Nash's Pyramid
It has become less relevant as contemporary post-modern and post-structural understandings of leisure have relied more on scientific theories and quantitative methods of analysis.
To equip adults with the tools to lead a happy life, he believed the education curriculum should be sufficiently broad enough to teach children hobbies and skills.
From its traditional emphasis on gymnastics and hygiene, the physical education system started to reform in the 1930s to include a greater variety of exercises.
[3] Nash's pyramid suggests that recreation is a ‘need’ because it provides the intellectual and emotional stimulation required by humans.
Nash uses these historical examples to show the importance of tier and how it is human nature to engage in the creative process.
[2] To challenge what he sees as society's fear of failure, Nash states, "There is tremendous creative capacity in the common people if only they have the freedom and opportunity to explore, to follow hunches, to find a talent niche.
[2] Entertainment, amusement, escape from monotony, killing time – antidote to boredom In this tier, activities do not engage a participant.
Each person was asked to nominate 10 happy people and describe their work and leisure activities, leading to an analysis of 10,000 individuals.
Common characteristics used to describe happy people included; ambition, curiosity, emotional stability, aliveness, vitality and integrity.
On such prescription, one may live long and happy.” Nash stated a society should be judged on how effectively it used its leisure time as when, "civilians cease to face challenges they will deteriorate and die.
For society to engage in higher-tier forms of leisure, Nash believed skill and hobby development should begin in young children.
Children should be allowed to experience a wide-range of leisure pursuit and, through a trial-and-error approach,[2] determine which hobby creates an intrinsic motivation to keep practising.
As evidence, Nash suggests many young masters began the skill-development process early with Galileo being 17 when he founded the law of the pendulum.
Nash suggested that education was a tool for shaping society and a well-rounded curriculum, through both formal and informal means, could result in an increase in the general level of skills.
Education of leisure-pursuits is not generally incorporated into the contemporary curriculum as extra-curricular activities, by definition, fall outside the school syllabus.
Nash stated there exists similarities between patterns of play and crime, both involve a struggle to overcome a challenge and feelings of mastery.
[2] Unless young people are allowed the opportunity to develop hobbies and skills, they could satisfy the activity drive by engaging in unhealthy leisure pursuits such as gambling.
TimeWise is an experimental program established to promote healthy leisure behaviours in American Middle School Students.
[4] He was part of a broader school of thought that used the ideas of Dewey to argue informal activities that develop a child's abilities and interests could create habits for a happy life.
A reduction in working hours and a rise in the general standard of living helped trigger a ‘leisure revolution’.
[13] Technology both increased people's access to leisure, through innovations such as cars and radio, and expanded existing forms of entertainment.
It was closely linked to the emergence of parks in urbanised cities and eventually expanded to include the effects of leisure activities.
[12] When analysing the rise of spectator sport, there were criticisms it promoted passive observation instead of the active participation seen in rural areas.
Curtis's scale of purple recreation, which ranks activities from being extremely unacceptable to acceptable, draws from Nash's pyramid.
[16] Contemporary theories share Nash's view that recreational activities allow for feelings of success and achievement.
He defines serious leisure as a, "systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer activity that participants find so substantial and interesting that, in the typical case, they launch themselves on a career centred on acquiring and expressing its special skills, knowledge and experience.
[17]" Characteristics include a participant's commitment to the career, identification with the 'unique ethos' of the activity and opportunity for durable individual benefits such as self-enrichment.
The repeated use of casual leisure activities, such as gambling or watching TV, for recuperation can become habitual however provides no opportunity for a leisure-career.
Feminist scholars have criticised the leisure activity approaches as it fails to include women with non-traditional working lives.
If the commitment is focused on just one activity, general breadth of experience and the ability to respond to a change in circumstance such as injury can be limited.
