Leisure Well-Being

Abstract

Leisure typically refers to the use of discretionary time. That is, a person experiencing leisure is experiencing the time remaining after work. Thus, leisure is total time minus time spent on nondiscretionary activities. This definition of leisure is grounded in traditional economic theory, which divides human activities in terms of time spent on production, consumption, and leisure. In this chapter, I will describe selected research in QOL studies related to the use of leisure time that is satisfying and enhancing to subjective well-being. In doing so, I will address the following questions: What is leisure well-being? Does leisure well-being contribute significantly to subjective QOL? If so, how? And what are the predictors of leisure well-being and subjective QOL?