Observations and research findings indicate that people in advanced industrial societies are increasingly concerned with opportunities for leisure and what they can do in their leisure time. The importance people attach to paid holidays and the rapid development of services for mass entertainment and recreation are signs of this increasing concern.

The term "quality of life" is difficult to define. It covers a very wide scope such as living environment, health, employment, food, family life, friends, education, material possessions, leisure and recreation, and so on. Generally speaking, the quality of life, especially as seen by the individual, is meaningful in terms of the degree to which these various areas of life are available or provide satisfaction to the individual.

As activity carried out as one thinks fit during one's spare time, leisure has the following functions: relaxation, recreation and entertainment, and personal development. The importance of these varies according to the nature of one's job and one's life-style. Thus, people who need to exert much energy in their work will find relaxation most desirable in leisure. Those with a better education and in professional occupations may tend more to seek recreation and personal development (e.g., cultivation of skills and hobbies) in leisure.

The specific use of leisure varies from individual to individual. Even the same leisure activity may be used differently be different individuals. Thus, the following are possible uses of television watching, a popular leisure activity: a change of experience to provide "escape" from the stress and strain of work; to learn more about what is happening in one's environment; to provide an opportunity for understanding oneself by comparing other people's life experiences as portrayed in the programmes.

In an urban society in which highly structured, fast-paced and stressful work looms large in life, experiences of a different nature, be it television watching or bird-watching, can lead to a self-renewal and a more "balanced" way of life.

Our likes and dislikes, tastes and preferences that underlie our choices of such activities as reading books, going to the cinema, camping, or certain cultural pursuits, are all related to social contexts and learning experiences. We acquire interests in a variety of things and subjects from our families, schools, jobs ,and the mass media. Basically, such attitudes amount to a recognition that leisure is an important area of life and a belief that leisure can and should be put to good use.

Professional workers in recreation services, too, will find that to impart positive leisure attitudes to the general public is essential for motivating them to use their leisure in creative and satisfying ways. Hence, it can be argued that the people with whom we come into contact in these various contexts are all likely to have exerted some influence in shaping our attitudes, interests and even skills relevant to how we handle leisure. Influence of this kind is a form of leadership.

Parents, teachers in schools, work associates and communicators in or using the mass media are all capable of arousing our potential interests. For example, the degree to which and the ways in which a school encourages participation in games, sports and cultural pursuits are likely to contribute to the shaping of leisure attitudes on the part of the students.

Schools usually set as their educational objective the attainment of a balanced development of the person. The more seriously this is sought, the more likely positive attitudes towards leisure as well as academic word will be encouraged.

观察和研究结果显示发达工业社会的人越来越关注的机会以及空闲时能做些什么。对带薪休假的重视和大众娱乐服务的快速进步是这种关注的标志。

"生活质量"这个词不好下定义。它包含很广的范围，例如生活环境、健康、就业、食品、家庭生活、教育、物质财富、休闲和娱乐，等等。一般地说，尤其在个人来看，生活质量由个人在多大程度上能够得到生活的这些方面并感到满意来衡量。

作为个人认为适合在业余时间进行的活动，休闲具有以下功能：放松、消遣和娱乐，以及个人发展。这些功能的重要性因各人的工作性质和生活方式而不同。因此，需要在工作中消耗大量精力的人会发现最想要在休闲中放松。受过较好教育的人和职业较为专业的人可能倾向于在休闲中寻找消遣和个人发展。

休闲的具体用途因人而异。甚至同样的休闲活动各人做起来也可能功能不同。下面是看电视的可能的用途，这是一种很常见的休闲活动：换种体验，从工作压力里"逃开"；了解更多身边的事情；通过比较节目中他人的生活经验提供一个了解自身的机会。

城市生活中，结构严密，步伐迅速，工作压力在生活中投下阴影，不同性质的经验，不管是看电视还是看鸟，都能达到自我更新更平衡的生活方式。

既然休闲基本上是个人决定的事，就可以做任何给自己带来愉悦和满足的活动，发展个人兴趣爱好。

我们的好恶、品位、喜好决定了我们是选择看书、看电影、露营、或某种文化追求，而前者又同社会环境和学习经验有关。我们从来自家庭、、学校工作和大众传媒的事物中获得各种兴趣。基本上这种态度就等于承认休闲是生活的重要部分，相信休闲能够并且应该得到充分利用。

休闲服务的职业工作者也会发现赋予公众对休闲的下面态度对于促使他们以创造性的、令人满意的方式休闲很重要。因而，可以认为我们在各种环境中与之打交道的人往往对我们形成与休闲有关的态度、举甚至技巧都产生了影响。这种影响是一种引导。

父母、老师、工作同伴和大众媒体的传播者都能激发我们潜在的兴趣。例如，学校对于做游戏、参加体育活动和文化追求的鼓励的程度和方式很可能对学生休闲态度的形成产生影响。

学校常常把人的平衡发展作为它们的教育目标。越是认真地追求这一目标，这越可能鼓励正面的休闲态度，就像鼓励学业一样。