69**	278 1.67% −2.69**	1285 7.74%
	Personal Activities, Travelling, Tourism, and Geography	n f z	1963 11.82% 1.78	598 3.60% −1.78	2561 15.42%
	Sports and Games	n f z	2125 12.80% 3.72***	597 3.59% −3.72***	2722 16.39%
	Social Activities	n f z	1019 6.14% 4.18***	253 1.52% −4.18***	1272 7.66%
	Virtual Reality and Social Activities in The Virtual World	n f z	517 3.11% 0.21	167 1.01% −0.21	684 4.12%
	Total	n f	12497 75.25%	4110 24.75%	16607 100.00%

Table 3. Leisure activities according to gender in Czech and Slovak population.

			Gender		Total
			Men	Women
Leisure Activities according to CaLA classification	Information, IT, Communication and General Issues	Czech	n f z	870 6.96% 5.00***	900 7.20% −5.00***	1770 14.16%
		Slovak	n f z	339 8.25% 3.76***	357 8.69% −3.76***	696 16.93%
	Humanities	Czech	n f z	280 2.24% 1.32	325 2.60% −1.32	605 4.84%
		Slovak	n f z	112 2.73% 1.00	135 3.28% −1.00	247 6.01%
	Literature and Languages	Czech	n f z	462 3.70% −4.22***	754 6.03% 4.22***	1216 9.73%
		Slovak	n f z	155 3.77% −3.73***	299 7.27% 3.73***	454 11.05%
	Household, Technology and Hobbies (including Nature, Science and Medicine)	Czech	n f z	984 7.87% −0.47	1291 10.33% 0.47	2275 18.20%
		Slovak	n f z	369 8.98% 1.76	451 10.97% −1.76	820 19.95%
	Arts	Czech	n f z	365 2.92% −4.97***	642 5.14% 4.97***	1007 8.06%
		Slovak	n f z	103 2.51% −1.83	175 4.26% 1.83	278 6.76%
	Personal Activities, Travelling, Tourism, and Geography	Czech	n f z	765 6.12% −4.59***	1198 9.59% 4.59***	1963 15.71%
		Slovak	n f z	212 5.16% −3.66***	386 9.39% 3.66***	598 14.55%
	Sports and Games	Czech	n f z	1096 8.77% 8.04***	1029 8.23% −8.04***	2125 17.00%
		Slovak	n f z	297 7.23% 3.99***	300 7.30% −3.99***	597 14.53%
	Social Activities	Czech	n f z	384 3.07% −4.03***	635 5.08% 4.03***	1019 8.15%
		Slovak	n f z	77 1.87% −3.94***	176 4.28% 3.94***	253 6.16%
	Virtual Reality and Social Activities in The Virtual World	Czech	n f z	254 2.03% 2.55*	263 2.10% −2.55*	517 4.14%
		Slovak	n f z	74 1.80% 0.54	93 2.26% −0.54	167 4.06%
	Total	Czech	n f	5460 43.69%	7037 56.31%	12497 100.00%
		Slovak	n f	1738 42.29%	2372 57.71%	4110 100.00%

Table 4. Leisure activities according to education in Czech and Slovak population.

			Education					Total
				Primary or lower secondary school (ISCED level 1, 2)	Upper secondary school (without direct access to tertiary education – ISCED 3)	Upper secondary school (with direct access to tertiary education – ISCED 3)	Tertiary education (ISCED 4-8)
Leisure Activities according to CaLA classification	Information, IT, Communica-tion and General Issues	Czech	n f z	118 0.94% −0.67	198 1.58% −2.09*	674 5.39% 1.48	780 6.24% 0.32	1770 14.16%
		Slovak	n f z	156 3.80% −0.30	66 1.61% −2.51*	224 5.45% −0.11	250 6.08% 2.14*	696 16.93%
	Humanities	Czech	n f z	53 0.42% 1.69	62 0.50% −1.87	224 1.79% 0.27	266 2.13% 0.12	605 4.84%
		Slovak	n f z	51 1.24% −0.85	37 0.90% 1.30	87 2.12% 0.99	72 1.75% −1.15	247 6.01%
	Literature and Languages	Czech	n f z	103 0.82% 2.05*	155 1.24% 0.03	439 3.51% −0.31	519 4.15% −0.77	1216 9.73%
		Slovak	n f z	99 2.41% −0.56	52 1.27% −0.61	144 3.50% −0.31	159 3.87% 1.24	454 11.05%
	Household, Technology and Hobbies (including Nature, Science and Medicine)	Czech	n f z	126 1.01% −3.10**	464 3.71% 12.14***	832 6.66% 0.06	853 6.83% −6.62***	2275 18.20%
		Slovak	n f z	110 2.68% −7.19***	164 3.99% 7.46***	309 7.52% 3.64***	237 5.77% −2.43*	820 19.95%
	Arts	Czech	n f z	73 0.58% 0.27	50 0.40% −7.70***	361 2.89% −0.46	523 4.19% 5.48***	1007 8.06%
		Slovak	n f z	94 2.29% 4.51***	20 0.49% −2.70**	79 1.92% −1.46	85 2.07% −0.69	278 6.76%
	Personal Activities, Travelling, Tourism, and Geography	Czech	n f z	109 0.87% −2.81**	255 2.04% 0.39	715 5.72% −0.09	884 7.07% 1.28	1963 15.71%
		Slovak	n f z	133 3.24% −0.38	61 1.48% −1.72	195 4.74% 0.14	209 5.09% 1.41	598 14.55%
	Sports and Games	Czech	n f z	192 1.54% 3.94***	262 2.10% −0.60	723 5.79% −2.62**	948 7.59% 0.91	2125 17.00%
		Slovak	n f z	147 3.58% 1.12	68 1.65% −0.76	176 4.28% −1.63	206 5.01% 1.16	597 14.53%
	Social Activities	Czech	n f z	53 0.42% −2.40*	117 0.94% −1.24	364 2.91% −0.55	485 3.88% 2.60**	1019 8.15%
		Slovak	n f z	83 2.02% 3.90***	26 0.63% −1.03	66 1.61% −2.20*	78 1.90% −0.57	253 6.16%
	Virtual Reality and Social Activities in The Virtual World	Czech	n f z	53 0.42% 2.91**	27 0.22% −5.23***	231 1.85% 3.94***	206 1.65% −1.82	517 4.14%
		Slovak	n f z	66 1.61% 5.24***	13 0.32% −1.83	50 1.22% −0.68	38 0.92% −2.73**	167 4.06%
	Total	Czech	n f	880 7.04%	1590 12.72%	4563 36.51%	5464 43.72%	12497 100.00%
		Slovak	n f	939 22.85%	507 12.34%	1330 32.36%	1334 32.46%	4110 100.00%

Results

H1: “There is a difference in preference for leisure activities between Czechs and Slovaks” can be confirmed (χ²_df = 8 = 71.7516, p < 0.001). We see more preferences in the types of leisure activities among Slovaks who prefer – IT and communication, humanities, literature and languages, household, technology, and hobbies. For the Czech population, we see preferences in three areas – arts, sports, games and social activities. Without differences between Czechs and Slovaks were personal activities, travelling, tourism and geography and virtual reality and social activities in the virtual world.

Hypothesis H2CZ: “There is a difference in the preference for leisure activities between men and women in the Czech Republic” can be confirmed (χ²_df = 8 = 154.6655, p < 0.001). Czech men prefer leisure activities in IT and communication, sports, games, virtual reality, and social activities in the virtual world. Czech women prefer literature, languages, art, personal, travel, tourism, and social activities (Table 3, rows Czech). Gender differences are not in humanities and household, technology, and hobbies.

Hypothesis H2SK: “There is a difference in the preference for leisure activities between men and women in Slovakia” can be confirmed (χ²_df = 8 = 70.5528, p < 0.001). Slovak men prefer leisure activities in IT and communication, sports, and games. Slovak women mainly prefer literature and languages, personal activities, travel, tourism, and social activities (Table 3, rows Slovak). In Slovakia, there were no gender differences found in activities related to humanities, household, technology, and hobbies, arts, virtual reality, and social activities in the virtual world.

Hypothesis H3CZ: “There is a difference in the preference for leisure activities depending on respondents’ education in the Czech population” can be confirmed (χ²_df = 24 = 285.1302, p < 0.001). For primary and lower secondary education graduates (ISCED 1, 2), we identified the most preferred areas of leisure activities. Surprisingly, they prefer activities in the field of literature and languages. They are also interested in sports, games, and virtual reality activities. The graduates have a neutral attitude towards activities related to information, IT and communication, humanities, and arts. However, they are not interested in household, technology, hobbies, personal or social activities.

Graduates of upper secondary schools (ISCED 3) form two distinct groups according to their preference for leisure activities. Graduates who do not continue to tertiary education prefer activities in the areas of home, technology, and hobbies. They have a neutral relationship to activities in humanities, literature and languages, personal activities, travelling, tourism and geography, sports, and games. They do not seek activities in IT and communication, arts, virtual reality, and social activities in the virtual world.

In contrast, graduates who could continue in tertiary education prefer virtual reality activities, including virtual world activities. They have a neutral relationship to activities in IT and communication, humanities, literature and languages, household, arts, personal and social activities. They do not like sports and games.

Tertiary education graduates prefer two areas of leisure activities – arts and social. Their relationship with IT, communication, humanities, literature, languages, personal activities, sports, and games is neutral. However, they are not interested in household activities, virtual reality, and social activities in the virtual world. (Table 4)

Hypothesis H3SK: “There is a difference in the preference for leisure activities depending on respondents' education in the Slovak population” can be confirmed (χ²_df = 24 = 166.0964, p < 0.001). The most preferred types of leisure activities were identified in the group of primary and lower secondary education graduates – arts, social activities, and virtual reality. On the other hand, these people do not prefer household, technology and hobbies and are neutral towards IT and communication, humanities, literature and languages, and personal activities.

Upper secondary graduates showed the same preferences for household activities, technology, and hobbies, although there were two groups of graduates – with and without access to tertiary education. People who can pursue tertiary education have a neutral relationship with other types of activities except for one type – social activities. Graduates who do not pursue tertiary education have a neutral relationship with all but two types of activities (IT and communication and arts).

People who have finished tertiary education prefer activities in IT and communication. At the same time, they did not like activities in the field of household and virtual reality and social activities in the virtual world. However, they had a neutral attitude towards other types of activities. (Table 4)

Discussion and conclusions

We aimed to identify and analyse the differences in preferences for leisure activities between Czechs and Slovaks. All hypotheses (H1 – H3) were confirmed. We can say that there are significant differences in preferences for leisure activities between Czechs and Slovaks. (Table 2) The Slovak population shows more preferences (4) than the Czech population (3). Similarly, García Román and Gracia (2022) shows differences in the use of leisure time in ten Industrial countries between 2005 and 2015. Although the results here are time-specific, we find differences in preferences across countries for all three groups of leisure activities.

Thanks to the CaLA tool, we can compare whole categories, subcategories, and individual activities in this survey. For example, we see differences if we compare preferences for specific activities against other surveys, such as cycling (Fraboni et al., 2022), smartphone, PC, and tablet use (Mullan & Hofferth, 2022), travel (Lin & Falk, 2022), or physical activity (Sandercock et al., 2022).

Gender differences

The results confirmed the existence of differences in the experience of leisure between men and women during the pandemic. It showed that some types of activities are preferred by men in the Czech Republic and Slovakia (Information, IT, Communication and General Issues and Sports and Games). Virtual reality and social activities in the virtual world were preferred only by men in the Czech Republic. The same preference mechanism was also true for women. Interesting results in the preferences of men and women in both countries can be found by looking more closely at the sub-category level for each type of activity/category (see results below).

In many home-based activities during the pandemic, the frequency of the choice of leisure activities (referred as unpaid work) was higher in women. Women were engaged in chores, shopping, children, family, and pet care more often than men (Hipp & Bünning, 2021; Mutz & Reimers, 2021). Reviews of gender differences in leisure activities confirm certain stereotypes – women who usually have less free time and are more often employed in the so-called unpaid work related to family and household care, and men who are more likely to have time for other leisure activities (e.g. Craig & Mullan, 2013; Kleiber & Kane, 1984; Mattingly & Blanchi, 2003; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2009).

Czech and Slovak women spent their time reading and studying foreign languages and were more active in self-study than men. Unlike men, women choose the formal or informal education out of personal interest and learning new things increases their self-confidence, or they perceive it as fun (Boeren, 2011). The group of activities, such as social, voluntary, humanitarian, or religious, which women mostly prefer, are probably related to their role characterized by their helping behaviour, caretaking, empathizing, and sensitivity to the needs of family, friends, and community (Gil-Lacruz et al., 2019; Wymer, 2011). Research on motivation factors to leisure activities during the pandemic, such as creativity and mental stimulation (Morse et al., 2021), could support our finding that women spent more time on art activities such as painting, singing, dancing, or handmade production. The frequency of choice of art activities, such as playing musical instruments, listening to music, or taking photos, was very balanced between men and women. Czech and Slovak men are more frequently interested in new devices and technology. They are more interested in computers as the technology (including the technological development and enhancement) than women, who prefer to use computers because of the Internet connection.

In the case of outdoor activities, women were more often engaged in trekking, staying in the countryside or walking. Across countries, more women than men walk for leisure (Pollard & Wagnild, 2017) and during the pandemic, walking could be linked to the availability of the activity and its feasibility with children or pets. We could observe the dominancy of Slovak and Czech men in some sport leisure activities, such as team games, ball games and martial arts, and they participated in sports activities more often than women. This is consistent with previous findings that men participate in sports more often than women and that women's lower participation in sports reflects their greater preference for other activities (Apostolou, 2015; Deaner et al., 2012). However, women are more likely to choose individual sports, which may increase their different motivations to play sports (to keep fit or look good) compared to men who like to compete (Balish et al., 2016; Deaner et al., 2016). Gardening was very popular among women and men during the pandemic, as was demonstrated in various studies (Morse et al., 2021; Shen et al., 2022; van Leeuwen et al., 2020).

Czech women are more likely to engage in activities such as reading books, chores, family care, handmade production, artistic production, civic engagement, travelling and outdoor and sports activities. Slovak women use social media websites more often, listen to music, are involved in humanistic activities, and study foreign languages than Czech women. Czech men prefer sports, social events, DIY, chores, family care, artistic activities, and personal life activities more than Slovak men. Slovak men are more likely to be involved in religious activities, studying foreign languages and computers or programming. These findings do not confirm the research results based on data from 2011 and 2016, in which Slovaks were more likely involved in handmade production, DIY and self-care and personal life activities and Czechs in reading and watching TV and outdoor and sports activities (Chorvát & Šafr, 2021).

Differences related to achieved education

Statistically significant differences in the use of leisure time depending on the level of achieved education were noted in seven of the nine monitored areas. As already mentioned, these are thematically integrated areas with a relatively high number of activities of individual and group focus, thanks to which we can track leisure preferences individually or aggregate. The used research tool allows us a comprehensive view of leisure preferences, i.e. the monitored thematic areas are evaluated based on mutual correlations, thanks to which an overall picture of the respondents’ leisure preferences is created based on the achieved education. As a result of our chosen approach, which has no parallel in research of a similar focus in Europe (Avital, 2017; Chorvát & Šafr, 2021; Corbat & González, 2020; Kraus et al., 2020; cf. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2009), some of our findings are different in comparison with the results of other researchers. This mainly concerns sports activities, which were shown to be statistically significant in our research sample only among respondents with primary and lower secondary education. The available research findings point to the opposite (Beenackers et al., 2012; Scholes & Bann, 2018). However, the latest research findings confirm that during the pandemic, there was a significant decrease in providing sports activities in favour of relaxing and physically undemanding activities (Mutz & Reimers, 2021; Shen et al., 2022).

In the group of respondents with upper secondary education without direct access to tertiary education, activities from the household, technology and hobbies dominate, which was also confirmed by the results of comparative research by Chorvát and Šafr (2021). These activities have been long popular in the Czech Republic and Slovakia and do not lose their attractiveness (Kraus et al., 2020; Pospíšil et al., 2021). Household and hobby activities were generally popular during the pandemic, and, according to the findings of Morse et al. (2021), they were among the top activities that individuals began to engage in (sewing/embroidery, knitting/crochet, baking, gardening).

In the group of secondary education graduates with direct access to tertiary education, the activities from virtual reality and social activities in the virtual world. In the group of secondary education graduates with direct access to tertiary education, the activities from virtual reality and social activities in the virtual world are most preferred. The preference for these activities already had an upward trend before the pandemic. However, these activities took on a new dimension due to the restriction of social contacts during the pandemic. According to Shen et al. (2022), these activities represented the second most numerous area among the leisure activities that persons engaged in during the pandemic.

Finally, artistic, and socially focused activities dominate the respondents with the highest education. As far as artistic activities are concerned, this area is dominated by activities associated with visiting cultural institutions, cinemas, music, dance, and theatre performances and conducting similarly focused activities. Instrumental activities are also comparably represented, i.e. playing a musical instrument individually or in a group. Playing a musical instrument has been one of the favourite leisure activities during the pandemic, with some individuals discovering it during this period (Morse et al., 2021; Shen et al., 2022). The prevalence of college-educated musicians among non-professional instrumentalists has been confirmed by the research of J. Steyer (2021), who reports that up to 80% of church organists in the Czech Republic have a college education. Within social activities, which dominated only in the respondents with the highest education, social events and membership in interest organizations and volunteering achieved the highest correlation. Participation in volunteer activities is in line with the findings of Eurostat (Mercy et al., 2015), according to which people with higher education (28.4%) participate in them to a greater extent compared to people with lower education (11.5%).

The research results show that education level influences the preference for leisure activities among Czechs and Slovaks. The highest variability of leisure activities is among respondents with the lowest education. Differences in satisfaction with leisure time depending on educational attainment were weakly indicated in Eurostat’s (Mercy et al., 2015) findings concerning time use. Eurostat reported that respondents with the lowest educational level were the most satisfied with their time use (6.8), while respondents with the highest educational level were the least satisfied (6.6). This group of respondents also includes students who enjoy various leisure activities. They are encouraged to use their leisure time appropriately at school. Students’ leisure activities influence a high degree of activity variability.

Further differences in the preferences of Czechs and Slovaks for leisure activities were found in socially oriented activities. These activities were preferred by respondents from the Czech Republic with the highest education, while in Slovakia, it was respondents with the lowest education.

This research also aimed to test the functionality of the CaLA, which we used to measure leisure activities. The catalogue was available online, and there were no complaints about its functionality for data collection. Online functionality was also crucial because the movement was restricted during the pandemic. The research results show that the tool with leisure activities scale can be used for international structural comparison of leisure. Only the precise translation of the CaLA to the target language, including the additional attributes and tags, is a non-negotiable condition.

In conclusion, it can be confirmed that each nation (Czechs and Slovaks) has its preferences for leisure activity. We recognized significant differences between leisure in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as well as, in more detail, differences between men’s and women’s leisure activities and in the leisure of people with different achieved education degrees in both countries. The differences were not very significant between men and women in both countries.

However, the Czech and Slovak nations have lived together as one country and are close in language, culture, political system, and public policy management. The findings are also significant in education, as both countries have very close education principles and systems. At the same time, they have close principles of organizations that engage in children’s and youth’s leisure. The research shows that although they are very close nations and countries, differences in leisure experience exist (sometimes more, sometimes less). The CaLA, which exists in English, Czech and Slovak versions, helped us to examine leisure activities in detail. If we compare the results of different surveys, we encounter problems classifying individual leisure activities. In researching leisure, the authors categorize leisure activities according to different criteria, which makes it quite challenging to compare the results. Using the CaLA for comparison presented in this paper, we can see the great potential and opportunity to use the research tool to investigate leisure activities in other Central European and even farther countries across Europe or the world.

Limitations of the study

Respondents reported no problems with searching or entering activities. The data shows that respondents listed all the activities they are currently engaged in. However, CaLA may not be sensitive enough to activities that people rarely engage in. Respondents may have rated them marginal and unimportant and were unwilling to complete them. Similarly, CaLA may not be sufficiently sensitive to activities that only take place during part of the year (summer, winter, holidays, etc.). These activities may not have been captured even though respondents were asked to do so.

Institutional review board statement

Ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to informed consent obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Informed consent statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

Data availability statement

Research data are available from the authors upon request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Internal Grant Agency of Palacký University Olomouc under [grant number IGA_CMTF_2023_008] Values context of social functioning III.; and Cultural and Education Grant Agency of Ministry of Education, Slovakia under [grant number KEGA 017TTU-4/2020].