In the psychology of well-being (positive psychology), we study what makes people happy and satisfied, what contributes to the quality of their life, and how we can increase those positive outcomes.

It’s no secret that people differ significantly in their pursuit of happiness, but there are still some key domains that are important to almost everyone. The most often mentioned among these are rewarding social contacts and the feeling of self-accomplishment and personal growth. Interestingly, for the majority of people, finances and other material things contribute to personal well-being only up to the point where they can lead a decent life without worrying about every cent they spend. Similarly, good health alone will not make us happier, but once it’s impaired, it becomes a significant source of dissatisfaction.

Besides family and work conditions, the way we spend our leisure time is one of the main factors responsible for life satisfaction. As people have more free time and the diversity of available choice grows, one can choose from a variety of activities to fill free time, from lounging around watching TV or scrolling through social media to engaging in highly involving and challenging activities such as playing or studying bridge.

In the second half of the 20th century, Dr. Robert A. Stebbins, a world-famous Canadian sociologist, coined the term "serious leisure." Initially, it sounded a bit like an oxymoron to me. I wondered, "Am I not serious enough during my work? Isn’t leisure supposed to be something relaxing, undemanding, and fun, not another serious thing?"

Dr. Stebbins defines serious leisure as a systematic pursuit of an amateur, hobbyist, or volunteer activity that is highly substantial, interesting, and fulfilling and where, in the typical case, participants find a career in acquiring and expressing a combination of its special skills, knowledge, and experience (Stebbins, 1992). As you may suspect, bridge is one such activity. This means that the game itself has the potential to generate quality time spent in a systematic and dedicated manner, leading to the acquisition of special skills, knowledge, and fulfilling experiences. But do we need to become professionals to experience the benefits of bridge as a serious leisure activity? No 😊. Just as an amateur musician, gardener, or volunteer at an animal shelter flourishes from an engaging hobby, a bridge player, deeply involved in the game benefits regardless of professional status.

It's important to note that a wide variety of activities can serve as serious leisure, but whether a specific activity fulfills this role for a particular person depends on how they pursue it. The more engaged and systematic someone is, the more likely they are to experience the benefits of serious leisure.

The main difference between serious leisure and “just” leisure is that during serious leisure, a person is active and physically and/or mentally engaged in an effort to improve themselves, or to create or contribute to something. Therefore, entertainment activities such as watching TV shows or scrolling through social networks can hardly be considered serious leisure activities as we are (usually) only passively consuming content.

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes we all need time to exist in a completely unproductive and lazy manner, with minimal mental and physical involvement. In Croatia, we say "Mozak na pašu," which literally means “brain on pasture.” So, don’t worry if some of your free time isn’t filled with what we call serious leisure; you can still enjoy yourself in a purely hedonic way, and it is completely natural and even necessary for good mental health.

However, as you are reading this, you probably play bridge, and I hope most of you don’t just randomly click on bids and cards but are rather involved in the game and therefore receive some benefits of serious leisure. From personal experience, I know that sometimes I decide to play a tournament even when I’m not mentally prepared, just to avoid doing other things, or to procrastinate, because I’m too tired to do other things. In such cases, I don’t get the same pleasure as when I look forward to every board and fully immerse myself in the game. Consequently, I often become irritated as I feel like I’m abusing the game I love. I believe that most players have experienced both scenarios: playing with high motivation and effort that enables immersion into the game, and playing only as a way of killing time without much dedication. In the former case, you’re likely to feel self-accomplished and satisfied, while in the latter you may feel restless and futile. So, although some activities have greater potential to provide serious leisure benefits, it is how you approach an activity that really matters.

Research shows that spending time on activities you enjoy helps to improve your mental health and well-being. There are so many things in life we feel we have to do for one reason or another, so letting yourself choose truly satisfying free-time activities could be a key to happiness. People who are engaged in enjoyable hobbies report better health, fewer symptoms of depression, and higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction.

In the series of columns that will follow over the coming months, I’ll explore how bridge contributes to well-being and how to approach the game to maximize positive outcomes. Don’t worry, I won’t share my thoughts on preempting as no one would profit from those, but rather explain how playing bridge is associated with well-being and how to make it a rewarding life ingredient. We’ll discuss bridge as an instrument that provides intellectual challenge, status, social connectedness and approval, as well as the experience of various intense emotions.

I hope you’ll share your thoughts regarding the positive experiences you’ve gained from being engaged in the game at all levels, and I’ll try to elaborate and summarize so we can all learn from it. Feel free to refer to these articles if you want help to convince those who might be reluctant to take a bridge course, or to explain to friends and family why bridge is such a big deal in your life.

About the Author

Tihana Brkljačić is a psychologist and a bridge player. She teaches psychology and bridge at Zagreb university. She represented Croatia at multiple European championships and at The World Championship (Wuhan cup) in 2022. As a psychologist, her main areas of interest are in quality of life, well-being and communication. Additionally, she studies the psychology of games (focusing on bridge in particular) and consults players on various topics.