Self-Identity, Modernity, and the Rational Actor in Leisure Research

Fundamental to leisure research is the notion that people's recreation is a medium for personal enhancement and self-development (Murphy, 1974; Kelly, 1990), and that the constitution of self identity is a developmental process of psychological growth and positive self-transformation. The nonobligatory nature of leisure provides a distinctive life-space in which people can either cultivate preferred self-definitions (Haggard & Williams, 1992), or creatively elaborate new self-definitions in the face of change (Kelly, 1983). This framework is grounded in the pragmatism of Mead's (1934) symbolic interactionism, where the theoretical starting point is the autonomous self defined by intentions, goals, attitudes, values, and beliefs formulated through social interaction. The primary task of individuals is self-definition (i.e, "Who am I? "), and the empirical focus is on how those self-definitions direct subsequent behaviors. I argue, however, for a different theoretical starting point, drawing from existential (Giddens, 1984) and postmodern (Harvey, 1990) theories of social action. The fundamental motivating task for individuals is to develop trust in the order and logic of an increasingly complex world-or what Giddens (1984) calls "ontological security. " Order and coherence are not a necessary or pre-given part of the structure of natural or social systems. Rather, this order must first be socially constituted in a process where individuals create routine actions and interactions of everyday life, reflexively recognize order and continuity in those actions, and in turn embrace and reproduce that order by ongoing participation in these patterned social practices (Giddens, 1984). The primary task of individuals is to create a patterned collection of social practices that constitute a sense of continuity and stability. The self, in this context, is an anchoring device that helps the individual make sense of a fragmented, ambivalent world with an expanding "plurality of choices," and a pervasive sense of ambiguity in everyday conduct. Self-identity and Goal-directed Behavior The leisure identity literature is consistent with the widely used rational actor models found in outdoor recreation and leisure research. These social psychological models assume that the cognitive qualities of the individual (intentions, desires, preferences, motives) determine subsequent behavior. Similarly, the identity literature explains leisure behavior in two ways. One perspective asserts that people become committed to, or personally involved (Havitz & Dimanche, 1990; Selin & Howard, 1988) in certain self images, and then seek identity-confirming behaviors in their recreation activities (Haggard & Williams 1992; Shamir, 1992). This perspective states that people's commitment to a self identity drives involvement in specific recreational behaviors, and motivates participants to engage in self referent behaviors. A second perspective maintains that the self is a constantly developing process, and leisure is the life space for expressively working out one's desired self identity in the face of change (Kelly, 1983). Researchers reference leisure behavior to a process in which people use the freedom of the leisure situation to create desired self meanings. Because leisure is freely chosen, participants are motivated to engage in leisure activities that add to, or enhance one's existing self-definition in a linear and developmental way. These functionalist approaches to self identity assume that recreationists are motivated, goal directed actors (Driver & Tocher 1970), and if asked, can articulate their motives, needs, roles, emotions, values, benefits, and pref erences. These cognitive qualities of the individual (the psychological "black box") are instrumental in directing subsequent behavior toward some goal outcome. Social psychological models like this are direct descendants of Parsons' (1951) "personality system. …