Chapter 1: Introduction to Positive Sociology of Leisure, Shintaro Kono , Anju Beniwal, Priyanka Baweja and Karl Spracklen.- Chapter 2: Positive Sociology: An Overview, Robert A. Stebbins.- Section 1: Meanings of Leisure.- Chapter 3: Happiness and Perseverance: The Interplay of Emotional Energies in Gray Dancing; Satu Heikkinen and Eva Alfredsson-Olsson.- Chapter 4. "One Can Make a Swing with a Rope and a Piece of Wood”: The Positive Leisure Experience of Children Living in the Informal Settlements of Soacha, Colombia; Andrea Diaz and Idurre Lazcano.- Chapter 5. Anything Goes for Being Happy? A Qualitative Analysis of Discourses on Leisure in Finland; Riie Heikkilä.- Chapter 6. An Evolving Leisure Practice: Home Climbing Walls as a Case; KoFan Lee, Daniel Peretti and Piin Shiuan Wu.- Section 2: Ageing.- Chapter 7. The Complexity of Sport-as-Leisure in Later Life; Julie Son and Rylee Dionigi.- Chapter 8. Leisure and Late Adulthood: Examining the Benefits of Participation during Retirement; Thomas Sweeney and Jennifer Zorotovich.- Chapter 9. Life-Course Transitions and Leisure in Later Life: Retirement between Continued Productivity and Late Freedom; Anna Wanka.- Section 3: Sex, Sexuality, and Family.- Chapter 10. Same-sex Pairings on Strictly Come Dancing: Queer Identity and Leisure Participation in Ballroom Dancing; Vicki Harman and Yen Nee Wong.- Chapter 11. The Intersection of Leisure and Racial Socialization to Promote Positive Practices; Augustus W. Hallmon and Desirée Y. McMillion.- Chapter 12. Sex as Leisure for the Japanese Women; Maki Hirayama.- Section 4: Community, Youth, and Education.- Chapter 13. Positive Youth Development and Communities: Practices that Work and the Potential for Community Development; Evan Webb.- Chapter 14. Evolving Societal Contributions of Leisure Education; Julie Son, Elizabeth Weybright, Megan Janke and Laura Payne.- Chapter 15. Digital Gaming: A New Way of Programming Happiness and Creativity in Youth; Anju Beniwal.- Chapter 16. Reflecting on Perceptions of Local Communities and Visitors: Sustainable Heritage Leisure and Tourism; Charles Spring and Lisa Wakefield.- Section 5: Arts and Creativity.- Chapter 17. Transformative Leisure and Play: Bringing Forth Our Reason for Being; Susan Ross, Yoshitaka Iwasaki, Joshua Bauer, & Paul Heintzman.- Chapter 18. Adolescent, Identity and Community Art; Vaishali Sharma.- Chapter 19. Doodling:  A Positive Creative Leisure Practice; Priyanka Baweja.- Chapter 20. Conclusion to Positive Sociology of Leisure; Shintaro Kono, Anju Beniwal, Priyanka Baweja and Karl Spracklen.

This edited collection explores Positive Sociology of Leisure (PSL) as a subfield relating to leisure studies, sociology of leisure, and sociology of happiness.Defined as an area of research that examines social aspects of leisure life with a focus on the optimal functioning of relationship, group, community, organization, and other social units, PSL differs from more critical forms of sociology in that its starting point is social positives.The contributions draw on a range of diverse disciplinary backgrounds to consider various meanings of leisure across themes such as: ageing; sex, sexuality and family; community, youth, and education; and arts and creativity.Positive Sociology of Leisure will be a key reference within the field of sociology of leisure, as well as an important introductory book for those interested in leisure studies.

“Using the framework developed by Robert Stebbins, Positive Sociology complements Martin Seligman’s Positive Psychology extremely well. Congratulations to the editors for the much-anticipated publication on affirmative issues in leisure. The aspects of social life with a focus on optimal functioning of relationship, group, community, organization, and other social units are an excellent beginning for the Positive Sociology of Leisure.” — Francis Lobo, Professor at Edith Cowan University, Australia  “This book is a very welcome addition to the sociology of leisure for highlighting the variety in how people in different countries use their leisure, and how leisure experiences enrich their lives.” — Ken Roberts, Professor at the University of Liverpool, UK

Combines a strong focus on “positive” sociology of leisure, with critical leisure studies literature Reflects the recent trend to integrate leisure studies and studies of well-being and positive psychology Takes a global view of the topic, and contains research from five continents