Knitting for oneself or for the others: Different purposes, different volitional aspects

Background: The act of knitting has shown benefits on the health and well-being of the people who perform it; however, little has been explored wondering if the positive effects depend on who are the receivers of the final... [ view full abstract ]

Background:
The act of knitting has shown benefits on the health and well-being of the people who perform it; however, little has been explored wondering if the positive effects depend on who are the receivers of the final fabrics (the purpose of the task).
Method:
Within a multicultural program, 13 people knitted under two conditions: knitting to produce a piece for oneself and knitting for other/s. These data were collected through The Volitional Questionnaire and through qualitative techniques such as non-participant observation, semi-structured interviews and personal diaries.
Results:
Under the condition of knitting for other/s, the participants showed more curiosity and demonstrated overall that the activity is significant. Under the condition of knitting for oneself, although the data didn’t get to achieve significative differences, it really can be observed a greater punctuation, corroborated by the qualitative results, to show pride, to look for challenges, to assume additional responsibilities and to indicate objectives.
Conclusion:
When the purpose is to knit for another person, the participants express the sense of the action within the same activity and they seek the confidence of knowing what they are doing, giving priority to the result. On the other hand, when the purpose is to knit for oneself, the participants seek greater challenges and they are proud to achieve them because what is important is the process.
Application to Practice:
From the perspective of Occupational Therapy, this study shows that the purpose that we have when we knit can be used to enhance different volitional aspects.