Why might these activities be beneficial? From the coping literature perspective, Lazarus and colleagues suggested that enjoyable activities may be salutary, especially during times of stress and in the recovery period post stress ( 1). These might include hobbies, sports, socializing, or spending time in nature. We define enjoyable leisure activities broadly as the pleasurable activities that individuals engage in voluntarily when they are free from the demands of work or other responsibilities. On the other hand, noticeably less emphasis has been devoted toward the health implications of engaging in enjoyable leisure activities that may also have beneficial properties. Similarly, many studies have been devoted to examining the impact of specific healthy behaviors, such as eating a good diet and having proper sleep hygiene.
Considerable research has examined the health impact of damaging behaviors, such as smoking, physical inactivity, and medical noncompliance.
