# Time and media-use of Italian Generation Y: dimensions of leisure preferences

## TL;DR

This study investigates how Italian Generation Y allocates their leisure time, revealing that despite media hype, they prioritize socializing and fun over technology use, with implications for understanding quality of life.

## Contribution

The paper introduces a multidimensional extension of Item Response Theory to analyze leisure time use, providing nuanced insights into Generation Y's preferences beyond media hype.

## Key findings

- Technology is not the primary leisure activity for Italian Generation Y.
- Socializing and having fun are the main leisure pursuits.
- Media use is secondary to non-media leisure activities.

## Abstract

Time spent in leisure is not a minor research question as it is acknowledged as a key aspect of one's quality of life. The primary aim of this article is to qualify time and Internet use of Italian Generation Y beyond media hype and assumptions. To this aim, we apply a multidimensional extension of Item Response Theory models to the Italian "Multipurpose survey on households: aspects of daily life" to ascertain the relevant dimensions of Generation Y time-use. We show that the use of technology is neither the first nor the foremost time-use activity of Italian Generation Y, who still prefers to use its time to socialise and have fun with friends in a non media-medalled manner.