2016/07/06 by A. J. Veal · 102 citations
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Casual #Computer science #Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research #Epistemology #Geography #Identification (biology) #Leisure activity #Leisure studies #Perspective (graphical) #Political science #Psychology #Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management #Relation (database) #Seriousness #Social psychology #Social science #Sociology #Sociology of leisure #Sport and Mega-Event Impacts #Tourism #Typology
paper · open access · doi:10.1080/01490400.2016.1189367
published in Leisure Sciences 39(3), 205-223 (Taylor & Francis)
crossref issued 2016/07/06 · crossref published 2016/07/06 · crossref published-online 2016/07/06 · openalex publication_date 2016/07/06 · crossref created 2016/07/06 · crossref published-print 2017/05/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/03/06 · crossref indexed 2026/08/04 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
The serious leisure perspective (SLP), which divides leisure activities into three distinct forms (serious, casual, and project-based), has been developed by Robert Stebbins over the last 40 years. This article evaluates the perspective as theory and as a typology. The theory associated with the SLP concerning social worlds, identification, and optimal leisure lifestyles is found to be generally untested because it has been developed in relation to the serious leisure form only. The validity of the typology is questioned on the grounds that “seriousness” is a continuum, rather than discrete categories, and that most leisure activities can be engaged in with varying degrees of seriousness. It is proposed that the SLP be replaced by a more flexible, open research approach, the Leisure Experience Perspective, which consolidates features of the SLP and other research traditions and theoretical perspectives.