Nash's Pyramid

Nash suggests historical perspectives towards leisure justify a new theory on play. A culture of severity and the Protestant reformation led to a de-valuing of leisure time throughout the Middle Ages.[2] It is only with the Industrial Revolution and the mechanisation of work that leisure time could be considered an opportunity for stimulation.[2]

When constructing his pyramid, Nash's description of recreation as a, "basic need," is based on two assumptions. Firstly, humans are inherently active. They are most fulfilled when either their body or mind is stimulated, the determination to achieve this state being called the ‘activity drive.[2]’

Secondly, there exists a work–life balance binary and, "leisure alone is not enough to satisfy [the activity drive], neither is work unless it has significance.[2]" Industrialisation, through labour-saving technology, routinised the work environment and allowed for more free time.[3] Nash's pyramid suggests that recreation is a ‘need’ because it provides the intellectual and emotional stimulation required by humans.

The pyramid orders activities according to their opportunity for personal growth. It begins at a neutral level which describes activities used to "kill time.[2]" Any activity falling in the above three tiers, creative, emotional or active participation, provide a fulfilling experience as the participant is allowed an opportunity to be involved in the experience.

The criteria for higher-tier activities include those that have an associated ‘inner drive’, contribute to the fullness of life, build stature through self-confidence, include others and allow an individual to relax.[2]

Any activity which is of detriment to the self or society, falls below the neutral section. This includes crime and delinquency.[2] The general criteria for low-tier activities is that they undermine health, be routine, be carried on for reward only and be disliked.[2]

Where an activity falls within the framework depends on the participant. Individual experiences are unique and people have different reactions to activities.[2]

Nash interviewed 1000 people. Each person was asked to nominate 10 happy people and describe their work and leisure activities, leading to an analysis of 10,000 individuals.[2]

Of the individuals nominated as 'happy', there was wide variety in the careers and ages. Common characteristics used to describe happy people included; ambition, curiosity, emotional stability, aliveness, vitality and integrity. More correlation existed in the types of activities they participated in with "Few" people listing spectatoris activities, such as mass media forms, as enjoyable and important.[2]

The data showed a link between happiness and enjoyment of activities.[2] Nash suggested this is because recreation, such as sport, provides an opportunity for competition and risk.[2] This helps fulfil an individual who should, "Die with your boots on, with a hundred interesting, unfinished activities for which there was just not time. On such prescription, one may live long and happy.”

Nash stated a society should be judged on how effectively it used its leisure time as when, "civilians cease to face challenges they will deteriorate and die."[5] Increases in leisure time could be counter-productive unless used intelligently.

For society to engage in higher-tier forms of leisure, Nash believed skill and hobby development should begin in young children. Children should be allowed to experience a wide-range of leisure pursuit and, through a trial-and-error approach,[2]determine which hobby creates an intrinsic motivation to keep practising. This process is most effective in the young. Early adolescents are awarded more freedom by their parents and begin to have greater autonomy in their leisure pursuits.[6] They are also receptive to learning new skills, being unafraid of both failure and the requirement to practice. As evidence, Nash suggests many young masters began the skill-development process early with Galileo being 17 when he founded the law of the pendulum.[2]

For all people to be productive in their leisure time, the education system should be reformed to help young people develop hobbies. Nash suggested that education was a tool for shaping society and a well-rounded curriculum, through both formal and informal means, could result in an increase in the general level of skills.[2] Physical activity was a key component of the proposed plan. The then-current emphasis on hygiene and gymnastics should be expanded to include a daily period of physical exercise.[7]

Contemporary leisure scientists view leisure education as a life-long process, one not exclusive to adolescents.[8] It is the process of maximising leisure potential to achieve a desirable quality of life. Proficiency in a serious leisure activity requires a systematic approach to learning the relevant skills. An activity is likened to a 'career' and requires a substantial amount of knowledge, training and skill.[8]

It is accepted that the education system can prepare young people to participate in serious leisure activities.[8] Informal education can help develop an 'intrinsic motivation', called the 'activity drive' by Nash, needed for personal development. Students would be trained for both vocational opportunities and the ability to participate in a variety of cultural and artistic pursuits.

Education of leisure-pursuits is not generally incorporated into the contemporary curriculum as extra-curricular activities, by definition, fall outside the school syllabus. There have been some attempts to provide a more holistic approach to skill development, such as the leisure education curriculum in Israel. It provides both informal and formal frameworks to achieve its aim of providing students with the necessary skills to best use leisure time intelligently.[9] The culture of Israel is work-focused however allows for great cultural diversity.[10]

The intelligent use of leisure time by young people is important because they are at risk for delinquency, or activities falling below the pyramid. Nash stated there exists similarities between patterns of play and crime, both involve a struggle to overcome a challenge and feelings of mastery.[2] Unless young people are allowed the opportunity to develop hobbies and skills, they could satisfy the activity drive by engaging in unhealthy leisure pursuits such as gambling.

TimeWise is an experimental program established to promote healthy leisure behaviours in American Middle School Students. Through leisure education, it aimed to prevent the early onset of unhealthy behaviours such as substance abuse. The study was successful on a small-scale. The participants reported higher levels of motivation and engagement with new activities when compared to the control group.[11]

America was largely a rural-agrarian society during the colonial period and placed little value on leisure-pursuits.[13] Instead, they valued hard-work. Industrialisation acted to transform society, creating urbanised cities and increasing access to new technology. A reduction in working hours and a rise in the general standard of living helped trigger a ‘leisure revolution’.[13] This process was supported by Enlightenment-era ideas showing the importance of human development and freedom.[14]

Leisure and technology become increasingly intertwined.[14] Technology both increased people's access to leisure, through innovations such as cars and radio, and expanded existing forms of entertainment. For example, powerful sound systems supported music performances in a new open-air format.

Leisure theory originated with the organised play and recreation movement. It was closely linked to the emergence of parks in urbanised cities and eventually expanded to include the effects of leisure activities.[2] Theories reflected an understanding that quality of life could be improved through recreation.

Early historians and leisure researches, such as Nash, were wary of the effects of industrialisation.[13] When analysing the rise of spectator sport, there were criticisms it promoted passive observation instead of the active participation seen in rural areas. Historian Krout stated an increase in athletic interest, "has not made us a nation of participants in sports, but a nation of spectators at sporting events[15]."

There existed three schools of through in North America to analyse leisure. Nash, along with Brightbill and Parker, were formative in the creation of the leisure research approach.[3] This is where social philosophy is used to explain the purpose of leisure.

Social empiricism and social analysis are alternate schools of thought that analyse the behavioural decisions behind participation in leisure activities.[3] Historically, North American models rely heavily on statistics and data collection. This contrasts to the European approach to leisure studies which preferences more general theories.[3]

Nash's pyramid contributed to further academic work. Purple recreation are socially taboo recreational activities. Curtis's scale of purple recreation, which ranks activities from being extremely unacceptable to acceptable, draws from Nash's pyramid.[16] For example creative activities rank highly as both a productive and acceptable form of leisure.

Nash defines leisure by the activities a person engages with outside their work-time. Feminist scholars have criticised the leisure activity approaches as it fails to include women with non-traditional working lives.[19]

The pyramid outlines the benefits of higher-tier activities and not the associated costs. Some high-tier activities can be exclusionary to the working class who lack either the time or specialist equipment to participate.[20]

Whilst significant in the era created, other models of experiences have become more widespread. This includes Csikszentmihalyi’s 1985 model of flow.[21] It assess the likelihood of a skill being totally absorbed and can consider recreational activities.

The decline in Nash's work mirrors the decline of leisure research. This includes the use of conjecture. From the 1990s, post-structuralism and post-modernism attitudes towards leisure studies have better incorporated scientific methods into analysis.[3]

• Sociology of leisure
• Leisure studies