All Work And No Play…Increases Stress and Decreases Happiness
We all know the old saying of “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” often used to recommend easing up a little. Research, hot off the presses, has not only proven this, but shown that for a healthy life it is actual very important advice to follow.
This was shown in a series of studies by researchers around Gabriela Tonietto of Ohio State University measuring a common belief in modern society that productivity is the ultimate goal and you’re just wasting time if you’re having fun. Those who most strongly agreed with this belief enjoyed leisure less (not surprisingly), but also showed poorer mental health levels.
For example in one study of 199 college students they were asked how much they agreed with five statements such as: “Time spent on leisure activities is often wasted time”. Those who reported leisure time as more wasteful enjoyed leisure time less. So far nothing unusual but we could just ascribe this to personality. “Some like this leisure stuff, others don’t”.
But when it came to other measures there were also dramatic differences. Notably those who reported leisure time as wasteful had higher rates of depression, lower levels of reported happiness, higher anxiety, and higher stress!
“There is plenty of research which suggests that leisure has mental health benefits and that it can make us more productive and less stressed,” -Selin Malkoc
This is in one hand unsurprising because less leisure leads to less positive chemicals circulating in the brain and body. On the other hand it is surprising because personality theory suggests that people should be attracted naturally to what is best for them personally and not an ideal standard. This suggests this is not true. To test this, though, an intervention study would need to be designed — take those leisure is waste thinkers and enable them to enjoy leisure time more and see if there are any changes.
That has not been done to date but in summary.
Those who think leisure time is wasteful enjoy leisure time less
They are also more depressed
They are also less happy
They also have higher anxiety
They also have higher stress
Some additional notes from the studies
There are cultural differences — the French are, for example, better at enjoying leisure time on average.
But the same correlations applies to the French, just that fewer of them report thinking leisure is wasteful, but those that do, report the same stress factors as US participants.
Leisure activities with meaningful duties such as partying with your kids still end up being just as enjoyable as those without meaningful duties.
There seemed to be no noticeable differences between passive and active leisure.
So the saying should be All work and no play makes you an unhappy, depressed, and stressed boy or girl (according to science).
Reference
Gabriela N. Tonietto, Selin A. Malkoc, Rebecca Walker Reczek, Michael I. Norton. Viewing leisure as wasteful undermines enjoyment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2021; 97: 104198 DOI: 10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104198