Leisure Motivation Scale

What it measures

Measures four motivational dimensions underlying leisure and tourism participation. The Intellectual dimension captures motivation to learn, explore, discover, create, and imagine. The Social dimension captures motivation to build relationships and meet new people. Competence-Mastery captures motivation to achieve, master, challenge, and compete through physical or mental skill. Stimulus-Avoidance captures motivation to escape, avoid stress, rest, and seek solitude away from life demands. Foundational to leisure studies; widely applied in tourism, recreation, and sport event research. Stimulus-Avoidance is consistently the most common dominant leisure motivation in general population samples.

Response format

Likert (1–4, almost never true to almost always true)

Scale items

Intellectual Component — engaging in activities involving learning, exploring, and imagining (Likert 1–5, never to always)

• I like to learn things when I participate in leisure activities.
• I like to explore new ideas in my leisure time.
• I like to figure out how things work.
• I find leisure activities that challenge me intellectually very satisfying.
• I use my leisure time to expand my knowledge.
• I like to explore new places and environments.
• I enjoy reading and other mentally stimulating activities.
• I enjoy solving puzzles and problems.
• I like to attend educational events during my leisure time.
• My favourite leisure activities involve learning something new.
• I enjoy activities that allow me to be creative.
• I like to develop new skills during leisure activities.

Social Component — engaging in leisure activities with others

• Leisure activities give me a chance to meet new people.
• I enjoy the social interaction that comes with leisure activities.
• Leisure activities give me an opportunity to develop close friendships.
• I like doing leisure activities that require co-operating with other people.
• I enjoy spending time with others in leisure activities.
• Being with others is one of the main reasons I participate in leisure activities.
• My leisure activities give me a sense of belonging.
• I like to interact with other people during leisure activities.
• I enjoy leisure activities that involve group participation.
• Leisure activities give me the opportunity to build friendships.
• I participate in leisure activities to be with friends.
• I like to do things with other people during my leisure time.

Competence-Mastery Component — achieving, mastering, challenging, and competing

• I like to use my physical abilities in leisure activities.
• I enjoy participating in activities that require skill.
• I participate in leisure activities because I enjoy competition.
• I participate in leisure activities because I like to learn and practise new skills.
• I like to challenge myself in leisure activities.
• I enjoy leisure activities that require a high level of skill.
• I find it satisfying to improve my performance in leisure activities.
• I enjoy the challenge of physically demanding leisure activities.
• I participate in leisure activities to test my abilities.
• I enjoy activities that require endurance.
• I enjoy activities that are physically challenging.
• I like to compete in leisure activities.

Stimulus-Avoidance Component — escaping and getting away from social contacts

• I use leisure activities to relax.
• I find leisure activities help me to unwind.
• I use leisure activities to escape the pressures of daily life.
• Leisure activities allow me to slow down and recover from the pressures of the day.
• I participate in leisure activities to get away from the demands of others.
• I use leisure activities as a way to get away from it all.
• I participate in leisure activities to be alone.
• I like to be in quiet places during my leisure time.
• I enjoy the solitude of leisure activities.
• I use leisure activities to avoid stress.
• Leisure activities help me to calm down.
• I participate in leisure activities to restore my energy and vitality.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

Four subscale scores. A 16-item short form (4 items per subscale) is recommended for tourism survey contexts. The LMS consistently outperforms unidimensional motivation scales in predicting activity preference, satisfaction, and loyalty. Stimulus-Avoidance and Social motivations are highest for beach and resort tourism; Competence-Mastery and Intellectual motivations are highest for adventure and cultural tourism.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Beard, J.G., & Ragheb, M.G. (1983). Measuring leisure motivation. Journal of Leisure Research, 15(3), 219–228.

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