An Examination of the Structure of Leisure Interests of College Students, Working-Age Adults, and Retirees

In this study, the authors investigated the extent to which factor and spatial structures of leisure interests (a) are similar to or distinct from the structure of vocational interests and (b) differ across 3 cohorts: college students (M_age = 19.6 years, SD = 1.23), working-age adults (M_age = 29.7, SD = 1.18), and retirees (M_age = 72.3 years, SD = 5.40). Factor analytic, multidimensional scaling, and covariance structure modeling strategies were used to assess the structure of leisure interests as measured with the Leisure Interest Questionnaire (J. C. Hansen, 1998). Only partial convergence was found for the structure of leisure interests with J. L. Holland's (1985) model of vocational interest structure, suggesting that researchers should be cautious about using vocational interests as markers for leisure interests. However, the similarity in structure of interests across the three samples was greater than hypothesized. Implications for research on leisure interests and for counseling practice are discussed.