Hobbyists and Amateurs

Hobbyists and amateurs distinguish themselves from many other kinds of participants in leisure in that the first two systematically pursue, typically over a period of many years, a complex, specialized, highly fulfilling free-time activity. Such leisure engenders acquisition of substantial skill, knowledge, or experience, usually a combination of these. Amateurs enjoy a special relationship with professionals in the same activity and with an interested public. Meanwhile, hobbyists are distinguished from amateurs primarily by lack of a professional counterpart. Hobbyists may also have commercial equivalents and often have small publics who are interested in what they achieve.

Sometimes called enthusiasms, amateurism and hobbyism are largely Western pastimes. They are classified as “serious leisure,” which is frequently compared with “casual leisure”: the immediately, intrinsically rewarding, relatively short-lived, pleasurable core activity requiring little or no special training to enjoy it. Thus, a casual leisure dabbler on the piano differs in attitude and acquired skill from an amateur, who in turn differs along these same lines from a professional. Likewise, people who accumulate a few old books are not book collectors, since collectors are hobbyists who, among other accomplishments, systematically acquire books, learn their value as collectibles, and know the place of each in society, culture, and history.

The consumptive practices of hobbyists and amateurs vary considerably according to type of participant. Amateurs are found in art, science, sports, and entertainment. Hobbyists turn up in collecting, making and tinkering activities, activity participation (noncompetitive, rule-based pursuits, e.g., fishing, barbershop singing), sports and games (competitive, rule-based pursuits, e.g., field hockey, long-distance running), and the liberal arts hobbies (extensive self-directed learning in an art, cuisine, language, science, culture, history, etc.).