A Phenomenological Study of the Semantic Representation of Leisure Experience among Adolescent Girls of Different Social Classes

Leisure time is considered a good opportunity for self-actualization, experiencing personal freedom and social expression, relationships and social interactions, and its importance is so great that its satisfaction is considered as an important and effective factor in experiencing life satisfaction. The present research, with a phenomenological approach, has studied qualitatively the emotions and attitudes of adolescent girls of different social classes in Tabriz city about leisure. The sampling methods were purposeful and snowball, and for this purpose, a semi-structured interview was conducted with 45 female students from poor, middle and wealthy social classes. The interviews continued until theoretical saturation was reached, and obtained data were manually analyzed using the seven-step Claysey method. The findings of the research showed that adolescent girls don’t have proper and planned leisure time. According to their understanding, five main categories were identified: Educational, family, structural factors, religious affiliation and socio-cultural factors, each of which includes numerous concepts including thirteen sub-categories. The results obtained will be useful in policies and planning to optimize the leisure time of different social groups, especially among adolescent girls. ‌Keywords Leisure, Free time, Social class, Adolescent, Lived experience, Phenomenology IntroductionBourdieu believes that a person's upbringing in a family and a certain class has a great impact on choosing her leisure time. The specific life style of people and their access to different facilities affect their leisure activities. Importance of leisure activities is to the extent that its satisfaction is considered as an effective factor in experiencing life satisfaction, nevertheless, the researches related to leisure time are mostly based on measurement of the type and duration of activities, and the concept and experience of leisure time have been less discussed. Therefore, it is important to conduct related research, especially studding the different people’s understanding and comprehension to the meaning and concept of leisure and identifying the effective factors. In addition to compensating the existing research gap, it will be useful to in achieve a precise definition of leisure concept and identify effective factors on it in different social classes, and its results can be used in the optimization of leisure time of different social group. Adolescence is a stormy period of growth and the most fundamental developmental changes take place in this stage; these rapid developmental changes, along with environmental differences, affect people's lived experience and their feelings and perceptions. The current research aims to understand and identify the meaning of leisure from the perspective of adolescent girls of different social classes (poor, middle and wealthy) in Tabriz city. Main questions are: What are the feelings and perceptions of adolescent girls of different social classes in Tabriz about leisure? And what factors affect its experience? MethodologyThe present qualitative study employed the phenomenological method to investigate the lived experiences of adolescent girls from different social classes of Tabriz city about leisure. The sampling method was purposeful-snowball and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 female adolescents from poor, middle and prosperous social classes, 15 people from each class participated. The interviews continued until theoretical saturation was reached, and obtained data were manually analyzed using the seven-step Claysey method. After examining the primary codes and comparing differences and similarities, the semantic relationship between the codes was determined and by classification of the primary codes, 13 subcategories and 5 main categories were extracted. FindingsThe 5 main categories and 13 sub-categories were identified to understand the concept of leisure from the perspective of female students of the second period of high school in different social classes: Table 1: Main and sub categories The 5 main categories and 13 sub-categories were identified to understand the concept of leisure from the perspective of female students of the second period of high school in different social classes: Table 1: Main and sub categories main components Subcategory Axial codes Educational factors Attitudes - Management attitude - Attitude of students School facilities Entrance Exam Family factors Family education patterns (parenting styles) - Perception of parental control (authoritarian parenting style) - Perception of filial piety (permissive parenting style) Family communication pattern - Interpersonal relationships (the centrality of the mother's role) - Gratitude towards parents Social status of the family Family lifestyle - Extracurricular activities (sports, art, recreation and entertainment) - Friends and relationships outside the family Financial issues and conditions Structural factors (infrastructures) Society structure - Community facilities - Social attitudes Family structure - Financial and economic - Culture and attitude School structure Religious affiliation Socio-cultural factors Social factors and expectations - Social strictures - Social dependencies Cultural factors - Appearance and cover - Cultural restrictions - Migration ResultsThe results of this study show that social class factor has a direct and indirect effect on different aspects of leisure time of adolescent girls; So that each of the five main categories with respect to the social class of individuals has different effects on their leisure time. This means that the effect of the social class on the quality of leisure time of participating female teenagers cannot be neglected; In other words, the upbringing of a person in a particular family and class has a great impact on quality of her leisure time.The findings of this research will be useful in policy making and proper planning in order to optimize leisure time of different social groups, especially for adolescent girls; In this regard, it is important to pay attention to several points: First, every school in accordance with its social and regional classification requires a different planning for improving the quality of leisure time of students; therefore, it is necessary for school administrators to pay extra attention to it. Second, entrance exam is important in schools of all social classes for different reasons and degrees and has priority, however, healthy and balanced growth of adolescents requires attention to all aspects of growth and the leisure time of adolescents should not be neglected under the pretext of entrance exam. Thirdly, families are not well aware of the importance of the leisure time of their daughters and as a result, leisure activities are on the sidelines of the family plans, while it is necessary for families to consider the issue of leisure time for adolescents as important; And according to their capacity and conditions, families should properly include leisure activities in their schedule, and plan for it and participate actively. Fourth, recreational facilities are not the same in different parts of the city, and girls of different social classes don’t have equal access to the available facilities. In addition, almost all the participants were dissatisfied with the amount of available facilities and the social and cultural strictures affecting the use of it. Therefore, it is necessary for the officials and trustees to pay more attention to the provision and distribution of adequate, appropriate and proportionate infrastructure and structural facilities in girls' leisure activities, So that girls of all social classes in different parts of the city can benefit from it. Also, the cultural and educational officials of the society should provide appropriate and constructive educational programs in the direction of creating a culture about the importance and priority of leisure activities for families, especially adolescent girls as future mothers, in which a correct and healthy model of leisure activities to be introduced and be compatible with religious, cultural and social values and norms. References Álvarez Muñoz, J. S. & Hernández Prados, M. Á. (2023). 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Role of the globalization of communications (Internet and satellite) on young womenâ™s leisure time (Case study: Young women in Mazandaran). Sociological Studies of Youth, 7(22), 101-118. (In Persian)Greenwood Parr, M. & Lashua, B. D. (2004). What is leisure? the perceptions of recreation practitioners and others. Leisure Sciences,26(1),1-17.Hezar Jribi, J. & Arfaie_Eindin, R. (2012). Eisure time and social health. Social Development & Welfare Planning, 3(10), 39-64. (In Persian)Heydary, H., & Mansoori, S. (2022). Leisure

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