Significados, valores e experiências de lazer: uma investigação na sociedade natalense

Abstract

Leisure as an object of study has been attracting attention in Brazil since the 1970s, but research related to the theme in the city of Natal is commonly related to tourism or restricted to very specific sectors/aspects, so we sought to carry out a more comprehensive research on of leisure, taking into account, above all, the perceptions of the population regarding the theme. The general objective of our work was to analyze the life experiences that culminated in the valorization (or not) of leisure by individuals, and as specific objectives, we aim to present the meanings and identify the values of leisure for the people of Natal, as well as the cultural interests of predominant leisure activities in our population and to map the leisure physical/sports activities of these citizens. Thus, we conducted our study by briefly exposing the history of leisure, presenting its concepts, functions and contents over time, reflecting on the origin of fundamental values and considering the possibilities of leisure values, and undertaking the analysis of perceptions of Natal population about the meanings, values and experiences of leisure. We delimited the city of Natal/RN and its metropolitan region as a research space, defining the final number of participants by theoretical saturation, reaching a quantitative of 94 social actors. The research methodology used followed a qualitative, descriptive approach, where an online questionnaire was applied as a data collection tool, using Bardin's categorical content analysis in data analysis. The results pointed out as the main meanings of leisure for the people of Natal: pleasure, free time, rest and fun. With regard to leisure values, the most expressive was the value related to health and well-being. In the field of experiences, we have seen all cultural interests of leisure in our society covered, although manual content has been shown to be the least practiced by the social actors in this study, while physical/sporting and social content appeared as the most frequently experienced. In relation to experiences that impeded the enjoyment of leisure, we found lack of time, lack of opportunity/space, onerousness, personal limitations, the pandemic, among others. On the other hand, among the experiences that inspired the appreciation of physical/sports leisure, there were those related to health, social, childhood, the development of intrapersonal skills, school, some competitions, family, among others. Thus, we concluded our research with exciting results, which demonstrated a certain awareness of the population regarding our object of study, in addition, desirable values were attributed to leisure and its importance was recognized by society, although it is still necessary to find solutions to some issues that have arisen. as recurrent hindrances in the enjoyment of leisure, the participation of Natal residents in activities of this nature is still encouraging.