Leisure and work are complementary activities. what links them together?

Work is defined as an activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result.
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Leisure is defined as a freedom provided by the cessation of activities especially : time free from work or duties.

Work and Leisure Relationships

Spillover: Research has found positive relationships between work and leisure, such that people choose leisure activities involving the same psychological, social, and behavioral skills as their work.

Compensation: Other studies argue, negative relationship with individuals sometimes compensating for work deficiencies through leisure activities. For e.g. individuals with low occupational status are more likely to stress the importance of prize-winning in leisure than individuals with high status.

Segmentation: Work and leisure are independent and has no relationship.

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REALWORLD5_lectureppt_Ch13.pptx

Chapter 13

LECTURE SLIDES

Leisure and Media

A Sociology of Leisure (cont'd)

Changes to modern leisure-time activities:

A shift from the public to the private sphere: people spend more time at home, especially with new technologies.

Commodities; while people used to make their own fun, they now purchase it as goods and services.

Formal organization; many recreational activities that were once spontaneous and unsupervised are now formally organized.

Three related developments have changed modern leisure-time activities.

A shift from the public to the private sphere

People spend more time at home, especially with new technologies.

After World War II, the mass migration to the suburbs and the development of television encouraged people to stay home. Shared public activities, such as movie-going, became less popular. More recent technological developments have intensified this effect.

Buying fun: Leisure and recreation have become commodities (goods or services that are bought or sold).

While people used to make their own fun, they now purchase it as goods and services.

Fun can be expensive! What items have you bought lately in an attempt to have fun? How much did they cost?

Formally organized fun

Many recreational activities that were once spontaneous and unsupervised are now formally organized. Technology has indirectly assisted in this process.

Has anyone used the internet to join an interest or athletic group? This is an excellent example of how technology has helped us formally organize an activity that in the past might have just occurred spontaneously as the result of a discussion among friends.

Leisure: More than Just the Opposite of Work

Leisure isn’t the opposite of work—the two are linked through the consumption of goods and services.

Types of leisure activities are associated with social class.

Rather than thinking of leisure as the opposite of work, sociologists tend to see the two as complementary activities within a capitalist system that are linked by consumption (the utilization of goods and services, either for personal use or in manufacturing).

Class shapes the kinds of activities you participate in.

In general, do members of the upper class participate in different activities than members of the lower class? Can you think of any examples?

The Study of the Media

Since we know that technology has impacted our leisure and recreation, what role does the media play in this process?

You may warn your students that while the lecture will focus a bit on the structures and possible impacts of the media, they should remember the overarching theme of recreation and leisure and continue to think about how the media impacts these activities for individuals and society as a whole.

You can ask students to discuss this question before moving into this section. Students can speculate about what we see in the media, the kinds of media we use, new media like Facebook or MySpace, and so on.

The media is a major social institution, with increasing power and importance.

Fourth estate: the media are considered like a fourth branch of government (after the executive, legislative, and judiciary) and thus serve as another of the checks and balances on power.

The Media and Democracy

An independent media, free from government, economic, or other power interests, is argued to be a necessary component for a functioning democracy.

Discussion: Why is free speech considered to be necessary for a democracy? Do you agree with this position? Do you think that there should be exceptions (e.g., hate speech)?

The Structure of Media Industries

Conglomeration: the process by which a single corporation acquires ownership of a variety of otherwise unrelated businesses

Mergers: the legal combination of two companies, usually in order to maximize efficiency and profits by eliminating redundant infrastructure and personnel

Conglomeration is a current trend in media industries. Media conglomerates might consist of divisions across multiple types of media outlets.

Examples: For instance, you probably know that Proctor and Gamble owns many different products—not just one. The same thing happens in the media. Rupert Murdock, for example, owns dozens of TV stations, newspapers, radio stations, internet sites, and magazines.

While conglomeration diversifies a company, mergers join two like companies into one bigger company.

Example: The 2014 attempt to combine Time Warner and Comcast, the two largest cable companies. Many feared that their merger would create a monopoly, a situation in which there is only one individual or organization, without competitors, providing a particular good or service.

The Concentration of Media Outlets

Monopoly: a situation in which there is only one individual or organization, without competitors, providing a particular good or service

To avoid a monopoly in any one media market, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has established restrictions on media-outlet ownership.

The Structure of Media Industries (cont’d)

The government has created antitrust regulation, laws designed to maintain competition in the marketplace by prohibiting monopolies, price fixing, or other forms of collusion among businesses.

However, in recent years, increasing deregulation (reduction or removal of government controls from an industry) has allowed companies to gain control of ever-larger chunks of the media market.

Discussion: The FCC’s job is to try to make sure that consumers have a choice. However, you may have experienced situations in your own life where this is not possible. How many power companies or water companies can you select from in your community? Is this fair?

The Structure of Media Industries (cont’d)

Traditional media are increasingly concentrated in recent years, but technology has led to new types of media that help to diversify opinion and content (e.g., zines, blogs, and podcasts).

Discussion: What types of “new media” do your students regularly consume?

Net neutrality, the principle that all internet traffic be treated equally, helps to preserve diversity of opinion in new media outlets.

Media Effects and Audiences

Hypodermic Needle (Magic Bullet) Theory: media consumers are passive, uncritical recipients of content.

Sociologists have sought to understand whether and how media consumption may influence the behaviors of audiences.

Hypodermic Needle Theory:

Think of “TV zombies”—people sitting in front of the television, believing everything they see. If a commercial tells you to go buy a product, you will go buy that product. This theory is rather simple and doesn’t give consumers much agency. More recent theories have expanded on the consumer’s role in the process.

Media Effects and Audiences (cont’d)

Active Audience Theory: explains the effects of media through the interpretive activity of the audience members.

Uses and Gratification Paradigm: approaches that focus on the psychological or social needs that various media fulfill.

Newer models tend to see audience members as active individuals who have different experiences.

Uses and Gratification Paradigm includes Reinforcement Theory, Agenda-setting Theory, and the Two-step Flow Model.

Interpretive Strategies: suggests that audience members have ideas and theories that they bring to bear on a particular media text to understand its meaning

Encoding/Decoding Model: combines models to recognize that media texts are created to deliver specific messages and that individuals actively interpret these messages

Media Effects and Audiences (cont’d)

Interpretive Strategies suggests that audience members have ideas and theories that they bring to bear on a particular media text to understand its meaning.

Different interpretive strategies lead back to the idea of polysemy— that any given text may have multiple meanings.

Encoding/Decoding Model:

A comprehensive theory

This theory combines models that privilege the media producer and models that view the audience as the primary source of meaning; this theory recognizes that media texts are created to deliver specific messages and that individuals actively interpret them.

Our leisure activities can lead us to form unique bonds with others, sometimes in the form of a relationship with a role model.

Leisure and Relationships

Role model: an individual who serves as an example for others to strive toward and emulate

Example: Deflategate 2015. In 2015, Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots, was accused of participating in a ball-deflation scheme. Controversies such as this one beg the question of whether sports stars make good role models.

Third place:

After home (first) and work (second)

Any informal public place where people come together regularly for conversation and camaraderie when not at work or home

Leisure and Relationships (cont’d)

Discussion questions:

Do you have any third places? Students might think of bowling alleys, clubs, the courtyard at school, the mall, and similar locales.

Do you think technology is taking us away from our third places?

Leisure and Relationships (cont’d)

Civil society: organizations, institutions, and interactions—outside of government, family, and work—that promote social bonds and smooth the functioning of society

Discussion questions:

Ask your students to think of organizations, institutions, and interactions outside of government, family, and work that promote social bonds and the smooth functioning of society. Students might be able to think of organizations on campus that fit this description.

Theory in Everyday Life