Leisure Attitudes of an Intellectual Elite

Abstract

Leisure attitudes of an intellectual elite, the Mensa society, were investigated and compared to a norm group. Choice of free time activity was related to leisure attitudes, and leisure and work profiles were obtained. Questionnaire responses of 343 Mensa subjects indicated that Mensa members showed a higher affinity for leisure, and scored lower on amount of work versus vacation desired than did the norm group, a sample of 335 adults working full-time. Leisure attitudes related to background variables in Mensa very much as in the norm group, with minor exceptions. Mensa members preferred free time activities stressing understanding and sentience, while the norm group was more likely to choose an affiliative type of activity. The relationships of leisure attitudes to choice of free time activities were strikingly similar in both groups with some exceptions, particularly in regard to activities involving affiliation and autonomy. While the perception of leisure and work also showed similarity for both groups, Mensa did have a more positive conception of leisure, and to a lesser extent of work, and it saw both leisure and work as less sociable. Further, Mensa viewed leisure as more honest than work, while the norm group tended to have the opposite view. It was apparent that members of Mensa have a generally more positive attitude toward leisure than does the norm group, an attitude becoming an intellectual elite.

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