Abstract

The purpose of this research is to determine Brazilians' leisure education level (LEL) and which variables have an effect on it. The Leisure Education Scale - LES was used as a data collection tool following validity and reliability examinations. With a convenience sampling method, this study involved 2630 participants, including employees and students in the Brazilian education system. Data were analysed using Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Results showed statistically significant differences in terms of gender, age and occupation, but only the occupation variable influenced the Leisure Education (LE) total score. In addition, some interactions between variables present significant differences in the awareness dimension. Although it is not generalisable to all LE dimensions, we concluded that in the dimensions where significant differences are observed, women have higher LE scores than men, teachers have higher LE scores than administrative staff and students, and individuals in the 14-17 age group have lower LE scores than other ages. The implications of these findings for public policies for the promotion of LE among Brazilians are discussed. Since few researchers have examined LEL in Brazil, this study presents a valuable contribution to the scientific literature on this subject.