NSW Council for Intellectual Disability 22-36 Mountain Street, Broadway, NSW, 2007 ph: (02) 9211 1611 freecall: 1800 424 065 fax (02) 9211 2606 e-mail: nswcid@cia.com.au Leisure A definition of leisure and its core features …time…over which one has control…in which to do what one pleases…resulting in… • Increased quality of life: “I enjoy it” • A chance to fulfil valued roles: “it’s a part of how I define myself as a person” • Social interaction: “it’s where I make new friends and meet with my old friends” • Promoting physical health: “it’s invigorating!” • Development of skills: “it’s where I get to perfect old activities and try new ones” Ensuring the benefits of leisure: “I enjoy it” Leisure activities must be meaningful and enjoyable. All people, including people with intellectual disability and high support needs, have preferences about the activities they engage in, and are able to express the enjoyment felt when participating in such activities. For many people, enjoyment is expressed through smiling and laughter, however people also express enjoyment in other ways. Two examples of the way enjoyment might be seen are: in the way someone pays sustained attention on particular activities; or, in the way someone does not express themselves through behaviour considered challenging while engaging in a particular activity. Activities which are not enjoyable are not leisure activities. It is sometimes tempting to plan and engage in activities which resemble leisure, but which are not actually enjoyable. For example, a drive in the car is an activity that might resemble leisure, but if it is an activity that is not meaningful to the people engaging in it, then it is not leisure. It is an exciting challenge to identify activities which are enjoyable. Sometimes the people who you engage in leisure activities with are just as important as what you’re doing. For example, going for a quiet walk with one other person who is a good friend and someone that you don’t get to spend much time with can be just as enjoyable as visiting a shopping centre with a group of people – like your housemates – who you spend all your time with. Ensuring the benefits of leisure: “It’s a part of how I define myself as a person” Leisure activities are important sources of valued roles. Consider the teenager who devotes himself to punk music and skateboarding; or the adult woman who greatly enjoys tapestry; or the child who wants nothing more than to play on swings and paint. These leisure activities are important ways in which each of these people tell the world who they are – they are roles which are socially valued and are considered suitable by the person and their peers. Ensuring the benefits of leisure: “It’s invigorating” Leisure activities are a great way of promoting physical health and well being. Activities such as sport, outdoor adventure, walking, and even just being outside, experiencing a new environment and enjoying the fresh air are all examples of leisure activities that may be “invigorating” for any person. While every care has been taken to ensure the information in this document is accurate, it contains guidelines only in relation to its subject matter. NSWCID suggests that professional adivce be sought wherever necessary. C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\Leisure2.doc ; 21/11/00; 15:19; Page 1 of 2. NSW CID FACT SHEET NSW CID FACT SHEET NSW CID FACT SHEET NSW CID FACT SHEET NSW CID FACT SHEET NSW Council for Intellectual Disability 22-36 Mountain Street, Broadway, NSW, 2007 ph: (02) 9211 1611 freecall: 1800 424 065 fax (02) 9211 2606 e-mail: nswcid@cia.com.au Ensuring the benefits of leisure: “It’s where I make new friends and meet with my old friends” Leisure activities provide a rich source of new and maintained friendships. When you think about your friendship circles, it soon becomes obvious that the people who are your friends are most likely a diverse group people with whom you have a range of common interests. It is typical that there are no or only a few people who you are friends with due to common physical traits or life circumstances, for example: • For a person who wears glasses, it is unlikely that they have a number of friends who are friends purely because they too wear glasses! • For a person with intellectual disability, is also would seem unusual if that person’s friendship circle consists only, or mostly of other people with intellectual disability. It would be more typical for this person to be friends with people who share common interests, such as sport or music. However, it is not a common experience for people with intellectual disability to have friendship circles which are diverse. Some people might even consider this to be “normal” and “ok,” because that person with intellectual disability is choosing their friendship circles to consist of these people, and because these people are good friends – however comments such as these (while having elements of truth) do not consider the complex underlying issues that exist. There are many reasons that a person’s friendship circle might be limited and not diverse: • If a person has not had the opportunity to meet a diverse range of people then it is likely their friendship groups will not include a range of people. It is typical that people with intellectual disability have been and are excluded from ordinary leisure activities. However, this exclusion is discriminatory, and the Anti-Discrimination Act makes it illegal. • If a person has negative experiences, such as being ridiculed or ostracised, then it is likely that they will feel uncomfortable approaching similar activities in the future: this might be, or may have been the experience of a person with intellectual disability. However, leisure is about enjoyment, and with careful effort and support that is sensitive and gradual, all people can and do participate in inclusive, enjoyable leisure. Diverse groups bring enjoyment to all involved in them. It is not just a person with intellectual disability (who is striving to be fully involved in leisure activities) who will benefit from such inclusion, but the whole group who share this experience of diversity. Ensuring the benefits of leisure: “It’s where I get to perfect old activities and try new ones” Leisure activities provide opportunities for us to develop our skills. The skills that one develops through being involved in leisure activities are not limited to the activity itself, such as ball skills, running speed, singing in tune, chess strategy, or the dexterity required for cross-stitch. Opportunities for perfecting old activities and trying new ones can broaden our understanding of the world, how it works, and how we fit in to it. More information? The NSWCID Jim McLaughlin Reference Library contains much information about leisure. Visitors to this library are welcome by appointment only, Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm. While every care has been taken to ensure the information in this document is accurate, it contains guidelines only in relation to its subject matter. NSWCID suggests that professional adivce be sought wherever necessary. C:\WINDOWS\TEMP\Leisure2.doc ; 21/11/00; 15:19; Page 2 of 2. NSW CID FACT SHEET NSW CID FACT SHEET NSW CID FACT SHEET NSW CID FACT SHEET NSW CID FACT SHEET Leisure Sciences, 28: 487–491, 2006 C Taylor & Francis Group, LLC Copyright
ISSN: 0149-0400 print / 1521-0588 online DOI: 10.1080/01490400600851353 Research Reflections More False Dichotomies: Play, Leisure, Environmental Enrichment, and Important Science Questions CAREEN MACKAY YARNAL GARRY CHICK JOHN DATTILO The Pennsylvania State University University Park, Pennsylvania, USA Most researchers would agree that dichotomies between the biomedical sciences and the social sciences have created academic camps that largely act in isolation. Biomedical scientists are unacquainted with or give little heed to research conducted by social scientists and social scientists are unaware of or disregard studies completed by biomedical scientists. We argue in this essay that this division is bad news for researchers examining play and leisure. Territoriality inhibits intellectual growth, prevents scientists from thinking more broadly, limits cross-fertilization of ideas, and ultimately hinders abilities to address important science questions. In this essay we explore how sharing between biomedical and social science researchers could help address a debilitating disease. One of the most important biomedical puzzles driving basic scientific research (Kennedy & Norman, 2005) is the extent to which people can stave off Alzheimer’s disease. We chose this focus for two reasons. First, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a significant social, economic, and policy issue for the United States. Currently 4.5 million Americans have AD. By 2025 the number will increase 44% (Herbert, Scherr, Bienies, Bennett, & Evans, 2003). Second, controlled studies on animal behavior have increased understanding of AD at the sub-cellular, cellular, biochemical, and molecular levels (Spires & Hannan, 2005). A growing awareness among social scientists is the belief that large-scale processes such as leisure are linked to AD (e.g., Scarmeas, Levy, Tang, Manly, & Stern, 2001). Yet collaboration on AD between social scientists and biomedical researchers is limited. Most important, collaboration between researchers examining play and leisure and researchers in the biomedical field is nearly absent. The Issue of Alzheimer’s Disease Although a sizeable number of Americans have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, many more individuals are in the yet-to-be-diagnosed stages. AD is difficult to detect and often masked as depression and normal aging. Periods of up to 10 years of brain cell loss Address correspondence to Careen Mackay Yarnal, Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management, The Pennsylvania State University, 232 Mateer Building, University Park, PA 16802. E-mail: cmy122@psu.edu 487 488 C. M. Yarnal et al. before appearance of disease symptoms are not uncommon. Without significant research breakthroughs, Medicare and Medicaid costs to treat the disease by 2015 will be $304 billion annually. Delaying nursing home placement by one month would save an estimated $1 billion per year. Hence, research into ways of preventing or delaying the disease, achieving earlier diagnosis, improving treatments, and enhancing support for those living with the disease are of fundamental importance (Alzheimer’s Association, 2005). Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative disease resulting in a loss of mental then physical functioning due to deterioration of brain tissue. The disorder is cumulative; it gradually destroys a person’s memory and the ability to learn, to reason, make judgments, communicate, and complete daily activities. It affects personality and emotions. As the disease progresses, cells die in other regions of the brain. Eventually, the individual requires complete care. Alzheimer’s disease exact cause remains unknown, but current scientific evidence points to the complex interaction of genetic susceptibility with environmental factors (Van Praag, Kempermann, & Gage, 2005). Dominant etiological theories center on (a) abnormal processing of normal brain proteins, (b) death of cells critical to maintaining appropriate levels of brain chemicals, (c) chronic inflammation of the brain, (d) accumulation of heavy metals in the brain, and (e) vascular factors that affect the health of blood vessels in the brain. Risk factors include cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, periodontal disease, obesity, and head trauma. AD has no cure. Effective treatments are limited, and most require early diagnosis. Lifestyle strategies for healthy aging such as exercise, social activity, mental activity, and a balanced diet may offer some protection from or reserve against the disease. Higher intelligence, education, and occupational status are also associated with reduced risk of developing the disease. In short, life experiences that enhance an efficient cognitive network may also furnish a cognitive reserve that delays onset of the disease (Scarmeas & Stern, 2004). AD affects women and men at the same rates. However, the disease has particular relevance for women. Age is the primary risk factor for AD. One person per thousand under age 65 contracts the disease, while the number escalates to one in five over age 80. Women, on average, live longer than men; hence, at any one time more women than men are living with AD. More striking is that the rapid growth of women in older age groups translates into half of all women over 80 years contracting the disease (National Women’s Health Resource Centre, 2004). Environmental Enrichment and Alzheimer’s Disease Most biomedical research on AD in the past decade has focused on individual genes, brain development, and the behavior of cells at the cellular, sub-cellular, and molecular scales. However, almost all medical disorders are a function of both genetic and environmental factors. One area of gene-environment interaction garnering increased attention is the role of environmental enrichment in delaying, protecting against, and perhaps reversing effects of AD (e.g., Adlard, Perreau, Pop, & Cotman, 2005). Environmental enrichment, defined as a combination of complex inanimate and social stimulation, is often a variable in experiments with animals in laboratory settings (Rosenzweig & Bennett, 1996). Animals, including mice and rats, are routinely used to study neurodegenerative diseases like AD for several reasons. First, unlike humans, mice and rats have short life spans and breed rapidly. Therefore progress of the disease can be modeled and remodeled quickly. Second, mice and rats can be bred to simulate specific genetic characteristics of the disease as they would appear in humans. Third, mice and rats imitate many of the pathological and behavioral features of human conditions. More False Dichotomies 489 Laboratory animals are typically housed in cages of standard configuration without any additional stimulation. However, environmental enrichment may be introduced to test the effects of socialization, novelty, and environmental complexity (e.g., play) on cognitive functioning. An enriched environment may include controlled introduction of other animals of the same species, toys, or running wheels, for example. Biomedical researchers then create models that adjust the quantity and complexity of environmental stimulation by including or removing animals and objects of different shapes and sizes. Finally they examine how the various configurations of animals and/or items being tested affect the animals’ brains. To date, enriched animal environments have been linked to improved memory and learning, neural plasticity, and molecular changes in the developing brain (e.g., Frick & Fernandez, 2003). Enriched environments also promote neurogenesis, which is the development of new brain cells. Most important is that these new brain cells have been found not only in young animals as might be expected from developmental theory, but also in aged animals (e.g., Van Praag, Kempermann, & Gage, 2000). Until recently, social scientists assumed that cognitive aging meant neural decline and inevitable loss of brain function. Now, the aging brain is understood to be elastic and capable of considerable adaptation throughout the lifespan (Baltes, Staudinger, & Lindenberger, 1999). Biomedical researchers made similar early assumptions about the inflexibility of brain cells and believed an individual was born with a fixed number of neurons that declined with age. Therefore, the recent biomedical discovery that new brain cells can be generated in older animals is noteworthy. In addition, because AD progressively kills brain cells, establishing a causal link between environmental enrichment and neurogenesis is important. Van Praag, Shubert, Zhao, and Gage (2005) found that an optimum way to generate new brain cells in aged mice was through voluntary exercise and mental stimulation, which are two important components of many play and leisure activities. Although enriched environments control for the importance of single variables such as socialization or general activity, the interaction of factors creates a rich environment (Van Praag, Kempermann, & Gage, 2000). An example may be illustrative. Certain rare genes guarantee an individual will develop Alzheimer’s disease. These genes have been found in only a few hundred extended families worldwide and account for about 5% of Alzheimer’s cases (Helmuth, 2001). Even if a person knows that she is genetically predisposed to AD, can lifestyle factors like play delay onset of the disease? Or is the timing and progression of the disease genetically predetermined? Scientists do not know the answer to these questions. However, we suggest along with some biomedical researchers that considering the geneenvironment continuum in its entirety is the best way to arrive at answers. Putting It Together: Play, Leisure, Environmental Enrichment, and Alzheimer’s Disease What have animal studies on environmental enrichment and AD got to do with play and leisure? Few social scientists interested in play and leisure have made the connection perhaps from lack of knowledge and/or interest or because two scientific facts must be accepted: that biology is involved in play and leisure, and that genetics are important to human behavior including play and leisure behavior. These claims may be discomforting to people who believe that animals and humans are different in kind, rather than just degree. Many people believe that the terms “biology” and “genetics” smack of “reductionism” and “genetic or biological determinism.” We do not agree. Moreover, we agree with Ridley’s (2003) argument that genes and the environment work symbiotically. We argue, therefore, that social science researchers examining play and leisure need to know more about biology and genetics, while biomedical environmental enrichment researchers need to know more 490 C. M. Yarnal et al. about the social science of play and leisure. The following four points establish the logic of our argument. First, many animals including probably all mammals, numerous birds, some reptiles, and possibly even a cephalopod (i.e., the octopus) play. Some aspects of mammal play such as human children’s play and non-human primate play have received considerable academic attention. Other aspects like play in older adult humans, and more specifically in older women, have been completely neglected. Academic consensus suggests that play exhibits certain characteristics that differentiate it from other types of behavioral activity and that play is ubiquitous among mammals (Fagen, 1981). Social scientists, nevertheless, tend to put human play and other animal play in separate categories and assume at most limited connection between the two. They seem willing to recognize that animal play has a biological component. They know that animals do and should play. Still, social science researchers seem unwilling to countenance a biological component to human play. But, people are mammals and mammals play. Second, increasing evidence has emerged to support the idea that genes work in concert with the environment rather than in some either/or arrangement or some predetermined proportion (e.g., a given behavior is 60% genetic and 40% learned; Ridley, 2003). A genetic basis to AD is undeniable. For example, people who have a parent or sibling with Alzheimer’s are two to three times more likely to develop the disease than people who do not (e.g., Eckman et al., 1997). A comprehensive study of Swedish twins ages 65 and over found that identical twins, who are genetically identical, contracted AD at higher rates than fraternal twins who on average share half their genes. The age of onset of the disease was also closer for identical than fraternal twins suggesting that genetics play a role in whether and when a person becomes demented. However, a number of identical twins did not conform to this pattern. A difference in age of onset within identical twin pairs suggested that the interaction of genes with the environment was also an important determinant of dementia (Gatz et al., 2005). Perhaps engaging in play or leisure activities provides protection or a reserve that might account for variation in disease onset in twins. Third, individuals who are deprived of or unable to play can survive but may fail to thrive. An absence of childhood play correlates with long-term developmental damage. Scientists do not know if lack of play is damaging to older adults, particularly older women nor whether play is linked to AD. Nobody has ever systematically examined these issues. Studies have found links between some leisure activities like traveling, dancing, bowling, knitting, gardening, puzzles, and games with delayed onset of AD (e.g., Scarmeas et al., 2001). Researchers have also found links between environmental enrichment and AD. Given that play is one form of environmental enrichment, we believe that it can be instrumental to Alzheimer’s prevention. Furthermore, we contend that play’s unique features such as spontaneity, complete absorption, experimentation, non-seriousness, and fun should help delay the disease. Fourth, work in the biomedical sciences on Alzheimer’s disease with its focus on biology, physics, and chemistry appears to proceed with little consideration of social sciences. Similarly, research in the social sciences with its focus on psychology, sociology, and economics proceeds as if biology and genetics do not exist (Barkow, Cosmides, & Tooby, 1992). More important is that researchers who examine human play and leisure in AD have so far limited themselves to social science perspectives (e.g., Dupuis & Smale, 2000). Perhaps this fact is because most social scientists are unwilling to consider, much less accept, biology and genetics as explanatory variables for human behavior. To be fair, the same argument could be made for biomedical researchers’ intolerance of social science. In conclusion, we think that social scientists studying play and leisure limit their understanding if they fail to capitalize on opportunities to collaborate with biomedical researchers. More False Dichotomies 491 We also believe that social science research on play and leisure can contribute to biomedical understanding of Alzheimer’s disease. If we can eliminate the false dichotomy between the social and biomedical sciences, the resulting fusion of ideas can bring exciting new knowledge and theoretical development to the study of AD, leisure research, and the broader scientific enterprise. References Adlard, P., Perreau, V., Pop, V., & Cotman, C. (2005). Voluntary exercise decreases amyloid load in a transgenic mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease. The Journal of Neuroscience, 25(1), 4217–4221. Alzheimer’s Association (2005). Statistics about Alzheimer’s disease. Retrieved August 2, 2005 from http://www.alz.org/AboutAD/Statistics.asp. Baltes, P., Staudinger, U., & Lindenberger, U. (1999). Lifespan psychology: Theory and application to intellectual functioning. Annual Reviews in Psychology, 50, 471–507. Barkow, J., Cosmides, L., & Tooby, J. (Eds.) (1992). The adapted mind. Evolutionary psychology and the generation of culture. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. Dupuis, S. & Smale, B. (2000). Bittersweet journeys: Meanings of leisure in the institution-based caregiving context. Journal of Leisure Research, 32(3), 303–340. Eckman, C., Mehta, N., Crook, R., Perez-tur, J., Prihar, G., & Pfeiffer, E. (1997). A new pathogenic mutation in the APP gene (I716V) increases the proportion of A beta 42(43). Human Molecular Genetics, 12(6), 2087–2089. Fagen, R. (1981). Animal play behavior. New York: Oxford University Press. Frick, K. & Fernandez, S. (2003). Enrichment enhances spatial memory and increases syaptophysin in aged female mice. Neurobiology of Aging, 24(4), 615–626. Gatz, M., Fratiglioni, L., Johansson, B., Berg, S., Mortimer, J., & Reynolds, C. (2005). Complete ascertainment of dementia in the Swedish Twin registry: The HARMONY study. Neurobiology of Aging, 26(4), 439–447. Helmuth, L. (2001). Detangling Alzheimer’s disease. Science of Aging Knowledge Environment, 43(1), 2. Herbert, L., Scherr, P., Bienies, J., Bennett, D., & Evans, D. (2003). Alzheimer disease in the U.S. population: Prevalence estimates using the 2000 census. Archives of Neurology, 60(8), 1119– 1122. Kennedy, D. & Norman, C. (2005). What don’t we know? Science Magazine, 309(5731), 75. National Women’s Health Resource Centre (2004). Women and Alzheimer’s disease. Red Bank, NJ: National Women’s Health Resource Centre. Ridley, M. (2003). Nature via nurture: Genes, experience, and what makes us human. New York: HarperCollins. Rosenzweig, M. & Bennett, E. (1996). Psychobiology of plasticity: Effects of training and experience on brain and behavior. Behavioral and Brain Research, 78, 57–75. Scarmeas, N. Levy, G., Tang, M., Manly, J., & Stern, Y. (2001). Influence of leisure activity on the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Neurology, 57(12), 2236–2242. Scarmeas, N. & Stern, Y. (2004). Cognitive reserve: Implications for diagnosis and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports, 4(5), 374–380. Spires, T. & Hannan, J. (2005). Nature, nurture and neurology: Gene-environment interactions in neurodegenerative disease. FEBS Journal, 272, 2347–2361. Van Praag, H., Kempermann, G., & Gage, F. (2000). Neural consequences of environmental enrichment. Nature Reviews, 1(December), 191–198. Van Praag, H., Kempermann, G., & Gage, F. (2005). Nature, nurture and neurology: Gene-environment interactions in neurodegenerative disease. The FEBS Journal, 272, 2347–2361. Van Praag, H., Shubert, T., Zhao, C., & Gage, F. (2005). Exercise enhances learning and hippocampal neurogenesis in aged mice. The Journal of Neuroscience, 25(38), 8680–8685. Leisure Sciences, 27: 93–109, 2005 C Taylor & Francis Inc. Copyright
ISSN: 0149-0400 print / 1521-0588 online DOI: 10.1080/01490400590912006 Examining Relationships Among Perceptions of Self, Episode-Specific Evaluations, and Overall Satisfaction with a Leisure Activity BONGKOO LEE Department of Tourism Management DongEui University Busan, S. Korea C. SCOTT SHAFER Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences Texas A&M University College Station, Texas, USA INHO KANG Department of Tourism Management KeMyong University Daegu, S. Korea Many researchers have investigated leisure experience as a process that includes interactions with others and the environment. Interactions during leisure are known to influence the experience. Based on this tradition, the purpose of this study was to investigate how emotions might relate to interactions that an individual has during leisure experience and to examine the relationships among emotions, episode-specific evaluations, and overall satisfaction. A research model was suggested based on Affect Control Theory, the confirmation/disconfirmation paradigm, Mehrabian and Russell’s (1974) approach-avoidance concept, and the sub-domain dependency theory of leisure satisfaction. Findings from analyses of experiences suggested that linkages existed among confirmation of self-identity (a goal), resulting emotions, episode-specific evaluations, and finally to overall satisfaction with a leisure activity. Keywords self-identity, confirmation/disconfirmation, emotions, episode-specific evaluations, leisure satisfaction, Affect Control Theory Few aspects are as fundamental to the concept of leisure as satisfaction. Two approaches have been dominant in dealing with leisure satisfaction. The first approach has been the “end/effect/output” perspective that has focused on explaining determinants of leisure satisfaction. Leisure satisfaction literature contains three lines of research within this approach: confirmation/disconfirmation of expectations as a determinant of leisure satisfaction (Ditton, Graefe, & Fedler, 1980; Lounsbury & Hoopes, 1985; Vaske, Donnelly, & Heberline, 1980), Received 29 January, 2003; accepted 17 April, 2004. Address correspondence to BongKoo Lee, Department of Tourism Management, DongEui University, Busan, 614-714, S. Korea. E-mail: bongkoo1@due.ac.kr 93 94 B. K. Lee et al. the role of emotions (Ajzen & Driver, 1992; Floyd, 1997; Westbrook, 1987), and the development of sub-domains of leisure experience that contribute to leisure satisfaction (Ditton et al., 1980; Oliver, 1993; Yi, 1990). The second approach is the “means/cause/input” perspective that has investigated the role of leisure satisfaction on other realms of our lives including life satisfaction (Hersh, 1990; Patterson & Carpenter, 1994; Ragheb & Griffith, 1982; Wearing, 1989) or post-consumption behaviors such as repeated use, intention to repurchase, word of mouth, and loyalty (Bigne, Sanchez, & Sanchez, 2001; Petric, Morais, & Norman, 2001; Ragheb, 1980). Recently researchers have shown greater interest in the dynamic nature of leisure experience (Lee & Shafer, 2002; Mannell & Iso-Ahola, 1987; Stewart, 1998; Stewart & Hull, 1992). The dynamic leisure experience has been conceptualized as an outcome that is dependent upon a sequence of episodes (i.e., interactions between a leisure participant and other features, including people and physical attributes in the natural environment). A leisure participant’s overall experience is a sum of experience parts formed during episodes over time in a leisure setting. Each episode has a potential to confirm/disconfirm expectations in a leisure setting. Though the first approach has contributed to improving our understanding of leisure experiences, research has not provided a deep-rooted foundation for understanding: 1) a leisure participant’s response when an expectation is confirmed or disconfirmed as a result of an episode; 2) how a person evaluates an episode that confirms or disconfirms his/her expectation; 3) the relationship between his/her response to an episode and evaluation of the episode and; 4) the role of these episode specific evaluations on the overall leisure experience. We believe that concepts (i.e., confirmation/disconfirmation, emotion, sub-domains of leisure experience) identified as determinants of leisure satisfaction in the first approach are linked. For example, confirmation/disconfirmation leads to emotion, emotion determines the negative or positive nature of sub-domains that comprise leisure experience, and finally the nature of sub-domains of leisure experience determine overall leisure satisfaction. The purpose of this study was to investigate the linkages in the end/effect/output perspective of leisure satisfaction and to suggest an integrated model of the three concepts with the support of empirical evidence. The theoretical framework for this study centered on three underpinnings: Affect Control Theory (ACT), approach-avoidance, and sub-domain dependency theory. ACT (Averett & Heise, 1987; Heise, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1992a, 1992b; MacKinnon, 1994; Robinson & Smith-Lovin, 1992; Schneider & Heise, 1995) contributed to the first linkage (i.e., confirmation/disconfirmation and emotion). Mehrabian and Russell’s (1974) conceptualization of approach-avoidance contributed to the linkage between emotion and the nature of sub-domains of leisure experience. Sub-domain dependency theory (Ditton et al., 1980; Oliver, 1993; Yi, 1990) contributed to the linkage between the nature of sub-domains of leisure experience and overall leisure satisfaction. The development of the integrated model could improve our understanding of how aggregate experiences in leisure are formed and evaluated by leisure participants. Literature Review This section is organized to review previous literature on constructs related to leisure experience and their linkages. Self-Identity Researchers in leisure involvement have investigated identity formation and identity affirmation processes in leisure (Dimanche & Samdahl, 1994; Havitz & Dimanche, 1997; Iwasaki & Havitz, 1998; Kim, Scott, & Crompton, 1997; McIntyre, 1989). For example, Haggard Relationships Among Leisure Experience Constructs 95 and Williams (1992) argued that leisure activities embody distinct and measurable identity images, and leisure participants select activities partially on the basis of these identity images. Participants develop self-identities through participation in the activity. Repeated participation in the activity enhances these self-identities, and people keep participating in the activity to confirm their identities and maintain a source of pride and self-worth. Baldwin and Norris (1999) summarized this process by saying that “one’s leisure identity may motivate one to participate in specific activities and the activity may become more salient to identity as it serves the self-expression of one’s abilities (p. 4).” Two points are worth mentioning with regard to the identity formation and identity affirmation process. First, people develop a leisure-related self-identity through leisure participation. According to the situational constructionist view of identity theory (Alexander & Wiley, 1987; Crocker, 1999; Hormuth, 1990; Jackson, 1988; Mead, 1934; Stryker, 1980, 1990), this leisure identity is one of multiple identities evoked for a specific situation. Second, self-identity serves as a standard or reference point of human behavior (Burke & Reitzes, 1991). People construct, understand, and evaluate social situations based on their self-identities. Consequently, they seek to maintain these identities because they function as key reference points for functioning in daily life. What happens when their identities are not affirmed? Affect Control Theory (Averett & Heise, 1987; Heise, 1979, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1992a, 1992b; MacKinnon, 1994; Robinson & Smith-Lovin, 1992; Schneider & Heise, 1995) provides a useful explanation for this question. Linkage Between Confirmation/Disconfirmation and Emotions: Based on Affect Control Theory (ACT) Symbolic interactionism suggests that the core of our social life is a process of interaction that stresses the symbolic character of social action (Lauer & Handel, 1977; MacKinnon, 1994). Language is the most dominant symbolic character because it is universal and transcends the subjectivity of individual consciousness (Mead, 1934). Thus, the natural function of language is to evoke intersubjectivity resulting from the arousal of the same cognition in self and others. For instance, the word “fire” evokes a similar understanding and response (i.e., intersubjectivity) among people who share the language. Social objectivity exists to the extent that what individuals say in social interaction is understandable to both themselves and to others. On the other hand, there has been a widespread recognition that our social interaction depends upon affective meanings associated with language. MacKinnon (1994) says: “The names with which we designate all kinds of social stimuli evoke affective associations such that language functions as linguistic warehouse, so to speak, for storing affective meaning (p. 3).” Affective meanings also create symmetrical responses among people within a culture, thus evoking intersubjectivity among them (Heise, 1979; Osgood, May, & Miron, 1975). The role of language in eliciting affective meanings is a ground for Affect Control Theory. ACT assumes that social interaction is conducted in terms of the social cognitions of interactants. Without having a plausible interpretation of what is going on, an interactant cannot proceed to interact meaningfully with others (Heise, 1979; MacKinnon, 1994). A plausible interpretation starts with identifying the constituents within the institutional context where they are assembled. For example, when a person visits a baseball field to watch a game, the person identifies himself/herself as a fan and others as players or fans. Of course, the person’s self-identity as a fan is situation specific. In another situation, the person would identify himself/herself differently. The social cognitions are organized in terms of grammatical structures including languages that consist minimally of an actor (i.e., subject) performing an act (i.e., verb) on another (i.e., objects) in a setting. Thus, in the previous 96 B. K. Lee et al. example, the person may interpret the situation like: “I am surrounded by other fans” or “Other fans boo the hitter.” ACT furthermore assumes that the various constituents of social cognitions evoke culturally specific affective meanings that vary in intensity and direction along several qualitatively distinct dimensions represented by evaluation, potency, and activity (EPA) (Kemper, 1978; Mehrabian, 1976; Osgood et al., 1975; Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1957; Russell, 1980). In this sense, ACT embraces Mead’s premise that language creates shared objects of consciousness but supposes that all social cognitions represented by language evoke affective meanings. ACT is formulated with the level of the affective meanings evoked by cognitions. ACT proposes that emotions people experience in their daily life are related to their situation-specific self-identities (Averett & Heise, 1987; Heise, 1987; MacKinnon, 1994; Smith-Lovin, 1990). As all social cognitions including self-identity evoke affective meanings measured with EPA dimensions, people establish fundamental sentiments by representing how good, powerful, and active they are in a given situation. An episode (e.g., an interaction between an individual and other people or things in a daily setting) may change the affective meanings of self, making the person feel better or worse, stronger or weaker, and/or more active or passive. As a result of the episode, the person may associate different affective meanings with his/her self-identity in terms of EPA dimensions. These are called transient sentiments. The difference between transient sentiments and fundamental sentiments is called deflection. ACT proposes that people experience an emotion when a deflection in, or divergence from, affective, meanings associated with self-identity occurs. When the deflection is large, the transient sentiments determine the resulting emotion. Positive deflections lead to emotions that contain positive tones and negative deflections result in emotions that contain negative tones. When the deflection is small, the fundamental sentiments determine the resulting emotion because the episode does not alter them significantly. Each episode that a person encounters while in a situation has the potential to change fundamental sentiments associated with self-identity. In summary, ACT suggests that, since our interactions with others and the environment are primarily concerned with maintaining our self-identity (Averett & Heise, 1987; Heise, 1979; MacKinnon, 1994; Robinson & Smith-Lovin, 1992; Smith-Lovin, 1990), our emotional reactions result from the extent to which social episodes impact affective meanings associated with our self-identity (i.e., fundamental sentiments). In this way, ACT suggests a clear linkage from confirmation/disconfirmation to emotion. Linkage Between Emotions and Episode-Specific Evaluations Two lines of research have stressed the role of emotion in the consumption evaluation process. One has investigated the role of emotion in satisfaction with consumption (Dube & Menon, 1998; Floyd, 1997; Oliver, 1993; Oliver & DeSarbo, 1988; Westbrook, 1987; Yi, 1990). Yi (1990) suggested that satisfaction is a summary result that occurs after affective processes take place in consumption experiences. This suggestion has been supported empirically in a variety of contexts (e.g., Dube & Menon, 1998; Oliver, 1993; Westbrook, 1987). The other line of thought has focused on the role of emotions in the evaluations of sequential episodes (Dube & Morgan, 1998; Mehrabian & Russell, 1974). Dube and Morgan (1998) suggested, “There is a general pattern of change in consumption emotions and satisfaction that naturally unfolds over time in most extended service transactions and that this pattern is linked to [overall] satisfaction (p. 310).” Mehrabian and Russell (1974) also suggested that, depending upon the affective states, people show either approach or avoidance behaviors in a physical or social environment. Though Mehrabian and Russell Relationships Among Leisure Experience Constructs 97 investigated the relationship between affective states and approach-avoidance behavior with a physical or social environment (i.e., shopping center), we believe, if any physical or social environment is composed of many pieces of small physical or social environments, the same logic can be applied to each piece. Thus, if a person feels a positive emotion from a specific episode, the person might approach the experience. The person might avoid an experience if a negative emotion results from the episode. Consequently several emotional experiences and evaluations occur as pieces of an experience develop. In this study, the concepts of approach and avoidance were operationalized as perceptions of contentment and conflict. We maintain that emotions lead to immediate evaluations of episodes encountered and result in either contentment or perceived conflict. For example, if a person experiences a positive emotion as a result of an episode, the person would be content with the episode, whereas if the person experiences a negative emotion, conflict would be perceived in the episode. Blahna, Smith, and Anderson (1995) also suggested that goal disconfirmation results in frustration and discontentment, and these emotions, in turn, form the “prime cause” of overt conflict. We suggest the first proposition along with the first research hypothesis based on this discussion. Proposition 1: Leisure participants’ emotional experiences will be related to episodespecific evaluations. H1: Episodes producing positive emotions will be more favorably evaluated than those producing negative emotions. Linkage Between Episode-Specific Evaluations and Overall Satisfaction Many researchers have suggested that leisure satisfaction is a function of a wide range of specific and separate elements of the experience (Decker, Brown, & Gutierrez, 1980; Ditton et al., 1980; Herrick & McDonald, 1992; Hultsman, 1998; Lounsbury & Hoopes, 1985; Manning, 1986). Both situational (e.g., the presence of litter, biting insects, too many other people) and/or subjective factors (e.g., perceptions of crowding, the extent to which goals or expectations were fulfilled, perceptions of resource impacts) are suggested as elements of the experience. For example, Graefe and Fedler (1986) and Whisman and Hollenhorst (1998) found that leisure satisfaction was influenced directly by people’s subjective evaluations of the elements of a recreational trip and indirectly by the situational aspects of the activity. Herrick and McDonald (1992) examined the effects of eight specific facets (i.e., encounters, time waiting, parking, setting attributes, group behavior, perceived crowding, use level, and previous experience) on the overall satisfaction of a white-water recreation experience. Results revealed that satisfaction with the setting attributes added the most to visitors’ overall satisfaction, while time waiting detracted the most. We suggest that overall satisfaction is determined by a series of episode-specific evaluations (i.e., how many times was a leisure participant content versus perceiving conflict with regard to episodes encountered). Based on this discussion, we suggest the second proposition and the second research hypothesis. Proposition 2: Leisure participants’ overall satisfaction is a function of the cumulative effects of episode-specific evaluations. H2: Leisure participants’ overall satisfaction with the on-site experience will be higher if they experience more contentment than conflicts with episodes encountered while on site. Figure 1 provides a research model that summarizes all linkages (i.e., confirmation/ disconfirmation to emotions, emotions to event-specific evaluations, and event-specific 98 B. K. Lee et al. FIGURE 1 Research model of relationships among leisure experience constructs. evaluations to overall satisfaction) previously discussed. People try to maintain a balance in affective meanings associated with their self-identities (i.e., fundamental sentiments), represented by EPA dimensions, in a leisure setting involving social interactions (or episodes). Each episode has the potential to confirm, or not, the fundamental sentiments associated with their self-identity and eventually to result in an emotional experience. Finally the accumulated results of evaluations influence their overall satisfaction level. Method Operationalization of Major Constructs Self-identity. In this study, self-identity was defined as a person’s self-perception while on a multi-use trail engaged in a recreational activity. To measure this concept, an open-ended request was made: “Using a noun, please provide the most appropriate description about who you are when you are on this trail today.” Fundamental sentiments associated with one’s self-identity. Fundamental sentiments (FS) refer to affective meanings associated with self-identity. FS was measured using three EPA dimensions (Averett & Heise, 1987; Heise, 1979; Osgood et al., 1975; Osgood et al., 1957). Each dimension had three adjective pairs, thus a total of nine adjective pairs (i.e., good-bad, pleasant-unpleasant, nice-awful, strong-weak, powerful-powerless, big-little, active-inactive, excitable-calm, and fast-slow) were presented as semantic differential scales having nine response categories. Respondents were asked to rate each pair after reading the question of “You identified yourself as . It is . . . . . .” Responses were converted into numbers from left (+4) to right (−4) and neutral (0). Episodes. To capture memorable episodes, participants were asked to think about the episodes they had experienced while they were on the trail and to list the episodes (up to five) chronologically from earliest and the latest. Transient sentiments associated with one’s self-identity. Transient sentiments (TS) refer to affective meanings associated with one’s situated self-identity changed by an episode. For each episode listed participants were asked to rate their self-identities in terms of the EPA dimensions. A question after each episode read: “You described yourself as (put your noun here) on the trail today. How did you feel about yourself after this episode?” She/he was asked to repeat the semantic differential pairs for each episode she/he listed. The pairs and response categories were identical to those of FS. However, the order of presentation of the nine pairs and the orientation of each pair (i.e., right to left) were randomly ordered to reduce response bias. Relationships Among Leisure Experience Constructs 99 Emotions. Emotions refer to reactions to specific stimuli, thus they are ephemeral in nature (Batson, Shaw, & Oleson, 1992; Thayer, 1989). In this study emotions are defined as reactions to the influences of episodes on affective meanings of self-identity. To predict emotional experiences that each participant might have had after each episode, both transient sentiments and fundamental sentiments associated with self-identity were used. Episode-specific evaluations. Two types of episode-specific evaluations were used: contentment and conflict. The concept of contentment was operationally defined as a type of episode-specific evaluation of a pleasant experience that helped maintain selfidentity. Two items were adopted from the work of Csikszentmihalyi and his colleagues (Csikszentmihalyi & Graefe, 1980; Graefe, Csikszentmihalyi, & Gianinno, 1983). They were: “I was content to be in that place at that time” and “I would rather have been some place else at that time.” Respondents were asked to indicate their level of agreement with the statements after each episode on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1: not at all, 5: very much). The second item was reverse coded. The concept of conflict was operationally defined as a type of episode-specific evaluation of unpleasant experience that detracted from self-identity. Items used were: “the encounter with this episode while on the trail was enjoyable,” “the episode encountered interfered with my enjoyment on the trail,” and “the episode encountered actually caused me problems.” Participants were again asked to indicate a level of agreement with the statements after each episode on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1, strongly disagree to 5, strongly agree. The first item was reverse coded. Overall satisfaction. Satisfaction was defined as an overall evaluation of a leisure experience and was operationally defined as a pleasant state of mind resulting from the effects of cumulative episode-specific evaluations. To measure satisfaction, we adapted five items from Ditton et al. (1980), including: “I thoroughly enjoyed my being on the trail,” “I cannot imagine a better place to recreate than this trail,” “My trip to this trail was well worth the cost,” “I do not want to recreate any more at this trail,” and “I am disappointed with some aspects of my being here.” Participants were asked to respond to these items on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1: not at all, 5: very much). The fourth and fifth items were reverse coded. Data Collection Procedure The study was conducted at the Brays Bayou Trail (BBT), a multi-use trail in Houston, Texas. The BBT is 21.7 miles long and consists of mostly asphalt surface (though some portions are soil). It is close to several universities and a major medical center complex and is used for commuting as well as for a variety of recreational activities such as bicycling, walking, running, and roller-skating. An on-site survey was conducted at the BBT during November 1998 through December 1998. A survey booth was placed at an entrance point of the BBT. One of the authors conducted the survey from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. over four randomly selected days (including two weekends) during the sampling period. Trail users who were passing by the booth and recreating on the trail (as opposed to commuting) were approached on the basis of convenience and asked to participate in this study. Potential participants were told they would be rewarded with a bottle of cold water and that a $25 prize would be awarded by lottery to two respondents among people who completed the on-site survey. The purpose of the study was explained and a questionnaire and instructions were given to trail users who agreed to participate in the study. Two hundred and seventeen trail users were approached. A total of 145 trail users (or 67.7% of those approached) participated in the survey. Thirty-four participants of the 145 respondents did not provide complete answers in the survey (i.e., they did not give 100 B. K. Lee et al. full answers to at least one set of questions composed of episode description, fundamental sentiments, transient sentiments, episode-specific evaluations, and overall satisfaction), thus their responses were excluded from analyses (the effective response rate was 51.1%). Data Analysis A series of principal component factor analyses with varimax rotation were used to check validity and reliability for scales used. The primary concerns were if: 1) the three items intended to measure each of the EPA dimensions loaded on their respective dimensions; and 2) the items intended to measure each construct (i.e., contentment, conflict, and overall satisfaction) exhibited unidimensionality. Cronbach’s alphas were used to check internalconsistency of pre-determined items. Results showed that, except for the Activity dimension, constructs of EPA did measure what they were intended to measure. The items used for the Evaluation and the Potency dimensions were highly loaded on only one relevant factor. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were greater than .60 in both dimensions. Therefore, composite scores of each construct were calculated for further analysis. However, for the Activity dimension, an initial examination of the three items (inactive-active, slow-fast, and calm-excitable) showed that the calmexcitable item was somewhat separate from the other two items. Consequently, Cronbach’s alpha coefficients ranged from .24 to .60. The percent of total variance was greatly improved after removing the calm-excitable item (from 45% to 82%). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were also improved (between the range of .51 and .84). Therefore, the remaining two items (inactive-active and slow-fast) were used to measure the Activity dimension. Results also showed that items intended to measure other constructs (i.e., contentment, conflict, and overall satisfaction) were appropriate because they loaded on relevant factors. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were .89, .79, and .66, respectively. Composite scores of each construct were calculated for further analysis. INTERACT II software developed by Heise (1991) was used to analyze the results of interactions between trail users and others on the trail. To predict the emotional experiences people have from social interactions, Averett and Heise (1987) asked subjects to rate emotions (e.g., angry), identities (e.g., father), and emotions-identity combination (e.g., an angry father) separately in terms of EPA profiles. Emotion-identity combination equations were obtained by regressing ratings of emotions-identity combinations on ratings of emotions and identities. From the equations, they derived an emotion equation that describes how identities and impressions from episodes imply emotion. The equation is: Pε = (P + Fse Qe )−1 (τs − Ffs − d). (1) where P : a matrix of coefficients for the emotion profile F : a matrix of estimated coefficients for the fundamental self-identity Q : a matrix containing a scalar coefficients for the interaction between emotion and identity τ : the transient impression self-profile fs : the fundamental self-profile d : a vector of equation constants The equation produces a profile of emotions that people are likely to experience based on EPA scores. When scores of fundamental sentiments and transient sentiments are put into the INTERACT II program, an EPA score that a person might feel is calculated and provides five emotional lexicons that fall as close to given EPA profiles from its emotion Relationships Among Leisure Experience Constructs 101 dictionary. The first emotion in the list is the emotion that has the closest EPA profiles in the dictionary to EPA profiles calculated by the emotion equations. The second emotion in the list is the emotion that has the second closest EPA profiles in the dictionary to EPA profiles calculated by the emotion equations, and so on. For this study only one emotion was selected after each episode encountered based on its perceived relevance to the situation. The last step was to test research hypotheses. For this purpose, ANOVA was utilized. Results Sample Characteristics Fifty four percent of trail users were male. The most frequent activity was bicycling (46%), followed by walking (22%), running/jogging (21%), and in-line skating (4%). On average, respondents had participated in their activity for more than 8 years and participated in their trail activity more than 15 times per month. About 80% of their participation occurred on the BBT. When they engaged in the activity, they spent an average of 77 minutes. When asked to describe themselves (i.e., self-identity) while on the BBT, respondents provided 47 different self-identities. These self-identities were grouped according to connotative meaning. The descriptive nouns used to identify self are presented in Table 1. The most frequent self-identities were related to recreation (e.g., athlete, cyclist, runner, jogger, competitor, etc.). The next most frequent self-identities fit into a category related to thinking or contemplation (18.0%), followed by a category of social role related identity (e.g., mother, participant, observer, veteran, etc.). Four trail users identified themselves with their gender. Influences of Episodes on Self-Identity and Resulting Emotions One hundred and eleven trail users in the sample related a total of 427 episodes. On average respondents provided 3.85 episodes. Table 2 shows an example of emotion analysis TABLE 1 Situated Self-Identities Identified by Brays Bayou Trail Users Categories n % Recreation (athlete, biker/cyclist, runner/jogger, walker/treader, jock, sporter, work outer, active person, adventurer, fat/out-of-shape, expeditioner, fast-lover, outdoorsman, competitor, player) 57 51.4 Contemplation (thinker, semi-thinker, mediator) 20 18.0 Social role (mother, grandmother, friend, planner, sweet-monster, veteran, participant, observer) 12 10.8 8 7.2 4 3.6 10 9.0 Free person (free soul, care free, relaxer, stress-reliever, daydreamer) Gender role (man, woman) Other (aggressor, bird-watcher, bird, lion, panther, survivor, shark, slug, wind) 102 B. K. Lee et al. TABLE 2 Example of Confirmation/Disconfirmation and Resulting Emotion Analyses Sex Events encountered by order Female Fundamental sentiments Saw a lot of fish Saw birds fishing Met a family walking Watched the current of water Saw old man doing exercise EPA +1.33 +1.00 +2.50 +3.67 +2.00 +2.50 +3.33 +2.00 +2.50 +4.00 +1.67 +0.50 +2.67 +1.00 +1.00 +2.67 +0.67 +2.00 Resulting emotions Selected emotion Forgiving/friendly/cheerful/ generous/affectionate Cheerful Friendly/forgiving/cheerful affectionate/generous Cheerful Forgiving/generous/friendly/ compassionate/peaceful Friendly Generous/compassionate/peaceful/ appreciative/forgiving Peaceful Affectionate/warm/cheerful/ compassionate/friendly Affectionate predicted from INTERACT II. Differences have been found in the emotional feelings of males and females (Heise, 1979; Smith-Lovin, 1987). Therefore, when analyzing the emotions, INTERACT II uses the relevant dictionary for each sex to predict emotions. In Table 2 a female respondent identified fundamental sentiments of +1.33 (mean of Evaluation dimension), +1.00 (mean of Potency dimension), and +2.50 (mean of Activity dimension) when she entered the trail. She encountered five episodes along the trail. The first episode was “saw a lot of fish.” This episode led to transient sentiments of +3.67, +2.00, and +2.50 representing a positive deflection (+1.33, +1.00, and +2.50). This episode made her feel better and more potent than before, but no different in terms of activity. Table 2 shows that as a result of this episode, INTERACT predicted she would experience an emotion like cheerful. The second episode, “saw birds fishing,” also led to transient sentiments of +3.33, +2.00, and +2.50. Again, compared to her fundamental sentiments, this episode made her feel better and more potent, but no different in terms of activity. As a result of this episode, INTERACT again predicted that she would experience an emotion like cheerful. The third episode (“met a family walking”) created transient sentiments of +4.00, +1.67, and +.50, making her feel better, slightly more potent, but less active resulting in a friendly feeling. The fourth episode (“watched the current of water”) changed sentiments to +2.67, +1.00, and +1.00, leading her to feel better but less active, and no different in terms of potency. This episode made her feel peaceful. After encountering the final episode (“saw old man doing exercise”), sentiments associated with her self-identity again changed to +2.67, +0.67, and +2.00. The nature of episode made her feel better, slightly less potent, and slightly less active. This episode should make her feel affectionate. Consequently, the emotions that the female had across episodes were cheerful, cheerful, friendly, peaceful, and affectionate. Emotional analyses of all 111 respondents were conducted in this manner to examine the impacts of episodes on leisure participants’ emotional experiences. Relationships Among Leisure Experience Constructs 103 TABLE 3 Classification of Emotions Predicted from INTERACT II Positive emotions Negative emotions Affectionate, amused, at-ease, appreciative, awe-struck, cheerful, contented, carefree, compassionate, calm, enthusiastic, excited, ecstatic, friendly, forgiving, generous, grateful, glad, happy, humble, light-hearted, moved, over-joyed, pleased, peaceful, proud, passionate, relaxed, relieved, secure, serene, satisfied, warm Afraid, crushed, contemptuous, depressed, desperate, displeased, empty, gloomy, grouchy, grief-stricken, letdown, lonely, melancholy, overwhelmed, panicked, petrified, remorseful, sad, sorry, sorrowful, tense, terrified, upset, worried Emotions derived from episode encounters were considered an effect agent in this study. However, the type and amount of information on emotions varied across respondents because their interactional experiences (i.e., episodes encountered and their influences on self-identity) were not identical. Thus, for easier interpretation emotions of all 111 respondents were grouped into two broad categories (emotions of respondents result in 57 different types): positive or negative. For this purpose, all 57 emotions were listed and distributed to three judges (one professor and two American graduate students) for grouping. Disagreements occurred on two emotions: overwhelmed and awe-struck. In the case of “overwhelmed,” two judges put it into the negative category, while one judge put it into the positive category. Thus, the emotion was categorized as a negative emotion. On the other hand, in the case of “awe-struck,” two judges categorized it as positive and one as negative. Thus it was classified as a positive emotion. Thirty-three emotions were classified as positive and the remaining 24 were classified as negative. Table 3 shows the result of this classification. Emotions and Episode-Specific Evaluations To investigate the relationship between emotions and episode evaluations, the episodes were coded according to the emotions experienced. If a trail user had a positive emotion after an episode encounter, the event was coded as 1; if he or she had a negative emotion, it was coded as 2. This measure became the independent variable. Dependent variables were the contentment and conflict scores. Table 4 shows that when trail users had positive emotions from episodes encountered, they tended to be more contented with the episodes than when they experienced negative TABLE 4 ANOVA of Mean Differences in Event-Specific Evaluations by Type of Emotion Experienced Event-specific appraisal Type of emotion Contentment Positive Negative Positive Negative Conflict a n Meana F Ratio F Prob. 290 130 290 130 4.21 2.53 1.44 2.91 230.12 .00 ∗∗ 273.59 .00 ∗∗ Based on 5 point Likert-type scale (1: not at all, 5: very much). Statistically significant at α = .01. ∗∗ 104 B. K. Lee et al. emotions from episodes encountered. Mean scores were 4.21 and 2.53, respectively, and this mean difference was statistically significant (F = 230.12, p < .001). In the case of the perception of conflict, the result revealed an opposite pattern. When respondents felt negative emotions from encountered episodes they perceived a higher level of conflict (mean = 2.91) than when they had positive emotions (mean = 1.44). This mean difference was also statistically significant (F = 273.59, p < .001). These findings indicated that the evaluations of the episodes were significantly related to the emotions experienced due to those episodes, thus hypothesis 1 was supported. Episode-Specific Evaluations and Overall Satisfaction In order to test hypothesis 2, a series of data manipulations were conducted. First, for each episode specific evaluation, both the contentment score and the conflict score were obtained by calculating mean scores of each construct. If the mean score of contentment was higher than that of conflict, a person was considered more contented with the episode and coded as 1. On the other hand, if the mean score of conflict was higher than that of the contentment score, the person was treated as perceiving more conflict from the episode and coded as 2. At the individual level, the proportion of contented episodes to the total episodes was calculated. For example, if a person was contented with three episodes (i.e., three episodes were coded as 1) and perceived conflict in two episodes (i.e., two episodes were coded as 2) in five episode-specific evaluations, the proportion was 60% contented to 40% conflict. If the proportion of a person’s contentment was greater than 50%, he/she was judged to be more contented across the episode-specific evaluations and was coded as 1. If the percent was equal to or less than 50%, the person was judged to perceive more conflict across the evaluations and was coded as 2. A total of 87 trail users were classified as members of the contented group. The remaining 24 were the “perceived more conflict” group. This grouping became the independent variable and the overall satisfaction score was the dependent variable. Results of a one-way ANOVA showed that the cumulative episode-specific evaluations influenced trail users’ overall satisfaction (see Table 5). Those respondents who were more content were also significantly more satisfied with their overall trail use experience than those who perceived more conflict (means were 4.23 and 3.81, respectively, F = 10.05, p < .002)). Based on these results, hypothesis 2 was supported. Discussion and Conclusion Many researchers have investigated leisure experience as a process that includes social interactions (Mannell & Iso-Ahola, 1987; Mannell & Kleiber, 1997; Stewart, 1998; Stewart & Hull, 1992). Based on this tradition, the purpose of this study was to investigate how TABLE 5 ANOVA of Mean Differences in Overall Satisfaction Between Contentment Group and Conflict Group Group Contentment Conflict Total a n Mean F Ratio F Prob. 85 23 108a 4.23 3.81 4.14 10.05 .002 ∗∗ Three respondents did not respond to the dependent variable. Statistically significant at α = .01. ∗∗ Relationships Among Leisure Experience Constructs 105 emotions might relate to interactions between an individual and the environment in social situations and to examine the relationships between emotions and episode-specific evaluations and between episode-specific evaluations and overall satisfaction. To accomplish the study purpose, a research model was designed and tested. A linkage was expected among components of a leisure experience and an increased understanding about the structure of the experience was anticipated. Findings supported the research model as designed with a conceptual linkage among situated self-identity, emotion, episode-specific evaluation, and overall satisfaction with an experience. Multi-use trail users related an average of 3.8 episodes, and each episode had the power to change (confirm/disconfirm) affective meanings associated with selfidentities in that situation, resulting in positive or negative emotions. The nature of these emotions was closely related to evaluations of the relevant episodes. After experiencing positive emotions, trail users tended to positively evaluate (i.e., be more contented with) the episodes that elicited such emotions. On the other hand, after experiencing negative emotions, they tended to react negatively to the episodes that produced those emotions. Trail users who were more contented across episode-specific evaluations reported higher levels of satisfaction with the overall trail experience than those who had perceived more conflicts. The linkage suggested in this study shared commonalties with the traditional leisure/ recreation research while also exhibiting differences. The first commonality is that, like leisure satisfaction literature, this study started from the so-called confirmation/ disconfirmation paradigm. This study, however, is distinguishable from other studies conducted in this paradigm in two aspects. One is related to the object of confirmation/ disconfirmation. The leisure satisfaction literature based on the confirmation/ disconfirmation paradigm generally suggests that expectations related to leisure attributes or psychological/social goals are the object of interest (Adelman, Heberlein, & Bonnicksen, 1982; Ditton et al., 1981; Jackson & Wong, 1982; Jacob & Schreyer, 1980; Lounsbury & Hoopes, 1985; Vaske et al., 1980). In this study, the object of interest was fundamental sentiments associated with self-identity because our social interactions are largely based on how we see ourselves in a given situation. The other difference from past research is related to the end results of confirmation/disconfirmation. In general, confirmation/disconfirmation is suggested as determining leisure participants’ satisfaction levels (or perceived conflict levels) directly (Adelman et al., 1982; Ditton et al., 1980; Jackson & Wong, 1982; Jacob & Schreyer, 1980; Lounsbury & Hoopes, 1985; Vaske et al., 1980). However, this study suggested an indirect relationship between confirmation/disconfirmation and satisfaction as conveyed in ACT (Averett & Heise, 1987; Heise, 1979; MacKinnon, 1994; Smith-Lovin, 1990). ACT suggests that confirmation/disconfirmation of affective meanings associated with people’s self-identities leads them to experience emotions. Blahna et al. (1995) further stated that leisure participants’ conflict perceptions were attributable to frustration and discontentment arising from goal deprivation. The second commonality lies in considering the importance of emotions in terms of leisure satisfaction. Generally researchers (Ajzen & Driver, 1992; Floyd, 1997; Westbrook, 1987) focused on emotions’ direct role in leisure satisfaction and reported a consistent relationship: positive (or negative) emotions and a higher (or lower) level of satisfaction. However, this study suggests that emotions influenced evaluations of episodes that occurred during leisure participation rather than overall leisure satisfaction and that evaluations of episodes “add up” to influence overall leisure satisfaction. Some researchers (Dube & Morgan, 1998; Mehrabian & Russell, 1974) have also suggested this relationship. For example, Dube and Morgan suggested emotions as an intervening variable between social or physical stimuli and various human behaviors. Hull (1991) argued that the emotions 106 B. K. Lee et al. one experienced during the course of a site visit are related to short- and long-term leisure satisfaction. Similarly, Stewart and Hull (1992) suggested that “because the [on-site leisure] experience changes, one would expect appraisals of the quality of that experience to change as one moves along a time-space continuum (p. 196).” In particular, Mehrabian and Russell specified types of evaluations. They mentioned that approach behaviors of all kinds increase as a person experiences positive emotions like pleasure; whereas an avoidance behavior would result when a person experiences negative emotions. Linking evaluations of episodes to overall leisure satisfaction supports other research (Decker et al., 1980; Ditton et al., 1980; Herrick & McDonald, 1992; Lounsbury & Hoopes, 1985; Manning, 1986; Oliver, 1993; Yi, 1990) that found overall leisure satisfaction was a function of several separate facets or sub-domains of a leisure experience. Previous studies (Decker et al., 1980; Ditton et al., 1980; Graefe & Fedler, 1986; Herrick & McDonald, 1992; Whisman & Hollenhorst, 1998) investigated the role of situational (e.g., the presence of litter, biting insects, too many other people) and/or subjective factors (e.g., perceptions of crowding, perceptions of resource impacts) in overall leisure satisfaction. However, this study suggested that the evaluations of episodes including situational and/or subjective factors determined overall leisure satisfaction rather than situational and/or subjective factors themselves. In conclusion, leisure participants have several expectations or goals when they participate in a leisure activity. Maintaining affective meanings associated with their self-identities (i.e., fundamental sentiments) is one of the expectations or goals. However the expectation may be confirmed at one time during leisure participation, but disconfirmed at a different time depending on episodes (i.e., social interactions between a leisure participant and others). The confirmation/disconfirmation of affective meanings associated with self-identity produces outcomes (i.e., emotions), and, in turn, lead to evaluations on episodes. Evaluations made of episodes determine leisure participants’ satisfaction levels. 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