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Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 191 (2015) 2213 2218

WCES 2014

Study Of The Relationship Between Leisure Time Activities And

Assertiveness Levels Of Students Of Abant Izzet Baysal University
Emine ERATAYa, Yasemin AYDOANb*
a

Special Education Department, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu,14280, Turkey

Basic Education Department, Abant Izzet Baysal University, Bolu,14280, Turkey

Abstract
This study aims at identifying the relationship between the leisure time activities and 1 the assertiveness levels of students of
Abant Izzet Baysal University, Faculty of Education, Departments of Elementary Education and Special Education. The General
Information Form, Leisure Time Activities Survey and Rathus Assertiveness Schedule have been applied to 2006 students
included into the study. Chi Square Test, Anova, correlation and variance analysis have been used in the analysis of data. It has
been concluded in the study that the opinions regarding time spent by students on leisure time, money preferences and the
benefits of the activities varied based on the respective units of the students; and a meaningful relationship has not been found
between the assertiveness levels, the units of education and the situation related with making use of leisure time.
2015
2014Published
The Authors.
Published
by Elsevier
Ltd.

by Elsevier
Ltd. This
is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of WCES 2014.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of WCES 2014
Keywords: Leisure time, recreational activities, university students.

1.Introduction
In addition to the importance given to work time, the individuals are placing a distinctive importance on the use
of time outside of work and exerting great efforts to spend said time in a more effective, efficient and entertaining
manner (Soyer,1997;Szer,1997; Wilson and Arnold, 1997). While participation in leisure time activities vary based
on life styles and characteristics of individuals (Balc,2003), the types of activities and the method and period of
participation are affected by numerous factors such as race, social and personal characteristics, age and gender

*Yasemin Aydoan Tel.: +90 505 367 78 29; Fax: +90 374 253 46 41
E-mail address: yaseminaydogan@yahoo.com

1877-0428 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of the Organizing Committee of WCES 2014
doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.532

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Emine Eratay and Yasemin Aydoan / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 191 (2015) 2213 2218

(Ulutak,1988; Ben-Arieh and Ofir, 2002; Nippold et al.,2005). Moreover, it has been determined that racial
characteristics (Shinew et al., 2004), social class and age (Roberts, 2004), family (Robertson, 1999) and the cultural
understanding (Shaw et at., 1996) constitute an important factor. Use of leisure time gains significance in certain
age periods. In addition to the personal benefits gained by individuals from participation in leisure time activities,
considering that it supports identity, intellectual, physical and linguistic development and reduces undesired,
improper or anti-social behaviors while entailing an entertaining function (Segin,1996; Shaw et al.,1996; Nippold
et al.,2005), learning to use the time in an efficient and effective manner is of great importance in order to achieve
both individual and social happiness, especially in a country like Turkey, which has a young population density
(Soyer,1997; Szer,1997). It has been determined that students participating in programs on lifelong conscious use
of time, aiming at preventing wasting and misuse of time and supporting positive leisure time activities, in America,
are more sensitive towards social events and have a higher level of decision-making, entrepreneurship, openness to
be new interests and participation in sports and nature-based activities, compared to those who do not attend said
programs (Caldwell et al.,2004). Use of leisure time and participation in recreational activities by the young
individuals occur in a semi-organized manner during the university education to the extent of the possibilities
provided by the schools, and in this context, the universities undertake a guiding role in terms of optimal use of time
by students outside the official education (Onat, 2001; Balc, 2003). Maintaining equality in human relationships,
explaining ones self as they really are, conveying of positive-negative emotions and resisting against unfavorable
requests and requesting from others, i.e. assertiveness is very important for university students, who shall begin their
work-life after completion of their education. Individuals, who are not assertive or who have low assertiveness
levels, are not capable of fulfilling their requirements, and may experience psychological and social dissatisfaction
and are not able to establish effective and successful communication (Becet, 1989). In order for the universities to
undertake their guiding responsibility and to establish collaboration with other institutions, the programs on leisure
time use and the infrastructural facilities related with these must be determined along with the method and reasons
of participation of students in said kinds of activities. For this reason, this study aims at determining how the
university youth, which is seen as a transition period in which the personality development is shaped greatly and the
adulthood model is established, makes use of their leisure time, the activities related with said use, and the
relationship between participation in leisure time activities and their assertiveness levels, and presenting
recommendations to the institutions, instructors and the students on this subject.
2.Material and Method
This study, aiming at determining the leisure time use situation of students of the Abant Izzet Baysal University,
included 206 students, attending the mathematics, social sciences, primary school education and preschool education
programs of the elementary education department and the special education department in the academic year of
2012-2013. General Information Form, which has been prepared to obtain general information regarding the
students and their families, Leisure Time Activities Survey, which has been prepared by Aydoan and Aral (2006)
to obtain information on the periods, use and preferences related with leisure time of students, and the Rathus
Assertiveness Schedule, adopted to Turkish by Voltan Acar (1980) have been used in the study. The survey forms
have been applied to all volunteering students of the Elementary Education and Special Education Departments in
groups. Frequency-percentage values have been used in the analysis of the data while Chi Square test has been used
to determine whether the use of leisure time by students changed based on the class they are attending, and the
relationship between leisure time and assertiveness has been investigated by simple correlation.
3.Findings and Discussion
As a result of the study conducted to determine the preferences of the students regarding leisure time activities, it
has been determined that the students included into the work group, consisted of 71.8% girls and 28.2% boys; 13.1%
in age group 19-20, 71.4% in age group 21-22, 12.6& in age group 23,24 and 2.95 over 25; that the students lived in
provincial centers at a rate of 62%, sub provinces and villages at a rate of 38% until their university education; that
97% of the students were single and 3% were either engaged or married; and that 67.5% graduated from ordinary

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senior high school, 13.6% graduated from vocational senior high schools and 18.9% graduated from Anadolu Senior
High School. Examination of how the expenses were covered by the students notwithstanding their departments,
revealed that 76% students received allowance from their families 45% received scholarship, 35% received credit,
6% worked and 67% received an allowance under 400 liras and that 57% of the students used maximum 100 Liras
from their allowances in leisure time activities.
Table 1. Distribution of Students included into the Study by Most Frequent Leisure Time Activities and Departments
Primary
Social
Special
School
Science
Mathematics
Preschool.
Science
Education
No.
Education N:
N: 27
N: 26
N: 52
N: 38
N: 30
33
Listening
Listening
Reading
Reading
Resting
Reading
music
music
1
24 (89%)
26 (100%)
34 (89%)
44 (85%)
24 (80%)
26 (79%)
Listening
Watching TV
Reading
Resting
Resting
Resting
music
2
26 (100%)
33 (87%)
21 (70%)
26 (79%)
39 (75%)
23 (85%)
Listening
Resting
Cinema
Reading
Reading
Music
music
3
16 (59%)
26 (100%)
19 (63%)
18 (55%)
38 (73%)
31 (82%)
Housework
Friends
Housework
Watching TV
Friends
Housework
4
15 (56%)
26 (100%)
20 (53%)
14 (47%)
18 (55%)
25 (48%)
Watching TV
Street act.
Watching TV
Friends
Cinema
Cinema
5
14 (52%)
23 (88%)
19 (50%)
17 (57%)
17 (52%)
25 (48%)

When the preference of students regarding leisure time activities in Table 1 is evaluated without distinction of
their Departments, it has been determined that top five preferences of the students are music (80%), reading (80%),
resting (67%), watching TV (50%) and being with friends (49%). In a similar study with university students, it has
been concluded that the students used their leisure time mainly in passive activities and it has been determined that
the activity types they preferred at the highest rates are reading in first position and listening music in second
position (Szer, 1997). Based on the results obtained, the passive activities attract the young individuals at higher
rates. The reason of this may be the community not having adequate knowledge on active activities or limited
possibilities. Considering the students as a whole, the places where the students preferred to spend their leisure are
the outdoors at 40%, their own homes at 38%, dormitories at 23%, friends homes at 18% and locations like
patisseries and cafs at 14%. Although, the students are staying in dormitories, the first preference has been towards
the outdoors. It can be said that failure in provision of adequate facilities by dormitories related with leisure time use
may be effective in this outcome. In a similar study on use of leisure time, it has been determined that adequate
recreational environments are not provided to the students staying dormitories, the personnel members are
indifferent towards leisure time and that the recreational needs are generally fulfilled by the private sector
(Arslan,1996). Based on these reasons, it can be said that the dormitories are preferred in the last positions in leisure
time use. It has been determined that the department attended by the students is statistically meaningful in terms of
opinions related with leisure time periods of students [X 2 (15)=39.331, p<.01]. It can be said that the fourth class
students, placing greater importance on the exams with the vocational and employment concerns, and their concerns
related with the future are affecting the leisure time use, and thus, majority of their leisure time is allocated to
studying or activities related with the lessons. Considering the general total, it is seen that the students included in
the study have leisure time of 3 hours or less at a rate of 30%, 4-5 hours at a rate of 28%, 6-7 hours at a rate of 24%
and 8 hours or more at a rate of 18%. This situation makes it clear that students from all classes need to use their
leisure time in a way that is beneficial for the student and the society, in an entertaining manner and in a way to
increase motivation in school and work-life. While Soyer (1997) has concluded in his study on the leisure time
habits of university students that the period allocated daily to leisure time activities by 61.4% of the students is
between 0-3 hours, it has been determined in a similar study by Ekici (1997) that this period is between 0-4 hours
for 70.8%. The results of these studies show that the students of the Faculty of Education of Abant Izzet Baysal
University have more leisure time. It can be considered that this may be due to the summer school programs and the
greater number of applied lessons. The fact that these students have more leisure time compared to other

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universities necessitates positive use of said periods, participation in recreational activities and provision of
comprehensive guidance of the students on this subject, and said activities are of great importance in terms of
professional and personality developments and maturation of the students. In a different study with a domain
consisting of working individuals, it has been determined that despite the fact that the majority of personnel
working in an institution had three-hours of leisure time per day, they participated in leisure time activities once a
week; that the personnel considered the leisure time facilities at the institution as being inadequate in terms of
quality and quantity; and that the personnel believe that they will participate in leisure time activities at a greater
extent if given the chance (Yeti, 2000). It has been determined in the study that the students prefer spending time
with their friends or friend groups at a rate of 75%. In the study conducted by Szer (1997), it has been determined
that the university students preferred to spend their leisure time mostly with friend groups. It has been determined
that the respective divisions of the students played a role on the preference of students regarding persons with whom
they like to spend their leisure time [X2(5)=14.444, p<.05]. It has been determined that the division attended by
students plays a role on the money amount allocated by students to leisure time activities [X 2(15)=31.839, p<.01]. It
can be considered that majority (45%) of the fathers of students included into the study being civil servants may be
effective on the money amount allocated to leisure time activities. It is observed that the majority of the students
participated in courses, conferences and seminars at times; that despite the fact that the percentage of those who
have said they could not spare time for said kinds of activities is low, this percentage is high in the preschool group;
and that the percentage of the students who stated that they always participated is greater in primary school
education and science education division. It may be said that these findings may be due to fourth class students
having more limited leisure time and the preparations related with vocational application lessons requiring more
effort. Based on the results of the one sample X 2 test, majority of the students included into the study (56.3%) are
aware of the facilities that may be of assistance in the use of leisure time at their universities, and the remaining
students stated that their universities did not have such facilities or that they were not aware of said facilities. The
difference observed in the opinions of the students on whether their universities had facilities that could be used for
leisure time has been found to be statistically meaningful [X2(2)=53.864, p<.01]. Majority of students in the science,
mathematics, social science and primary school education teaching divisions has requested opening of skill and
profession development courses from the university administration while the majority of the students of the special
education and preschool education divisions have requested opening of hobby clubs. It is interesting to note that the
lowest demand has been towards sportive activities in all groups. It has been determined that divisions attended by
students did not have an effect on the opinions of the university students on the leisure time use activities [X2
(15)=31.949, p<.01]. Examination of the assertiveness points of the students reveals that the mean assertiveness
= 23.60) are higher than that of the other students; and
points of students of the social science education division (X
= 16.93). Based on the
that the students of the primary school education have lowest mean assertiveness points ( X
results of the variance analysis, it has been determined that there are no meaningful relationships between the
assertiveness attitude points of the students and the division they are attending [F (200) = .877, p>.05].
No meaning relationship could be found between the assertiveness attitude points of the students and their
leisure time use situation (r = -0,071 p=0.311 >.01). It can be said that this may be due to students focusing on
similar leisure time activities, mainly preferring passive activities and having assertiveness attitude points close to
one another. Self-expression, conveying of emotions, resisting unfavorable requests and presenting requests to
others, i.e. assertiveness is not practiced at a high level by students during passive activities.
4.Conclusion and Recommendations
It has been determined in the study that the activity preferred the most by the students in their leisure time is
listening to music, which is followed by resting and subsequently by reading; and that majority of the students stated
that they wanted to spend their leisure time in the outdoors such as parks and gardens. It has been determined that
majority of the students did not have excessive leisure time and that they mainly wanted to be with their friend
groups, and that they could allocated 50 TL and less to said activities. Again, majority of all students have stated
that they participated in courses, conferences, seminars, etc meeting at all times or occasionally; that they considered
the facilities of their universities related with leisure time use as being inadequate or were not aware of said

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facilities; that they mainly requested courses aiming at skill and profession development from the universities; and
that they believed that leisure time activities improved especially their knowledge and skills. It has been determined
that the assertiveness attitude points of the university students differed based on their respective divisions and that
there are no meaningful relationships between the assertiveness points and the leisure time use situations.
Universities have great responsibility in development of attitudes and behaviors related with leisure time use and
they must fulfill this responsibility. However, the results of this study and similar studies necessitate a more
effective planning and application towards making use of leisure time in conformity with the purpose. Under the
light of this study and similar studies, it is of great importance for each department in universities to study the
participation of their students in recreational activities in qualitative and quantitative terms, and to evaluate
especially the environmental conditions of the province they are situated and the socio-cultural conditions of the
families so as to make more realistic planning on the subject. Collaboration with the administrations of universities
in different countries shall also be effective in terms of providing a more universal point of view to the students.
Universities should prepare environments and environmental conditions so as to enable spending of energy by
students in a favorable manner during their leisure time. Establishment of a senior level commission, consisting of
lecturers and students, and conducting of the works in collaboration with commissions to be established in every
unit of the universities shall be useful in this subject.
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