Leisure motives and sex roles : a replication study

Abstract

This research replicates Hirschman’s (1984) study. The present study investigated the relationship between sex role and nine leisure motives for leisure participation. In replication of Hirschman (1984), Spence, Helmreich, and Stapp’s (1975) Personal Attributes Questionnaire was used to examine sex role orientation. An examination of leisure motives was performed by using Swanson (1978) and Hilgard’s (1979) absorbing experiences leisure motive list. The present study found individuals labelled androgynous exhibited a significant relationship with most of the leisure motives examined. Masculine orientated individuals were motivated by perfecting performance, physical stamina, and competiveness in pursuing leisure activities. More males were defined as androgynous in their sex role orientation in the present study than in Hirschman’s (1984) sample. Where prior to this study sex role orientation was expected to be more significantly related to leisure motives than biological gender, no conclusive evidence was found to support this supposition.