| By comparing and contrasting three different ethnic/cultural groups (i.e., British Canadian, Mainland Chinese, and Chinese Canadian), this cross-cultural study explored how age, gender, ethnicity, and acculturation affect older adults' motivations, constraints, and constraint negotiation when participating in spare-time activities. Eighteen research questions were tested based on the data collected from a snowball sample of 15 semi-structured interviews (N = 5 for each of the three ethnic/cultural groups) and a convenience sample of 450 self-administered questionnaires (N = 150 for each of the three ethnic/cultural groups). The researcher found that: (1) Walker and Virden's (2005) leisure constraints model appears cross-culturally applicable, suggesting that the perception of the variables examined in this study is largely similar across cultures but important differences exist; (2) compared to age and gender, ethnicity and acculturation are significant in explaining older adults' leisure participation. Results indicated that: (a) despite the levels of acculturation, younger Chinese Canadian older adults were always more likely to employ negotiation strategies. Additionally, among the various negotiation strategies examined, acquiring skills was more important for both Mainland Chinese and Chinese Canadians; (b) constraints might not critically affect older adults' leisure behaviours and instead constraints could be potential motivations for participation; and (c) including a face scale to study a Chinese population proved to be informative. This study's value rests with not only enhancing the leisure and gerontology theories, but also bridging the gap between academic and practical worlds. Future research directions are also recommended. |
