ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests that the culture of consumption affects the desire to engage in leisure practices and the gains expected from such practices. Leisure courses are not associated with any formal framework and their participants do not obtain any sort of certification or academic degree. Yet they find themselves investing time, money, and effort. This chapter examines the effect of the capitalist ethos and the organization of the consumer world on motivations for serious leisure consumption. This chapter draws a distinction between factors associated with manipulative consumption, and social influences and factors associated with autonomous consumption. This chapter compares between factors that motivate the pursuit of serious leisure and factors that evaluate the gains that are derived from this pursuit. Hayosh interviewed 63 people enrolled in yoga, ceramics, blacksmithing, and yachting courses. Her findings indicate that the participants’ motivating factors were associated with both autonomous and manipulative consumption, whereas their perceived gains were associated primarily with autonomous consumption. The participants’ gains were substantial and meaningful, exceeding their expectations in both scope and depth.
