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Contributions of Leisure Studies and Recreation andPark Management Research to the Active Living Agenda
Geoffrey C. Godbey, PhD, Linda L. Caldwell, PhD, Myron Floyd, PhD, Laura L. Payne, PhD
 Abstract:
Although the fields of leisure studies and recreation and parks were founded on addressinghealth and wellness needs of people, only recently have these needs been addressed by major,systematic research efforts. This paper examines the origins of leisure studies and the study of recreation behavior and park use and their potential contribution to active living research.Over the past 2 decades, leisure studies research has generated a body of literature pertinent to understanding and increasing active living, including studies on time use, motivation forinitiating and maintaining activity, influence of user fees, and urban park use. Environmental,transportation, and public recreation policy and management practices also are important considerations in recreation and parks research. This article concludes with a list of recom-mendations to integrate these and other considerations into transdisciplinary research onactive living. Opportunities for leisure studies/recreation and park research on active livinginclude studies of environmental, life span, and motivational influences; greater use of objective measures of physical activity; and forming partnerships with allied industries to study physical activity. Among suggestions for facilitating such studies are training seminars forleisure studies and recreation researchers in active living research methods, changes in point allocation on grant proposals, providing incentives for transdisciplinary collaboration, andspecial journal issues.
(Am J Prev Med 2005;28(2S2):150–158) © 2005 American Journal of Preventive Medicine
Introduction
T
his paper interprets the origins, concepts, andresearch in the areas of leisure studies andparks and recreation management as it per-tains to the goals of the Active Living Researchprogram, sponsored by The Robert Wood JohnsonFoundation. We review the origins of these academicareas; the public provision of recreation and parkservices; the relationship of transportation designand policy to recreation and parks; concepts andmethods used in these fields of study; and environ-mental, policy, and design correlates related to thesefields of study. Finally, we propose ways of furtherintegrating leisure studies and recreation and parkmanagement into transdisciplinary research to in-crease active living.
Origins of Leisure Studies and Parks and Recreation
The intellectual content of leisure studies and recre-ation and park management evolved from different,but related, perspectives. Recreation and park manage-ment, which emerged from various movements toshape and reform recreation during periods of indus-trialization and urbanization in the late 19th century,
1,2
 was rarely interested in recreation or leisure per se.Rather, interest focused on the ability of nonworkactivity to improve the health, education, social adjust-ment, and life chances of poor people, children, theelderly, handicapped, and others who had few re-sources to help them replace the recreation patterns of agriculture-based peasant life. These movements alsosought to re-make the peasant mentality by improvingtheir character and making them more malleable intheir roles as industrial workers.
1,3
Recreation andleisure, among such movements, were examined not only intellectually but also morally and strategically.The various movements to establish parks centeredon adjustment to urbanization, preservation of nature,and opportunities for wholesome recreation. Most of the activity promoted by the recreation and park move-ment was physically active, including sports, exercise,outdoor recreation, dance, and supervised play. A major focus was to use selected forms of recreation to
From the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Manage-ment, Pennsylvania State University (Godbey, Caldwell), University Park, Pennsylvania; Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management, University of Florida (Floyd), Gainesville, Florida; andDepartment of Recreation, Sport, and Tourism, University of Illinoisat Urbana-Champaign (Payne), Champaign, Illinois Address correspondence to: Geoffrey C. Godbey, The PennsylvaniaState University, Department of Recreation Park and Tourism Manage-ment, 201 Mateer Building, University Park PA 16803-1377. E-mail:g7g@psu.edu.
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Am J Prev Med 2005;28(2S2) 0749-3797/05/$–see front matter© 2005 American Journal of Preventive Medicine
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Published by Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.amepre.2004.10.027
 
promote physical activity, character development, so-cialization skills, education, and exposure to nature.The goals of these movements were congruent with thecurrent goals of various active living campaigns.
2
Leisure studies emerged from a different, but re-lated, set of traditions. First developed within sociology departments of European universities, it was concerned with the social problem of increasing free time inindustrial societies. Inquiry first focused on work–leisure patterns in everyday life, time use, suburbaniza-tion, and industrial work. Subsequent topics of inquiry included effects of social class, impacts of technology,community life, organized leisure, and work arrange-ments on leisure behavior.
4–6
Since the 1980s, leisurestudies have increasingly adopted a social psychologicalframework.In North America, university curricula devoted tothese subjects began in the 1940s. While single aca-demic departments dealt with both leisure studies andrecreation and park management, most were con-cerned primarily with preparation of students for ca-reers as leaders in organizations concerned with publicrecreation and parks, therapeutic recreation, and out-door recreation. Faculty scholarship focused on issuessurrounding the provision of recreation and park ser- vices as well as understanding leisure in contemporary society. The major journals that evolved exhibit this wide range of interests and began publication as early as 1969:
Journal of Leisure Research 
(1969),
Leisure Sciences 
(1977),
Leisure Studies 
(1982),
Journal of Park and Recre- ation Administration 
(1983), and
Therapeutic Recreation  Journal 
.
Government Recreation and Park Services
Park and recreation services are an important functionof government in all modern nations. Such services arefound at the municipal, county, state and federal levels,as well as special park and recreation districts, whichhave taxing authority. While state parks and federalland managing agencies, such as the U.S. Forest Serviceand National Park Service, provide numerous opportu-nities for recreation, municipal recreation and parkservices have a much larger user base. A national study in 1992 found that four of five Americans make someuse of them.
7
(More recent national data do not exist.)Except for people aged
76, one quarter of peoplesurveyed indicated that they “frequently” used localparks. Occasional use ranged from 57% for youngeradults to 29% for those aged
76. Participation inrecreation activities and programs sponsored by suchagencies ranged from 39% among those aged 15 to 20to 11% among those aged
76.Recreation and park services, as a percentage of localgovernment spending, have remained constant duringthe last few decades.
8
Fees and charges and othermeans of generating revenue have increased to com-pensate for the decline in federal support to munici-palities. Per capita expenditures for such services aver-aged $74.58 in 1999–2000, of which about $20 was forcapital projects. Variation by state was dramatic. Self-generated revenues, in constant, inflation-adjusted dol-lars, increased substantially during this period. About one of three operating dollars came from users.
9
 Anal- ysis of total local government expenditures on parksand recreation using constant, inflation-adjusted dol-lars reveals a slight decrease in total spending from1976 to 1986 but, from 1993 to 2000 there was anunprecedented increase averaging $595 million per year. Capital projects increased by 58% during thisperiod.
9
Federal spending for recreation and parks, whiledifficult to measure, has decreased since the 1970s. Forinstance, The Land and Water Conservation Act of 1965 provides funds for government at all levels toacquire, plan, and develop lands of public importance,including urban, state, and national parks and outdoorrecreation areas. While in 1987 Congress authorizedpayments into the fund of $900 million a year until the year 2015, appropriations were far below that amount during both the Reagan and Clinton eras.Moreover, most federal funding does not provide formaintenance of outdoor recreation and park areas andfacilities; thus, while many municipalities increasedtheir recreation infrastructure during the last few de-cades, funding of maintenance has lagged behind. Inaddition, in the last decade, municipal recreation andpark services have become more market driven. That is,although the majority of their funding still comes fromtaxes, they have been required to raise more revenuefrom fees and charges to participants; have treatedcitizens more like customers, responding to their iden-tified recreation demands; and have used branding of services to identify their organization more specifically.From the 1960s, some critics have charged that therehas been a philosophical vacuum concerning what purpose parks serve. Park design became standardized“with little living relation to particular cultures, climatesor people.”
10,11
 Although there continues to be littleinnovation concerning design of parks, playgrounds,and other recreation areas and facilities in the UnitedStates to reflect such diversity, public recreation andpark organizations have become more involved withhealth promotion and disease prevention, particularly in the areas of physical activity promotion and stressreduction. The repositioning of recreation and parks asa health and wellness service has been fueled by theNational Recreation and Park Association (NRPA), which has initiated numerous partnerships with orga-nizations such as Centers for Disease Control andPrevention (CDC), National Cancer Institute, and oth-ers. Since the launch of 
Healthy People 2000 
, NRPA hasbeen an active participant in the national dialog of waysto increase active living. For example, NRPA leveraged
 Am J Prev Med 2005;28(2S2)
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the support of over 1200 park and recreation agenciesto spread messages contained in the 1996 SurgeonGeneral’s report on physical activity.
12
In 2000, NRPA developed the “magnet center” model to build a focuson health that was not annually dependent on sponsor-ship resources. Between 2000 and 2003, nearly 60 parkand recreation agencies have been designated as mag-net centers for health through a partnership betweenNRPA, and the National Heart, Lung, and BloodInstitute. A notable outcome of this partnership is theHearts ‘N’ Parks program, a national, community-basedprogram to reduce obesity and coronary heart disease.It was the first initiative to be successfully developedand field tested using the magnet center model. Today,Hearts ‘N’ Parks magnet centers can be found in 15states spanning 56 locations.Since 1991, NRPA has received numerous researchand demonstration project grants from the NationalRecreation Foundation to build capacity for innovationand research to contribute to the NRPA health agenda.Many of these initiatives have been strategically allied with CDC and the National Institutes of Health. Withinuniversities, recreation and parks faculty have recently participated in research training seminars sponsored by the Active Living Research program. Concurrent withthese developments is the formation of more partner-ships at the local and state level between recreation andpark organizations and a wide variety of health andmedical organizations.
Concepts and Methods in Leisure Studies andRecreation and Park Management
 Among scholars, numerous theories and concepts havebeen examined in parks, recreation, and leisure studiesthat connect with active living and health. Humans aremotivated by the ability to self-regulate their actionsand construct meaningful experiences.
13
They are also motivated by social interaction andpersonal competence.
13
No other life domain providesthese opportunities more readily than leisure. Under-standing active living from a leisure perspective may shed light on O’Donnell’s
14
observation that althoughopportunities for fitness and amateur sports have in-creased in the United States, there has been a hugeincrease in rates of obesity and physical inactivity.Movement may be divided by function as follows:(1) physical activity necessary to fulfill obligations of paid work, household work, personal care, and childcare; (2) physical activity undertaken as a specificmeans to improve health or to escape negative healthconsequences; and (3) physical activity that is inher-ently part of pleasurable leisure experience.
15
In thenext few decades, the greatest potential to increasemovement in daily life will be by increasing participa-tion in physical activity which has meaning aside fromexercise—leisure, play, recreation, sport, and contact  with nature. Leisure studies is centrally involved in thestudy of such behavior. While leisure theory draws heavily from other disci-plines, their application to leisure reflects its uniqueness.Leisure is often social and primarily characterized by feelings of enjoyment, relative freedom, and intrinsicmotivation. It is best understood from an ecologic systemsapproach.
16,17
Foremost are leisure theories that addresshuman autonomy and agency. Self-determination theory (SDT)
18
is helpful in understanding intrinsic motivation,as well as how and why external rewards (e.g., incentives)become internalized to produce behavior that is moreintrinsic.SDTalsohelpsexplainhowleisurebehaviorsareinitiated and maintained over time, despite constraints.Theories about leisure constraints and negotiation areuseful in understanding active living.
19,20
Constraints are generally conceptualized in three ways.
19
Intrapersonal constraints are psychological condi-tions that are internal to the individual, such as personal-ity factors, attitudes, and self-efficacy. Interpersonal con-straints arise from interaction with others such as family members, friends, and co-workers. Structural constraintsinclude such factors as the lack of opportunities or cost of activities that arise from external conditions in theenvironment. Another self-regulatory theory, selective op-timization with compensation,
21
provides an important meta-theoretical framework from which to examine goal-directed leisure behavior. The process of selecting leisuregoals (e.g., gardening or trail riding), overcoming con-straints to the activity (compensating), and optimizingone’s experience is well informed by this theory.Csikszentmihalyi’s
22
theory of flow assumes that be-havior is performed and maintained because there areclear salient goals, feedback on performance is easily self-assessed, and one’s skill level is adequate to meet the challenge of the activity. When flow is achieved, oneexperiences intense enjoyment and satisfaction, thusfacilitating continued participation. This theory helpsto understand both boredom and anxiety in a leisurecontext.The concepts of specialization in leisure behavior,“serious leisure,” and the “amateur” all recognize that many leisure behaviors possess the same properties as work careers. Participants may become more skilled;exhibit increased commitment to the activity; becomespecialized in language, equipment, and technique; andincorporate such participation into their self-concept.
23,24
Leisure socialization is an important concept withstrongrelevancetoactivelivingresearch.
25
Leisurestudiesresearch has addressed how leisure activity repertoires areinitiated, sustained, and restricted over the life span.Prominent models of socialization focus on the dominant role of childhood experiences or adult and later-lifeexperiences in shaping leisure preferences. Another set of leisure-related constructs is moreapplied. Their examination usually translates directly 
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