Editing Quality time

{{short description|Periods proactively spent with one's loved ones}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Family playing a board game.jpg|thumb|271x271px|A family plays a game of [[Monopoly (game)|Monopoly]]. Social play through [[Board game|board games]] are an examples of quality time.]]
'''Quality time''' is a [[sociology]] expression referring to a [[Proactivity|proactive]] interaction between individuals,<ref name="QuaLTime.NWcov">{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Newsweek]] |title=The Myth of Quality Time  |author=Laura Shapiro |author-link=Laura Shapiro |date=May 12, 1997 |pages=62–68}}</ref> set aside for paying undivided attention, usually to express love or accomplish a shared goal.

Sometimes abbreviated '''QT''', it is an informal reference to time spent with close family, [[significant other|partners]], or [[friend]]s that is in some way important, special, productive or profitable to one or everyone involved. Having conversations,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=2024-02-14 |title=What Is Quality Time Love Language? 12 Tips From Dating Experts |url=https://www.womenshealthmag.com/relationships/a37013593/quality-time-love-language/ |access-date=2024-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240214050904/https://www.womenshealthmag.com/relationships/a37013593/quality-time-love-language/ |archive-date=14 February 2024 }}</ref> solving [[Jigsaw puzzle|jigsaw puzzles]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=2007-09-06 |title=20 ways to connect with your teen |url=https://www.todaysparent.com/family/parenting/20-ways-to-connect-with-your-teen/ |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=Today's Parent |language=en}}</ref> collaborating on projects, and conversing during [[Road trip|road trips]] can be examples of quality time.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Rachel Bowie |date=2024-01-26 |title=Car Time Is the New Quality Time—Here's What a Road Trip Taught Me About Mom Friendship |url=https://www.purewow.com/family/cars-and-conversation-rule |access-date=2024-12-20 |website=PureWow |language=en}}</ref> It may also refer to the effective use of time in educational settings,<ref name=":1" /> or time spent alone performing a favorite activity (i.e., [[self-care]]).

In [[The Five Love Languages|his 1992 book]], Baptist pastor and Relationship counselor [[Gary Chapman (author)|Gary Chapman]] suggests that quality time is one of five "[[The Five Love Languages#Summary|Love Languages]]" which are used (more or less, preferentially, by a given individual) to express love and gratitude for another.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Gupta |first1=Alisha Haridasani |last2=Mazón |first2=Luis |date=2022-08-27 |title=The Sixth Love Language Does Not Exist |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/27/well/family/love-languages-author.html |access-date=2025-01-16 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==History==
Its use as a noun expression ("quality time") began in the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Mostofsky |first1=David I. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yXdGAQAAQBAJ&dq=expression+quality+time+began+in+the+1970&pg=PA13 |title=Behavioral Dentistry |last2=Fortune |first2=Farida |date=2013-10-07 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-118-76457-2 |language=en}}</ref> One of the earliest records of this phrase in print was in the [[Annapolis, Maryland|Annapolis]] newspaper ''[[The Capital]]'', January 1973, in the article "How To Be Liberated":
{{blockquote|The major goal of each of these role changes is to give a woman time to herself, Ms. Burton explained. "A woman's right and responsibility is to be self fulfilling," she said. She gives "quality time" rather than "quantity time" to each task, whether it be writing, cleaning the house or tending the children.}}

In the context of public schooling, the [[National Commission on Excellence in Education]] began to use the phrase circa 1983. "Quality time" was described in a 1983 letter by the principal of [[Hampton High School (Allison Park, Pennsylvania)|Hampton High School]] to [[United States Secretary of Education|U.S. Secretary of Education]] [[Terrel Bell|Terrell Bell]]. Principal Scholtz wrote, "Quality time will be enhanced by reducing that time spent by teachers on discipline and on administrative duties" and thereby "freeing teachers to do what they do best...teach".<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GK-1TqseagkC&q=quality%20time |title=Oversight of Quality in Education: Report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education |date=1984 |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |page=42 |language=en}}</ref>

By 1985, the phrase was in common use in books about [[parenting]] and [[parenting styles]]. Examples include ''A Parents' Guide to Quality Time with Preschoolers'' (1984),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Burtt |first=Kent Garland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vLlzwgB9zp8C&q=%22Quality+time%22 |title=Smart Times: A Parent's Guide to Quality Time with Preschoolers |date=1984 |publisher=Harper & Row |isbn=978-0-06-015287-1 |language=en}}</ref> ''The Quality Time Almanac: A Sourcebook of Ideas and Activities for Parents and Kids'' (1986),<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sullivan |first=St Clair Adams |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9K8_SRg3VKYC |title=The Quality Time Almanac: A Sourcebook of Ideas and Activities for Parents and Kids |date=1986 |publisher=Doubleday |isbn=978-0-385-18293-5 |language=en}}</ref>  and ''Parentips: Quality Time with Kids'' (1986).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Neely |first=Bonnie Burgess |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7DbJg2LGbM8C&q=%22Quality%20time%22 |title=Parentips: Quality Time with Kids |date=1987 |publisher=Pocket Books |isbn=978-0-671-60782-1 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Gary Chapman (author)|Gary Champan]]'s 1992 book ''[[The Five Love Languages]]'' defined and popularized the phrase's contemporary usage.<ref name=":0" /> 

''Quality Time'' is also the title of a 1996 fiction (likely [[Romance novel|romance]]) novel by British author [[Norma Curtis]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Curtis |first=Norma |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aRSaAAAACAAJ |title=Quality Time |date=1996 |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers |isbn=978-0-00-649025-8 |language=en}}</ref>

''[[The Time Bind]]'', a 1997 book,<ref>{{cite book|ref=none |last=Russell Hochschild |first=Arlie
   |author-link=Arlie Russell Hochschild
   |title=The Time Bind: When Work Becomes Home and Home Becomes Work
   |url=https://archive.org/details/timebindwhenwork00hoch
   |url-access=registration |publisher=Metropolitan Books
   |location=New York  |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-8050-4471-3}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=9YCJVeSHodEC&q=%22Time+bind%22 Google Print]</ref> was mentioned in Newsweek's multi-page feature about "The Myth of Quality Time".<ref name="QuaLTime.NWcov" /> The same issue of ''Newsweek'' had a full-page review<ref name="QuaLTime.NW4Life">{{cite magazine |magazine=[[Newsweek]]
|title=Time Bind? What Time Bind?
|author=Marc Peyser  |date=May 12, 1997 |page=69}}</ref> of another 1997 book, ''Time for Life'',<ref name="QuaLTimeBook4Life" /> which emphasizes that most people have a flawed "ability to separate faulty perception of time use from reality."<ref name="QuaLTimeBook4Life">{{cite book
       |title=Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans Use Their Time
       |author1=John Robinson  |author2=Geooffrey Godbey |year=1997
       |isbn=978-0-271-03426-3  |publisher=Penn State Press}}</ref> Author Robinson's diary-based research shows that 15 hours per week of "free time" (the greatest category of time used) goes into TV viewing.<ref name="QuaLTime.NW4Life" />

== Examples ==
<gallery mode="nolines" widths="130">
File:Amalie Lindegren Threading the needle.jpg|Swedish painter [[Amalia Lindegren|Amalie Lindegren]]'s 1858 painting, "A grandmother with a grandson threading a needle"
File:Social games and group dances; (1920) (14783212213).jpg|Children engage in [[Social dance|social dancing]] and [[Singing game|singing games]], 1920.
File:Jew teaches his grandson to read.jpg|Polish Jewish grandparents in [[Biała Podlaska|Biala Podlaska]] teach their grandson to read, 1920.
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1976-141-21, Berlin, Tanzcafé.jpg|Couples share quality time through dance in [[Berlin|Berlin, Germany]], 1925.
File:Dancers in restaurant Tenho.jpg|[[Working class|Working-class]] couples share quality time through dance in [[Tenala|Tenho, Finland]], 1974.
File:Cycling mother and daughter in a forest.JPG|Mother and daughter bicycling together, 2012.
File:Father & Son Sharing Music Skills.jpg|Guitarist Simphiwe Sekhute plays music with his son in South Africa, 2013.
File:Mother and daughter learn calligraphy.jpg|A mother and daughter learn [[calligraphy]] together, 2013.
File:Mother and daughter in the gardens - geograph.org.uk - 4852942.jpg|An adult mother and daughter converse in England's [[Sheffield Park and Garden]], 2016.
File:Happiness of Mother & daughter.jpg|[[Nepal|Nepalese]] mother and daughter enjoy an outing, 2018.
File:Having a Conversation (51213882768).jpg|Two individuals engage in a quality time conversation in [[Old Town Alexandria]], 2021. 
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Dialogue]]
* [[Double burden]]
* [[Gemütlichkeit]]
* [[Kids' club]]
* [[Work–family balance in the United States]]
* [[Work–family conflict]]
* [[Work–life balance]]

==References==
{{reflist|32em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.theidioms.com/quality-time/ The Idioms]
* [http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/297250.html The Phrase Finder]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quality Time}}
[[Category:Family]]
[[Category:Interpersonal relationships]]
[[Category:Personal life]]
[[Category:Sociological terminology]]
[[Category:1970s neologisms]]