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Abstract
The purpose of this brief note is to share findings of an exploratory study focusing on a new measurement instrument. This article describes a 13-item scale, Enabling Outcomes Scale (EOS), designed to measure the enabling potential of constraints. The content of the scale was shaped by theoretical discussions in Kleiber, McGuire, and Aybar-Damali (2004) and Kleiber, McGuire, Aybar-Damali, and Norman (2008), which suggest that constraints have enabling potentials. Data on the psychometric properties of the scale are presented including its factor structure, internal consistency, and validity. The findings indicate that the scale shows promise as a tool for extending our insight regarding how to expand the use of constraints as a construct in leisure research.
KEYWORDS: Leisure constraints, choice, confirmatory factor analysis
The pure form of leisure is described as a freely chosen behavior accompanied by a sense of enjoyment and intrinsic motivation (Kleiber, 1999). This notion implies that constrained behavior is inhibited and thus in need of negotiation before meaningful and free involvement is possible. Conceptual factors based on early typologies shaped by researchers' beliefs about reality have given constraints research a direction. The blueprint for constraints research appears to be designed with the notions that constraints are inevitably negative, that barriers are blockages to engagement, and that fewer constraints translate into more leisure. As Jackson (2000) explains, earlier research investigated "factors that are assumed by researchers and/or perceived or experienced by individuals to limit the formation of leisure preferences and/or to inhibit or prohibit participation and enjoyment in leisure" (Jackson, 2000, p. 62).
Although the term constraint is a recognized term in the leisure studies field, there have been inquiries regarding the meaning of the terminology and constraint's other possible relations to behavior or experience. For example, Shogan's (2002) conceptual work discussed possible effects of constraints. Shogan (2002) described constraints as factors that "...make possible activities and the experiences within them, ...enable skill acquisition and ...produce bodily comportment and expectations that may enable or restrict experiences of leisure" (p. 36). Elster (2000) indicated that in most cases, in the "standard case," more is better whether this refers to money, time, or leisure options; there are also "nonstandard cases" in which less is more. Katz (2000) echoed the same statement, and research...