Theoretical Foundations

1. Theoretical Foundations KNR 273

2. What is theory? • Theory is a possible explanation or description of the relationship between various ideas or actions • It encourages people to specify what might happen and why • Hood & Carruthers, 2002, p. 138 • Provides a strong base from which to plan interventions • Shank & Coyle, 2002

3. What theories are used in TR? • TR often uses borrowed theory • The theories are not unique to TR • The theories have not been developed through TR research • The theories are borrowed from other fields • TR uses a variety of theories because our practice is so diverse • Shank & Coyle, 2002

4. Stumbo & Peterson, 2009 • Perceived freedom and personal choice • Intrinsic motivation • Self-efficacy, locus of control, and causal attribution • Optimal experiences/flow • 4 major theories that are related to leisure behavior • Other theories have also been identified/used

5. Perceived Freedom • Activity or setting is more likely to be viewed as leisure when individuals attribute their reasons for participation to themselves (i.e., actions are freely chosen) rather than determined externally by someone else or by circumstances • Stumbo & Peterson, 2009, p. 16

6. Perceived Freedom • Perception that one has the freedom to make choices, engage in an activity, or embark on a course of action of his or her own choosing • Shank & Coyle, 2002, p. 65 • Implies people have sufficient skills, knowledge, and attitudes to have options from which to choose • Stumbo & Peterson, 2009, p. 16

7. Perceived Freedom & TR • TR helps build skills • TR provides options for participation • TR assists individual in expanding personal choice

8. Intrinsic Motivation • People are motivated toward behavior where they can experience competence and self-determination • Increased motivation to participate comes from within and they are not forced to participate • Stumbo & Peterson, 2009

9. Optimal Experiences/Flow • Csikszentmihalyi • Flow experiences are an end in themselves • They are driven by self-directed goals • Early model • Balance of challenges and skills • Anxiety and Boredom

10. Optimal Experiences/Flow

11. Optimal Experiences/Flow & TR • Match between skill and demands of activity • Programs for various skill levels • Minimize distractions • Identify how activities relate to things the individual values

12. Learned Helplessness(Seligman, 1992) • Refers to 3 interlocked things • An environment in which some important outcome is beyond control • Response of giving up • The expectation that no voluntary action can control the outcome • Thought to lead to depression

13. Learned Helplessness(Seligman, 1992) • Way of explaining good and bad events represents “explanatory style’ • 3 critical dimensions • Permanence • Pervasiveness • Personalization

14. Learned Helplessness(Seligman, 1992) • Permanence (time/how long someone gives up): • Permanent (pessimistic) • People who give up easily • Think always/never • Produce long-lasting helplessness • Diets never work • You never talk to me • Temporary (optimistic) • People who resist helplessness because cause is temporary • Produce resilience • Diets don’t work if I eat out • You haven’t talked to me lately

15. Learned Helplessness(Seligman, 1992) • Pervasiveness (space) • Universal (pessimism) • People give up on everything when fail in one area • Produce helplessness across many situations • College is horrible • Specific (optimism) • People may become helpless in one part of their life yet work hard in others • Produce helplessness only in original area • KNR 370 is hard but I can understand KNR 273

16. Learned Helplessness(Seligman, 1992) • Personalization • Internal (low self-esteem) • Blame ourselves • I have no talent at poker • External (high self-esteem) • Blame other people or circumstances • I have no luck at poker

17. Learned Helplessness(Seligman, 1992) • Helplessness • Saps motivation to initiate responses • Generalizes to other situations • Disrupts ability to learn • Produces emotional disturbance

18. Activity

19. Self-Efficacy • Person’s belief about whether or not s/he can successfully engage in an activity • Judgments an individual makes regarding his or her ability to perform a particular behavior • Shank & Coyle, 2002

20. Self-Efficacy • Can be influenced through 4 sources • Performance accomplishments • Vicarious experiences • Persuasion • Physiological arousal

21. Self-Efficacy: Performance Accomplishments • Prior or current experiences where person does activity and has the desired outcome • Repeated success builds sense of competence • When people think they are capable of doing a task, they are more willing to engage and persist if they experience problems • Thought to have strongest influence on self-efficacy • Shank & Coyle, 2002

22. Self-Efficacy: Vicarious Experiences • Situations where the person observes someone else doing the activity • Impacted by how similar the role model is to the person • Shank & Coyle, 2002

23. Self-Efficacy: Verbal Persuasion • Persuading the person that s/he can do something • Most often used • Least effective • Effectiveness is influenced by credibility of persuader • Shank & Coyle, 2002

24. Self-Efficacy: Physiological Arousal • Internal state of individual when performing an activity • Degree of comfort or discomfort provoked in person • Shank & Coyle, 2002

25. Applying Self-Efficacy to TR Practice • Think back to juggling activity, which of these sources of information did I use to get you to juggle? • Performance accomplishments • Vicarious experiences • Persuasion • Physiological arousal • Other ways of using the techniques?