RECREATION AND THE AGING PROCESS

471 Pages·17.973 MB·English

by  BALEY, JAMES ANTON

RECREATION
AND THE AGING PROCESS
DISSERTATION
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy
in the Graduate School of
The Ohio State University
by
James Anton Baley, B.S., M.S,
The Ohio State University
June, 19^2
Approved by:
Advisor
Dedication
This work is dedicated to the Grand­
parents of my children
i
909369
Acknowledgments
In a study of this type it is almost impossible to express appre­
ciation to all people who assisted in some way. Literally thousands
of men took time from their busy working day to answer the questions
asked them regarding their recreational interests, habits, and prob­
lems. Although the writer cannot cite these men by name, he would
like to express his sincere appreciation for their cooperation. He
is deeply grateful to Mr. Ernest Molnar, Labor Relations Counselor
at the Cleveland Pneumatic Tool Company in Cleveland, Ohio for his
generosity with his time and energies in assisting with mimeographing,
distributing, and collecting two thousand of the questionnaires which
were distributed to all the employees of the Cleveland Pneumatic Tool
Company.
The writer is greatly indebted to his advisor, Dr. Arthur Daniels
for his wise counsel and encouragement given not only with respect to
the doctoral work but in all professional areas*
He is also indebted to Dr. Delbert Oberteuffer for his keen
analysis and criticism of this dissertation, and to Dr. Willard P.
Ashbrook for his examples of effective teaching procedures.
Last, but by no means least, the author must express his thanks
to his wife, Estelle, for patiently tolerating, for the past three
years, a husband who has been wedded to his desk, for assisting in
making some l3Lt-,000 tabulations, and for numerous typings and re-typ­
ings of rough copies of the dissertation, the typing of numerous
letters, and discussing with me and criticising many of the ideas pre­
sented in this dissertation.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter Page
DEDICATION...................................................................................................................... i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................ii
I INTRODUCTION
Increasing Numbers o£ Older People. . . . . . . . . . . 1
Necessity for Increasing Length of Productive Years . • 8
Unity of Man. ........................................ 11
Conflicts Increase in Number and Severity With Age. . . 13
The Relationship Between Chronic Ailments and Conflict. 19
Play Represents the Expression of Internal Stimuli. . . 16
Play Life Provides a Balancing Agent in life Organiza­
tion. . . ................................................................................................ 19
Activity and Health ...................................................................22
Scope and Purpose of This Study .........................................................3h
Methods of Procedure............................................................................................36
The Questionnaire............................................................. 37
limitations of the Study...................................................................................U2
A Review of Related Studies........................................................................1^4
ri INFLUENCE OF AGE AND INCOME UPON RECREATIONAL INTERESTS 36
Influence of Age Upon Recreational Interests...............................56
Influence of Income Upon Recreational Interests . . . . 6J4
III INFLUENCE OF AGE AND INCOME UPON RECREATIONAL HABITS ' 72
Influence of Age Upon Recreational Habits . . . . . . . 72
Influence of Income Upon Recreational Habits. . . . . . 78
IV RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RECREATIONAL INTERESTS AND HABITS 89
Influence of Age Upon These Relationships . . . . . . . 89
iii
Chapter Page
Influence of Income Upon These Relationships..........................• 95
V REASONS OFFERED FOR UNSATISFACTORY PARTICIPATION 101
Influence of Age Upon Reasons Offered for Unsatisfac­
tory Participation. . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Poor Health......................................................................................... 103
Lack of Time..............................................................................................................103
Lack of Money .................................................................................................. 101;
Lack of Facilities........................................................................ I0I4.
Lack of Knowledge or Skill. ......................................................... 105
Amount of Frustration Experienced in Satisfying Recre­
ational Desires......................................... 112
Summary of the Questionnaire Findings...............................................117
VI DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 123
Major Findings. .............................................................. 121;
A Recommended Personal Perspective. ............................................... 125
A Recommended Social Point of View................................................... 129
Industrial Recreation .................................... ll;8
Recommendations for Possible Contributions by Educa­
tional Institutions.................................................................................. l6l
Suggestions for Further Research.................................... 181
BIBLIOGRAPHY. ....................................................................................................I83
APPENDIX...................................................................................................................................190
LIST OF TABLES
Table Pag-e
1 PREDICTED CHANGE IN POFUIATION DISTRIBUTION...................................... 1
2 PERSONS AGED SIXTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE AND ABOVE........................... 2
3 IMPROVEMENT IN PHYSICAL FITNESS ITEMS AS A RESULT OF
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY......................................................................... 28
k NUMBER OF MEN WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE SPCHT LISTED AT
LEAST ONCE DURING THE YEAR l?UO (FROM HUSMAN). h$
5 PERCENTAGE OF MEN LIKING FIFTY-SEVEN AMUSEMENT ITEMS £l
(FROM STRONG)...........................................................................................................
6 RANK ORDER OF DECREMENT IN NUMBER OF MEN FROM SUCCESSIVE
AGE GROUPS............................................................................ 60
7 TWENTY MOST POPULAR ACTIVITIES IN EACH AGE GROUP....................... 63
8 TWENTY MOST POPULAR ACTIVITIES IN EACH INCOME GROUP. . . . 6£
9 ACTIVITIES FCR WHICH THE PARTICULAR INCOME GROUP SHOWED
A HIGHER PERCENTAGE OF LIKING THAN ANY OTHER INCOME
GROUP................................................................. 70
10 TWENTY ACTIVITIES PARTICIPATED IN MOST FREQUENTLY BY MEN OF
EACH OF THE FIVE AGE GROUPS........................................................................ 73
11 THE NINE ACTIVITIES IN WHICH FREQUENCY OF PARTICIPATION
INCREASED WITH AGE .................................................. 78
12 THE TWENTY ACTIVITIES PARTICIPATED IN MOST FREQUENTLY BY
MEN OF EACH INCOME GROUP . . . . . 7 9
13 EXTENT OF SELECTION OF ACTIVE FORMS OF RECREATION OVER 82
SEDENTARY FCKMS.....................................................................................................
1U DISCREPANCY SCCEES FOR AGE GROUPS................................................................ 86
l£ ACTIVITIES CLASSIFIED AS SEDENTARY AND MILDLY ACTIVE . . . 91
16 ACTIVITIES CLASSIFIED AS ACTIVE............................................... 92
17 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TOTAL DISCREPANCIES FOR SEDENTARY
AND MILDLY ACTIVE AND ACTIVE FCRMS OF RECREATION . . . . 93
18 DISCREPANCY SCORES FOR INCOME GROUPS....................................................... 96
v
Table Page
19 DISTRIBUTION OF REASONS FOR UNSATISFACTORY PARTICIPATION
WITHIN EACH AGE GROUP......................................... 103
20 COMPARISON IN NUMBER AND RELATIVE FREQUENCY OF REASONS
FOR UNSATISFACTORY PARTICIPATION BETWEEN ACTIVE AND
MILDLY ACTIVE AND SEDENTARY TYPES OF RECREATIONAL
ACTIVITIES FOR FOUR AGE GROUPS............................................................. 108
21 THE TWENTY-FIVE ACTIVITIES SHOWING THE LARGEST NUMBER OF
MEN LISTING REASONS FOR UNSATISFACTORY PARTICIPATION . . II3
22 SUGGESTED LIST OF ACTIVITIES APPROPRIATE TO EACH AGE
GROUP.................................... I3L;
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RECREATION AND THE AGING PROCESS
CHAPTER I
Intr o duct ion
Increasing Numbers of Older People. Due principally to advances in
medical science, public sanitation, and public health knowledge within
recent years, length of life universally and particularly in the
United States, has been steadily increasing. We can expect to see in­
creasing numbers of older people in our society.
Studies of the 19U0 Census reveal that while the population of
the United States as a whole increased 7.21 per cent over 1930, the
number of persons aged sixty-five or over increased 35*0 per cent.
In 19U0 there were approximately nine million people sixty-five or
more years old in this country. The Census Bureau, by conservative
estimate and assuming that there will be no increase in immigration,
predicts that in another thirty years the structure of our population
will be changed in the following ways tr­
iable 1
Predicted Change in Population Distribution
Years of Age 19U0 1980
9-19 3k.5$ 25.8$
20-5U 50.7% 1*7.0$
55-61* 8.0$ 12.8$
. $
Over 65 6 8 H*.l*$
•^Forecasts of the Population of the United States, 191*5 to 1975.
U. S. Bureau of Census, issued March l5, 191*8.
1
2
It can be seen that there will be a substantial increase in the
proportion of people over fifty-five and a decrease in the proportion
under fifty-five.
The United States Bureau of Census presents still another point
of view of the problem. The trend of those aged sixty-five and above
in the United States, according to Census data and predictions based
on median birth rate and median mortality rate and disregarding the
influence of immigration, is as follows
Table 2
Persons Aged Sixty-Five Tears of Age and Above
Year of Census Percentage
or Number of Total
Prediction Population
1900 3,080,000
1910 3,950,000 k.3%
1920 U,933,000 U.7$
1930 6,63U,000 5.U$
19U0 8,96Li,000 6,8$
19U5 10,110,000 7*2$
1950 11,193,000 7.7$
1955 12,583,000 8.U$
I960 13,978,000 9.1$
1965 15,157,000 9.7$
1970 16,370,000 10.2$
1975 17,6U6,000 10.9$
The above figures show an eighty-eight per cent increase from
1^00 to 1950 in the number of people sixty-five years of age or more,
with another forty—two per cent increase predicted in the next quarter
century.
^Ibid., p. 11.
Stieglitz observes that, the median age of the population increased
from 26J4. in 1930 to 28*9 in 19H0.3 This is an increase of 2.5 years
in the average age of the population -within a brief span of a decade.
He estimates that the median age of our population -will very probably
be close to forty—five in another fifty years.
Rate of Increase of Numbers of Elderly People May Accelerate. The pre­
dictions of the Census Bureau regarding the changes in the age distri­
bution of the population -were made -without regard for the enormous
strides being made by the relatively new branch of medicine called
geriatrics*
It has been shown experimentally that length of life can be in­
creased. Furthermore, many medical men believe, on the basis of
empirical evidence, that man's life span can be increased.^-
Edward L. Borts, past president of the American Medical Associa­
tion, is quoted as saying that a dog is full grown at two years and
lives to an average of twelve; a cat is full grown at one year and
a half and lives to ten; a horse is full grown at four and lives to
twenty-five. He reasoned that if a man is physically mature at
twenty-five, he should have a normal life span of one hundred and
fifty years.
Henry S. Simms of Columbia University*s College of Physicians
and Surgeons has computed that if the human body could retain all
■^Edward J. Stieglitz, The Second Forty Years, p. 17.
^-"The 150 Year Old Man, 11 Time, December 29, 19U7, p. 53•