Consumers' Social Profile and Leisure-Time Physical Activities of Non-Career Women in Obio-Akpor LGA in Rivers State, Nigeria

Work-related stress and poor leisure culture have been identified as one of the causes of death among men and women in Africa. However, existing data provide little insight into the leisure-time physical activities of non-career women in Nigeria. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the correlation between social status (education, social class and reference group) and leisure behaviour (participation in leisure-time physical activities) of non-career women in Rumuodomaya, Port Harcourt. The study adopted the survey research design whereby primary data were obtained from a sample size of 138, comprising non-career non-career women drawn from 5 locations in the Rumuodomaya community, Obio-Akopr, LGA, Port Harcourt through the questionnaire method. Simple percentage, ranking technique, mean score and standard deviation were deployed for descriptive, univariate analysis while the Pearson Product Moment Correlation method was adopted for the bivariate analysis (hypotheses testing). The findings of this study established that the level of participation in leisure-time physical activities was low among non-career women in Rumuodomaya, Port Harcourt compared to in-door leisure-time activities. Educational background, social class and reference group were found to be significant determinants of participation in leisure-time recreational activities by non-career women in Rumuodomaya. Therefore, the study concluded that that educational background, social class and reference groups of the non-career women significantly correlated with their leisure behaviour. The study recommended among other things, out-door physical work-outs for their physical, emotional, creative and mental well-being since work-outs are less expensive than fun-oriented leisure activities.