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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. i i 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; v± 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•

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