The Role Of Spatial Trajectory In Leisure Participation

There are a number of studies in the literature investigating the relationship between leisure participation and place of residence. However, scant attention has been given to the impact of the spatial trajectory – or relocating – on individuals’ leisure activities. The authors of this paper attempt to close this gap by examining spatial mobility as an instance of social mobility. The empirical analysis draws upon data from the 2016 Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey, the sample includes 9251 respondents. The leisure participation variable was obtained through the cluster analysis. Sobel’s Diagonal Reference Model was utilized to evaluate the relative impact of the locality of destination and the locality of origin on the likelihood of belonging to a certain cluster. A crucial result of the study is the empirical confirmation that the spatial trajectory – the place of residence of the parental family, the location where higher education is obtained, the current place of residence – has a significant effect on individuals’ current leisure participation. Thus, the spatial trajectory may be viewed as another source of social distinction that researchers studying leisure activities have not yet focused on.