John Neulinger (April 26, 1924 - June 20, 1991) was a German-American psychologist and Professor Emeritus of psychology at City College of New York.

Neulinger attended the Staatsoberrealgymnasium in Děčín, Czechoslovakia as a child,[2] but was taken to a Nazi concentration camp during World War II.

His experience in Nazi Germany influenced his psychological theories regarding the connection between freedom and leisure in the same way as psychologist Viktor Frankl.

[6] Neulinger was Director of the Leisure Institute in his home town of Dolgeville, New York, and helped found and chaired the Society for the Reduction of Human Labor.

The theory is a continuum model of leisure, with the criterion a condition Neulinger calls perceived freedom.

[9] If an individual is involved in an activity that offers only intrinsic reward and perceived freedom, that person is said to be at leisure.

Neulinger's vision was of a society where non-leisure activities form a minimal part of our day, where work would be carried out with meaning and without coercion, freely chosen, self-rewarding, and intrinsically motivating.

[2][3] In his final publication, Neulinger advocated for a societal transformation to that of a "universal leisure society instead of more centuries of useless destruction and worldwide conflicts".