Everyday Heroism Expands Commitment to Hobbies and Leisure Among Adolescents and Young Adults

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Adolescent Pathways: Exploring Parental Influence, Neurodiversity, and Purpose in Youth

Abstract

Collaborations between mass media and developmental science suggest that adolescents and young adults experience maladaptive levels of anxiety and trauma. Youth at this transitional age often prefer risky, sensation-seeking experiences, but are advised to replace such habits, including social media use, with constructive hobbies and leisure activities. Blending opportunities for relaxation with perspectives on everyday heroism, we added adventure to this advice. Participants reported their hobbies and leisure activities alongside heroic dispositions, volitional states, and aspirations. Heroic priorities were compared with non-heroic motivational considerations to validate an intentional system that captures everyday heroism. Three overlapping intentional models convey how attention to heroism entices a healthy spirit of adventure that potentially improves individuals’ commitment to socially valuable hobbies and leisure activities.

Author

• Theresa A. Thorkildsen, University of Illinois at Chicago