The Relationship between Leisure and Social Happiness in the City of Isfahan Reyhaneh Tamizifar[1] , Khayyam Azizimehr[2] Received: 30/01/2016 Accepted: 22/05/2017

Abstract

The Relationship between Leisure and Social Happiness in the City of Isfahan Reyhaneh Tamizifar[1] , Khayyam Azizimehr[2] Received: 30/01/2016 Accepted: 22/05/2017 Abstract Leisure refers to the free time when an individual is not working and can use it to their liking. The way one spends their free time has a great influence on different aspects of their life and can bring about important social outcomes, one of which is social happiness whose rate can fluctuate depending on the way of spending free time. This paper deals with the relationship between leisure and happiness among the citizens of Isfahan. Having adopting the method proposed by Sakkthivel (2012), leisure was measured in its four dimensions including the individualistic-active dimension, the individualistic-passive dimension, the collective-active dimension and the collective-passive dimension. According to Lu and Argyle (1993), it appears that the impact of the collective-active dimension of leisure on happiness is more prominent. Happiness was measured using the Oxford Happiness Standard Questionnaire. This research was conducted through surveys and the sample size is 1200 citizens of Isfahan who were selected through systematic random sampling. The results show that there is a statistically significant relationship between leisure and happiness and also between the rate of leisure satisfaction and happiness; In other words, by increasing the rate of leisure satisfaction the rate of happiness increases. Another conclusion is that active leisure has a stronger correlation with happiness compared to passive leisure. Keywords: Happiness, Individualistic-Passive/Active Leisure, Collective-Passive/Active Leisure, Leisure Satisfaction [1]. Ph.D. Candidate of Economic Sociology and Development at the Islamic Azad University, Research and Science Branch. (Corresponding Author). [email protected] [2]. Ph.D. Candidate of Economic Sociology and Development at the University of Tehran. [email protected]