Engagement in leisure offers a host of benefits for mental and physical health, yet many people view leisure as wasteful and unproductive. Four studies (n = 1310) demonstrate that believing leisure is wasteful undermines enjoyment of enacted leisure activities. Studies 1 and 2 document that people with a general tendency to find leisure wasteful report lower enjoyment of leisure activities on average, especially terminally-motivated leisure (performed as an end in itself) compared to instrumentally-motivated leisure (performed as a means to an end). The belief that leisure is wasteful is also associated with poorer mental health outcomes, including lower reported happiness, and greater reported depression, anxiety, and stress. Establishing causality, Studies 3 and 4 show that priming the belief that leisure is wasteful or unproductive reduces enjoyment of terminally-motivated leisure activities; unfortunately, priming the belief that leisure is productive does not increase enjoyment. We discuss implications for maximizing hedonic utility and well-being.

从事休闲活动对身心健康有许多好处，但许多人认为休闲是一种浪费和无益的活动。四项研究 ( n = 1310) 证明认为休闲是浪费的会破坏已制定的休闲活动的享受。研究 1 和 2 表明，普遍倾向于认为休闲浪费的人报告说，与工具性休闲（作为实现目标的一种手段）相比，休闲活动的享受度较低，尤其是最终动机的休闲（作为目的本身）。结束）。认为休闲是浪费的信念也与较差的心理健康结果有关，包括报告的幸福感较低，以及报告的抑郁、焦虑和压力更大。建立因果关系，研究 3 和 4 表明，认为休闲是浪费或非生产性的信念会降低对最终动机的休闲活动的享受；不幸的是，相信休闲是有生产力的并不会增加乐趣。