Alisa E. Hertzler and Dr. Brian Hill, Recreation Management and Youth Leadership
Mother, a word that brings a surge of affection to every human heart and mind. Certainly everyone is grateful for their mother and all she did to raise them. This study was designed to determine if mothers are truly satisfied with what they are doing-being homemakers-and what factors affect that satisfaction. Does each mother consider staying home and raising her children an accomplishment, or a burden? Does free time play a role in these findings? Studies have shown that homemakers are more likely to suffer from depression than their husbands or other mothers in the workforce. 1 The researcher’s goal was to find if the amount of leisure time the homemakers have affects depression.
The LDS church places a high priority on the family. In the LDS culture the norm is for the mothers to stay at home with the children while the fathers are involved in meeting the temporal needs of the family. This places a great responsibility and time commitment upon the mothers. This is an important study because, as the saying goes, “when mom’s not happy, no one is.” Many believe this to be true. The researcher hopes this study will raise the concern that, though mothers may be taking care of their children, they may not be taking care of themselves. It is common for homemakers to lose their sense of leisure. It is important for mothers to take time for themselves every once in a while, to have the chance to engage in their hobbies and develop their talents. This study is meant to raise the issue of time among mothers, enabling them to realize the importance of their free time. It is also meant to bring the issue of leisure free time to the attention of fathers and other family members, allowing family members to periodically take over the “motherly” responsibilities, giving their wives and mothers a “night off.”
A questionnaire was designed and distributed via email or mail to over 100 LDS homemakers. For the purpose of this study, LDS homemakers are defined as full-time mothers with children at home between the ages of 0-5 years. Fifty-two questionnaires were returned. The questionnaire contained a life-satisfaction scale developed by Zabriskie and McCormick.2 Participants were asked to respond to 6 questions regarding how satisfied they were with their lives, using a 1-7 scale, 1 being “strongly disagree”, 7 being “strongly agree”. Some interesting findings were discovered in the statements: 1) “In most ways my life is close to ideal”; 2) “So far I have gotten the important things I want in my life”; and 3) “If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing”. The majority of respondents agreed with statements 1 and 3, with highs of 53.8% and 50% respectively. The majority of respondents strongly agreed with statement 2, with a high of 57.7%. These findings imply that the majority of the LDS homemakers surveyed are satisfied with their lives at this point in time.
In reference to the statement “Leisure activities are an important part of my life,” 44.2% of the respondents said they agree with that statement, while only 25% were in strong agreement. As a whole, 88.4% of the respondents agreed, on some level, that leisure was an important part of their lives.
Respondents were also asked to answer the question “How does your participation in leisure affect your satisfaction with yourself?” There were many responses given. The researcher has categorized these responses. The 5 basic categories established relating to participation in leisure and satisfaction with oneself, were leisure as it relates to: happiness, health, improved family relationships, self-value/improvement, and non-productivity. The majority of the respondents (34.6%) reported that leisure contributed to their feelings of self-worth. The homemakers claimed leisure was a way to help them maintain their individuality and be seen as more than just maids and child rearers. The homemakers stated leisure was an important part of self-improvement; they used leisure time as a means of developing and perfecting their talents. The second highest response (28.8%) dealt with health reasons. These homemakers felt that leisure was important because it rejuvenate them, helped them feel more relaxed, and helped in stress relief. Interestingly, one of the homemakers stated that leisure, while important, caused her to experience feelings of non-productivity. This is an interesting response, due to the fact that this homemaker felt she couldn’t spend time doing things she wanted to do; she experienced a sense of selfishness if she took more than 6 hours a week of her own time.
In general, LDS homemakers seem to be satisfied with their quality of life. Most, however, do wish they had more leisure time, time away from their families to recoup and relax from the day’s demanding schedule. They feel increased leisure time would help them be better mothers, and improve their relationship with their family members. Leisure is also important as a means of maintaining their individuality and developing their talents. The studies’ findings show that a homemaker’s quality of life is related to the amount of leisure time she has.
References
- Spendlove, D.C., Gavelek, J.R., and MacMurray, V. 1981. Learned Helplessness and the Depressed Housewife. National Association of Social Workers, Inc.
- Stewart, W. and Samdahl, D. (Eds). 1999. Abstracts of the Proceedings of the 1999 NRPA Leisure Research Symposium. An Examination of Recreation and Leisure Contributions to Family Cohesion and Adaptability (p.6). Alexandria, VA: National Recreation and Park Association, 1999.