Abstract
Leisure activities are important in older adults’ life. With the higher mobility and internationalization of population, the leisure behavior and habits of older adults in different countries have become a popular topic among international scholars. This study was to compare the different leisure activities of older adults in two countries—the US and China—to discuss the possible reasons for the differences from traditional and social-cultural aspects. The sample data (192 Chinese aged over 60) was collected in a metropolis in China—Hangzhou—and was compared with data undertaken by Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published in American Time Use Survey (ATUS). We found that older adults in the US and China spend similar daily leisure time on average; watching TV and walking are the most popular choices of indoor and outdoor leisure activities, respectively, by both Americans and Chinese. Surfing the Internet, communicating with others (indoor) and traditional activities (leisure activities from ancient China, like Taiji, sword dancing, etc.), and physical exercises (outdoor) are the second most popular choices of Chinese older adults; while socializing, reading, working out, and using sports technology equipment for outdoor exercising are popular among older adults in the US. Possible reasons for the differences were discussed from individual differences and collectivist cultures, independent and dependent habits, reliance on family, early education, and the value of young mentality versus conservative spirit.
1. Introduction
For a long time, sociologists and economists have alerted that global aging trends will line to bombs, placing a heavy burden on social and economic outcomes. Leisure activities have been acknowledged to contribute to older adults’ overall health such as life satisfaction, subjective wellbeing, cognitive function, and so on. Older adults’ plans for living and leisure activities after retirement are imperceptibly changing from those in the past. According to China National Tourism Leisure Survey Report (2016), older adults have a greater leisure travel and consumption demand than those twenty years ago [1]. With the deepening of population aging, elderly lifestyle and leisure economic patterns have changed. Therefore, consumption demand of older adults, how older adults behave, feel, and think in leisure time is desirable with growing attention. Specifically, choices of leisure activities are believed to be determined by older adults’ social values prevalent in their earlier years, their practice over a lifetime in various pursuits, changes in biologically and socially determined competence, changes in personal needs, and the impeding and facilitating effects of the external environment [2]. Years after retirement are portrayed as affording opportunities to increased leisure time [3], and those will result in the establishment of elderly leisure culture and market, and new understanding on how older adults should live. In order to understand elderly consumption market and improve service quality for the elderly, exploring different leisure behavior under different cultural background is necessary, including their leisure culture, recreational values, and indoor or outdoor leisure behavior. Hence, this paper will conclude with some comparisons about choices of leisure activities between Chinese and American seniors to better understand elderly consumption market so as to provide better service in the future.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Leisure Activities of US Seniors
With the deepening of aging population, it becomes more and more imperative to understand how older adults improve their life quality and their inner happiness. Understanding how senior Americans spend their time changes after retirement is important, given the significant impact of leisure on their well-being [4]. Many scholars believe that outdoor leisure activities in the future will become an important factor in enhancing happiness index. For example, Houge and Hodge [5] found that older adults who remained active outdoors and contacted with nature had better state of subjective well-being than those who do not [5]. Furthermore, Ryu and Heo [6] revealed that involvement in outdoor leisure activities may be good for an older adult’s ability to carry out daily activities and correlates with their competence in maintaining and adapting roles and relationships [6]. Parks encourage physical activities and healthy lifestyles, and more and more researchers began to focus on the demographic, social, and environmental factors associated with park-based activities [7].
Researchers have investigated leisure behaviors of older adults on multiple occasions. Lawton [8] found that among the discretionary activities, older adults spent considerably more time in reading, television watching, rest, and relaxation [8]. Based on American older adults sample, Stern and Munn [9] found that their activities seem to focus on social interaction: church attendance, talking on the phone, writing letters, entertaining or visiting others, and community activities [9] Likewise, in a qualitative study conducted by Duay and Bryan [10], frequent participation in indoor social activities among older adults were included, such as art interests, reading, handicrafts, religious activities, and so on [10]. Concerning outdoor activities, Schlicht et al. [11] reported there were two common activities in which older adults prefer to participate: walking/hiking and relaxation [11]. Besides that, less than 15% of older visitors engaged in wildlife watching, seeking solitude, dog walking, picnic, or playing with children. Less than 10% went fishing, jogging, bicycling, and swimming. Visiting parks, squares, and other public green spaces are typical outdoor recreation or leisure activities for the elderly [12]. Reference [13] explored time patterns on the use of a metropolitan park district; they found older adults comprised a disproportionate fraction of morning visitors, whereas younger and middle-aged adults tended to visit more often in the afternoon and evening [13].
Barriers and constraints of leisure time activities among older adults are another research perspective of this topic. Widely accepted models of leisure constraints were offered by Crawford et al. [14], which recognized three categories: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural constraints [14]. Alexandris and colleagues [15] found individual/psychological, accessibility/financial, lack of partners, facilities/services, lack of knowledge, lack of interest, and time constraints were predictors of recreation participation [15]. Dergance and colleagues [16] compared ethnic differences in attitudes toward barriers and benefits of LTPA; these studies have demonstrated the fact that both elderly Mexican (MAs) and European Americans (EAs) reported lack of good health and fear of injury as barriers, which agrees with the findings from other studies. But more researches need to be performed to confirm on this research area [16].
2.2. Leisure Activities of Chinese Seniors
Similar to the US, emerging aging society in China has drawn the attention of Chinese scholars and different classes of the society to older adults’ leisure activities. In 2017, the number of people aged 60 years and above had reached almost 264 million in China, which accounted for 18.7% of China’s total population. Furthermore, population aged 65 and over accounted for 13.5 of the total population [17]. China is becoming an aging society according to internationally recognized criterion. The report also predicts that starting from 2020, China will enter a critical stage for aging society. The Chinese government has recognized that this demographic trend will create problems in many aspects, such as health care, continuing education, infrastructure, family structure, and people’s psychological and spiritual well-being [18]. These problems will bring a profound impact on individuals, communities, and national life. The arrival of aging society calls for more demands for social involvement, management, and services towards older adults. These demands have become a burning problem during the rapid urbanization of China.
Some researches have been carried out in China to discuss leisure life of older adults. Ma et al. [19] analyzed the structure of the elderly population in China and their leisure life. The data provided an overview of elderly leisure activities: (1) watching TV is considered to be the main activity of older adults, which is similar to their counterparts in the U.S.; (2) many reported that older adults’ leisure life were monotonous, boring, without a sense of belonging; (3) passive leisure behavior such as reading newspapers, magazines, and literature did not occupy an important part in leisure life, but the spiritual content of their leisure was extremely scarce; (4) the number of community-based cultural leisure facilities such as cultural squares, open-air performances, science or art galleries, street kiosks, community libraries, and volunteer activities was very limited. This study also pointed out various misconceptions about leisure life during the aging process in Chinese society and stressed the necessity and urgency of research in this field. Ma recommended several theoretical models of aging society provided by Western researchers and emphasized the relation to the value of older peoples to families and community [20].
Xiang and Stodolska [21] reported that leisure activity patterns varied with age, and older respondents had higher proportion of participants in home-based activities. Dong et al. [22] suggested that urban parks to be better designed to provide older adults with places for leisure, walking, entertainment, and meditation [22]. Su and Wang [23] indicated that the closer older adults lived to a park, the higher their exercise enthusiasm would be. They also analyzed theoretical principles for the design of leisure places for older adults in urban parks and put forward key design factors for the reconstruction of existing urban parks and courtyards.
2.3. Literature Conclusion
Current literature shows that Chinese and American scholars have focused on domestic older adults’ leisure behavior, respectively, but cross-cultural, cross-country researches are quite limited. Specifically, few studies have compared older adults’ leisure activities between China and the US. As the top two economies in the world, scholars have been interested in comparisons about different aspects between these two nations. Specifically, when it comes to older adults’ leisure activities, Hu [24] once published an article entitled “China and the US on the leisure life of the elderly compare to retire”, which tried to assess similarities and differences between retired people in China and in the West [24]. However, this paper was published 30 years ago, and the research results are of limited reference value today.
Researches in this area need to be expanded and enriched, especially given the background of in-depth US-China cultural exchanges. Comparative studies of Chinese and American elderly leisure behavior will surely enhance mutual understanding, harmonious coexistence of multicultural societies in the West and Asia as well as provide valuable information for business practitioners who want to serve the “silver market” better.
3. Purpose and Rationale
The purpose of this study was to compare differences in leisure activities and behaviors of older adults in the US and China so as to answer the question “Do older adults in the US and China have similar leisure activities daily?” and to see if any differences could be explained by traditional or sociocultural reasons. The following research questions guided the study. In accordance with the questions designed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) published in American Time Use Survey (ATUS), leisure activities were mainly divided into indoor and outdoor activities in this study.(1)What are the main differences in leisure activities undertaken indoor (e.g., at home)?(2)What are the main differences in leisure activities undertaken outdoor (e.g., in a park)?
4. Sample Data Collection
The sample data on Chinese older adults was collected in Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province, China, in 2014. In 2014, those data were reported in a study: elderly leisure life conditions survey in Hangzhou. It was supported by the Asia-Pacific Leisure Education Research Center (APCL) and City Strategic Research Center of Hangzhou (CSRC). Three communities in Hangzhou were scheduled: Hangyang Community, Zhaohui Fifth Community, and Cuiyuan Community. 200 questionnaires were distributed to those three communities and 192 of them were completed, with a 96% response rate (Table 1).
Data for American seniors came from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), undertaken by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS is a unit of the United States Department of Labor). This survey is conducted annually by the BLS. The ATUS measured the amount of time people spend doing various activities, such as work, childcare, housework, watching television, volunteering, and socializing. The BLS was conducted by e-mail and provided the most recent data tables (2014) for age cohorts 55–64, 65–74, 75, and over. The tables contain estimates of the percent of the population who engaged in each of the listed activities on an average day and estimates of the average hours (per day) spent in each activity.
5. Results
Before addressing the stated research questions, the basic sociodemographic characteristics of Chinese sample are shown in Table 2 to help readers understand the living conditions of seniors in Hangzhou, China.
5.1. Sociodemography of the Chinese Sample
As is shown in Table 2, the overwhelming proportions of the respondents were between 55 and 64 years old with fewer males (43.75%) than females (56.25). The highest proportion had a college education level (44.79%), followed by high school education (39.58%), middle school (9.38%), and primary education (5.21%); only two respondents had graduate degrees. Only 2.08% elderly lived in a nursing care center while 17.71% elderly lived by themselves. Most of the respondents lived with either a spouse (35.42%) or with other family members (28.13%). Typically, in China, when a spouse dies, the widow/widower will continue to live with a son or daughter’s family. Pension is the main source of income of the elderly, accounting for 60% of total income, followed by 28% of bank savings. Since these two sources have high stability, it improves the security of elderly lives. Nearly 22% of the older adults are supported by family members with stable jobs and income. Relatively fewer of the elderly are still working (7.29%), and most of them are in the 55–65 years old group. Traditionally, economic support from family members has an important influence on choice of leisure activities. Older adults with high income tend to choose traveling or other leisure activities, which are relatively expensive, while those with low-income sources tend to choose free leisure facilities or home-based leisure activities.
5.1.1. What Are the Main Differences in Leisure Activities Undertaken Indoor (e.g., at Home)?
Watching TV (video) is the most popular indoor leisure activity for both the US and Chinese seniors. Figure 1 shows that 27.6% of the Chinese samples state that watching TV or video is their most preferred indoor activity. Table 3 shows that watching TV is the most popular indoor activity among American older adults. Specifically, the percentage of population who participate in watching TV reaches 84.95% (55–64 age group), 88% (65–74 age group), and 90.3% (75+ age group), respectively.
There are some differences between two samples. Firstly, the ratio of American older adults choosing surfing the Internet as a leisure activity is much lower than the ratio of Chinese seniors. With a ratio of 23.43%, surfing the Internet by computer, smartphone, or laptop devices is a popular phenomenon among Chinese older adults, indicating it being their most preferred indoor leisure activity. This is different from the situation several years ago. Economic development and social progress driven by science and technology not only have influenced young generation’s daily life, but also have changed the leisure activities of Chinese older adults. However, with the ratio of nearly 10%, this activity ranks No. 5 amongst American seniors, from 55 to 64, 65–74, and 75+; the proportions are 13.2%, 14.75%, and 8.95%, respectively.
Secondly, reading books or newspapers ranks No. 5 amongst Chinese older adults, while it ranks higher for American older adults. Ratio of leisure time for reading rose from 27.3% (55–64 age group) to 37.45% (65–74 age group) and jumped to 52.8% (75+ age group). Reading activities, which help to stimulate thinking, are obviously preferred by American older adults while are not so popular among Chinese older adults.
Thirdly, communicating with friends or family members (14.05%) as well as table games (15.62%), like mahjong, handwriting, and playing cards or Chinese chess, is the following preferred indoor activity for Chinese older adults. Social community is also very important for American older adults, including family gatherings, dancing, and chatting. The percentage of 65–74 age group (38%) is slightly higher than the other two age groups (55–64: 33.55%; 75+: 36.25%).
5.1.2. What Are the Main Differences in Outdoor Leisure Activities (e.g., in a Park)?
The outdoor leisure preferences of the Chinese sample ranked from high to low are as follows (Figure 2): (1) walking or strolling around park (58%); (2) physical exercise, such as swimming, square dancing, and ball playing (50%); (3) traditional activities (29%), like Taiji, Tuna (expiration and inspiration in rhythm), sitting (sit quite as a form of therapy), sword dancing, Kong Zhu, flying kite, and so on; (4) traveling (16%); (5) exercise with health infrastructure, especially public infrastructure (8%); and (6) others, including religion activity, charitable activities, and gym exercise (2%). The top outdoor activities preferred by older American adults are walking, working out, unspecified, using sport technology equipment (like using machine measure cardiovascular condition), participating in water sports, weightlifting/strength training, golfing, running and playing sports, doing aerobics, biking, and dancing (shown in Table 4).
Walking is the most popular outdoor activity among older adults in both American and Chinese samples. An average of 8% of older American adults participate in walking, and the ratio rises from 5.6% (55–64 years group) to 9% (75+ years group). Similarly, in China, walking is the most preferred outdoor leisure activity among seniors. People usually walk or stroll in a park, square, street or forest not only to enjoy fresh air, but also to exercise. Walking is a relaxing and a low-intensity activity. Walking and chatting with friends provide them with pleasure and mental relaxation. The proportions participating in water sports like swimming, dancing, running, and more general outdoor recreation exercise in the United States were 1.1%, 0.4%, 0.3% with 55–64, 65–74, and 75+, respectively. These recreational sports are becoming more and more popular in China and ranked second. Running and swimming are gradually being promoted among senior citizens, but inadequate green spaces, tracks, and swimming pools constrain overall participation in such activities.
Application of equipment for outdoor activities is different in the two countries. In the US, older adults often work out with professional equipment like cardiovascular, weightlifting, and strength training equipment. For example, many people look for treadmills, elliptical machines, or exercise bikes to boost their daily workout. However, in China, older adults are not accustomed to exercising with such electronic equipment. Chinese older adults prefer traditional leisure activities like shadowboxing, freestanding exercise, and Taiji boxing, which only need the simplest props. Those recreational sports can be carried out without any equipment, so they are easily accessible to older adults.
Chinese older adults enjoy dancing much more than those in the US. Dancing, especially square dancing, has become important in enhancing the quality of elderly leisure life in China. Early in the morning or late in the afternoon, the city’s major public spaces, squares, and parks are occupied by groups of dancing teams, along with fashionable, trendy music. Of course, there are also other types of dancing preferred by older adults, like international ballroom dancing, fan dancing, and sword dancing. On the other hand, activities like golfing and biking are more popular among American older adults than among China. Golfing (0.8%) is one of the most popular ball games among American older adults, but in China, it is considered as a luxury leisure sport, since only a few people can afford it. In addition, golf requires certain skills, which have to be learned and practiced beforehand, which becomes a constraint for its population among older adults in China. Besides, many Chinese older adults do not prefer biking either. There are three reasons: (1) most older Chinese adults regard biking as means of transportation rather than leisure. (2) Most older Chinese adults suffer restrained eyesight or stiffness in their movement, which may lead to safety problems. (3) Unlike the US, many roads in China are not well equipped with specific cycling lanes, so it is hard for older adults to find suitable space for riding. Therefore, riding a bicycle is not a popular choice for older adults in China.
6. Discussion: A Cultural Perspective on Leisure Behavior
There are some social and cultural aspects behind the differences in leisure behavior, including different values, lifestyles, and behaviors of Chinese and American senior citizens. Therefore, we focused on different cultural background and traditions to find out reasons for differences in leisure behavior between the two countries.
6.1. Differences
Firstly, we find the difference in values and habits. Specifically, Americans tend to be individualistic, emphasizing individual freedom and personal achievement. American older adults put a greater emphasis on their private life and do not like living with their children or grandchildren. However, the living pattern of Chinese families advocated “four generations living together.” Chinese seniors believe that family reunion brings the greatest happiness. From Table 2, we find that nearly 46% of Chinese seniors are living with their family (including 16.67% living with their spouses and family and 28.13% living with one family member). To be specific, nearly 22% of them are financially supported by other family members.
Secondly, despite economic factor, Chinese seniors have greater reliance on their family, which has led to a great difference in leisure values and behaviors. Taking care of their grandchildren like babysitting is a common duty for Chinese seniors. Although walking or strolling (58%) is the most popular outdoor activity, most of their walking time is spent with their grandchildren. Even when a senior is watching TV, chatting, or sewing, they need to take care of their grandchildren at the same time. Since older Chinese adults stress on family atmosphere, they are willing to take the responsibility of looking after their families rather than living for themselves. In comparison, being less exposed to family issues, American seniors tend to choose the most desirable way to spend leisure time.
Thirdly, older American adults tend to keep mentally young, while older Chinese adults like to follow conservative spirit. In the United States, older adults wish to keep the ability to live and work independently and refuse to yield to aging. In order to stay healthy, they participate in walking club sessions and even take part in Senior Olympic Games. In China, people become less confident in their physical abilities due to aging. They choose more relaxed traditional Chinese leisure activities, including meditation, Taiji, and sword dancing. However, with a proportion of 23.43%, surfing the Internet is their most preferred indoor leisure activity, which indicates the popularity of mobile devices among Chinese seniors. They are affected by young people to actively learn new technology through the Internet so that their leisure life can be connected to the world. In general, the leisure attitude of American seniors is more positive than Chinese older adults, in that they emphasize the power of inner youth, while Chinese seniors are more conservative and tend to retreat from society.
Finally, difference in leisure education between the two countries should not be ignored as well. Americans have realized the importance of leisure education since they were young, and they believe that “you are what you were yesterday” (past leads to the future). The early years of leisure education will be conducive to guide the elderly years to engage in positive and healthy leisure behavior. In China, however, people are more influenced by the traditional viewpoint that people should keep hardworking instead of relaxing, so leisure education of youth in China is absent. The current understanding of leisure among Chinese older adults is limited, and some people even regard it as a way to kill time. Without leisure education and comprehensive understanding, it is not conducive to improve the leisure life quality of older adults in China.
Of course, there are many other factors that can cause the differences of seniors’ leisure behavior between China and the United States, such as the degree of education, jobs, growth, family environment, personal experience and personality, etc.
6.2. Similarities
Moderation is a similar value for older adults. It is widely believed that Americans think the rules of their life originated from ancient Greek philosopher, while Confucius also provided Chinese with the same criteria [25]. The study result agrees with the above statement since the top one leisure activity, either indoor or outdoor, is the same among older adults in both the American and Chinese samples: watching TV and walking, respectively. With a low threshold, these two activities are convenient for older adults, which shows the similar physical and spiritual needs of older adults. “The doctrine of the mean” is the common recognition of value among Western and Eastern seniors.
Improving the quality of leisure life is also the common value of older adults in China and America. Traditional leisure activities such as walking, hiking, gardening, listening to the radio, and watching television were still the main leisure activity types for older adults, and the development of modern society has also made them pay more attention to the quality of their leisure life.
7. Implication
The key to keeping harmonious among diverse cultures is to understand and respect cultural differences. Likewise, to promote the quality of elderly leisure life and flourish in cultural leisure, scholars should conduct researches about elderly leisure behavior to explore cultural differences and provide people with updates so that they may understand each other better and respect the differences. But now, the cross-cultural, cross-country studies still lack diversity. We should handle these differences more reasonably by maximizing the advantageous factors and avoiding disadvantages. This is also the only way we can promote exchange and fusion of leisure among different ethnic groups and promote the progress of human civilization.
First of all, the government should promote elderly leisure education and provide self-improvement opportunities for seniors. Education itself is not only an opportunity, but also a power that can help seniors spend leisure time in a meaningful way. Meanwhile, improvement of the leisure services and public leisure facilities will help to promote leisure behavior and cultural leisure communication for seniors. Particularly, older adults’ activity centers, community centers, and older adults nursing institutions should make use of results of older adults’ preference of leisure activities and provide better services for them.
Despite cultural differences, a mutual understanding and respect is the key to getting rid of the constraints of traditional ideas and learning from each other. Chinese seniors can learn about the good leisure activities through rejecting conservative spirit, keeping faith, and enjoying sports and travel activities similar to American seniors. American older adults can also learn from Chinese older adults about how to strengthen contact with their children and relatives to increase emotional attachment among family members. As long as we learn from each other and make up for the inadequacy, seniors will lead a colorful life wherever they go.
8. Limitations of the Study and Future Research
There are several limitations to this study. Due to limited sample scale, which was from only one single city (Hangzhou), the results cannot depict the whole situation in China. Meanwhile, differences in data collection procedures and questionnaire options may cause uncertainty. Since data for American senior leisure time use was a secondary data collected by ATUS, some format and questions were differently worded compared with the questionnaires used in China. For example, the data for how many leisure hours per day in China samples were collected in four categories: (a) 6 hours or more; (b) 4–6 hours; (c) 2–4 hours; and (d) less than 2. By contrast, data from ATUS was collected requiring respondents to fill in the blanks. Therefore, the data should be descriptively compared after understanding and analyzing, rather than mathematically compared.
Future researches might develop deeper into the reasons or demand related to cross-cultural elderly leisure activities based on larger samples and better-matched survey options. Comprehensive understanding of cross-cultural older adults’ leisure patterns should be advocate, and how to improve their leisure life quality and how to develop the leisure services market acquire great attention with a huge potential for future aging society with diverse leisure demand.
Data Availability
The dataset used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Conflicts of Interest
All the authors do not have any possible conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.
Acknowledgments
The study was supported by the Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research in Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province: Research on Construction Path of Aged-Friendly Intelligent Community (2021SJA0938).