The Idea of Leisure Repertoire

Abstract

Our intention is to describe and explain the idea of leisure repertoire. Leisure repertoire is defined as the personal “library” of largely intrinsically motivated activities that the participant practices on a regular basis. The leisure repertoire is determined by two criteria: perceived competence and psychological comfort. Perceived competence relates to the individual's judgment of performance compared to members of the same age cohort and gender. Psychological comfort refers to the person's perception of performance judged in relation to personal, internal standards. The leisure repertoire of the elderly person is of particular concern because of the abundance of free time accompanying retirement and the age-related deficits limiting the person's ability to use free time meaningfully. The article closes with a discussion of the probable factors mediating the leisure repertoires of the elderly and recommendations for measurement of the leisure repertoire. © 1991, Sage Publications. All rights reserved.