Exploring the meaning of outdoor recreation in participants' everyday lives : a qualitative study of outdoor recreationists

Abstract

There is a lack of research into the meanings that outdoor recreation experiences, settings and activities have for the recreationists. This study used a qualitative approach to explore the meaning that outdoor recreation has for participants in the realm of their everyday lives. Information was gathered through twelve semi-structured interviews with people who participate in and value outdoor recreation.

Analysis of the interview data indicates that outdoor recreation influences participants in their daily lives in the following areas: lifestyle choices; social meanings; restoration through the outdoors; shifts in perspective; enhanced self-control and self-reliance; and construction of desired identities. These research findings substantiate Keiwa's (2001) suggestion that identity and behaviour are mutually constitutive. Moreover, the results demonstrate that outcomes from outdoor recreation transfer into other areas of the recreationists' daily lives.