LE3 .A278 2002

2002

Markham-Starr, Susan
Robertson, Brenda

Acadia University

Master of Recreation Management

Masters

Recreation Management

Kinesiology

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of the impact of the Acadia Advantage on the leisure lifestyle and leisure satisfaction of the students at Acadia University. This research focused on nine first year students living in residence and their perceptions of how unlimited access to a computer and the Internet impacted their leisure satisfaction and lifestyle. Central to this research was the understanding of leisure motivations, constraints, satisfactions, and choices of the students participating in this study. The leisure of the participants was characterised as being spontaneous, unstructured, not planned, and mostly social. There were no indications of a daily or weekly leisure pattern in the participants' lives. They did not have access to substantial blocks of leisure time. It also appears that the distinction between work and leisure was unclear for the participants. In this study, participants used the computer both for work and leisure purposes. In their leisure, the computerwas used for entertainment (games, searching the Internet, music, and movies) but mostly for communication. In this study, participants did not perceive that unlimited access to the computer and the Internet had an impact on their leisure; they perceived their leisure lifestyle as being satisfactory. However, there are indications that satisfaction in their leisure lives could improve. Although the computer holds the potential to make a positive contribution on the leisure of users, this study demonstrated that it could also be detrimental to their leisure lifestyle and satisfaction.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:2779