Measuring eudaimonic travel experiences

By Michael L. Lengieza, Carter A. Hunt, Janet K. Swim. Annals of Tourism Research, 2019

117 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Eudaimonia has received much attention in positive psychology, where it is defined variously as the orientations, behaviors, experiences, or functioning that allow human flourishing and fulfillment of basic, intrinsic motives (Huta & Waterman, 2014). Consistent across this literature is self-reflection and personal meaning as the two topmost features of eudaimonia (see Huta & Waterman, 2014). Attention to eudaimonia among tourism scholars has grown in parallel (e.g. Filep & Pearce, 2013; Sirgy & Uysal, 2016; Voigt, 2017), including recent debates in Annals of Tourism Research (Filep, 2016; Nawijn, 2016; Nawijn & Filep, 2016), although tourism scholars have generally studied eudaimonia as overall psychological wellbeing or quality of life (Sirgy & Uysal, 2016). In situ reflection and meaning during travel itself can also serve as catalysts of personal growth and broader pro-social or proenvironmental outcomes (Ballantyne & Packer, 2011; Kirillova, Lehto, & Cai, 2017). While, in contrast to the limited attention that eudaimonia has received in the tourism literature, hedonia has received considerable attention in the context of travel (Nawijn, 2016). In the past, psychologists have viewed hedonia—defined as the seeking of pleasure and avoidance of pain—as diametrically opposed to the concept of eudaimonia (e.g., Deci & Ryan, 2008). In recent years, however, there is growing recognition that both forms of positive experiences are important and distinct influences on human flourishing (see Henderson & Knight, 2012, for a review; Waterman, 2008), including in the context of tourism (Nawijn & Filep, 2016). On the one hand activities can be experienced as simultaneously eudaimonic (i.e., personally meaningful) and hedonic (i.e., pleasurable; Henderson & Knight, 2012). On the other hand, there are activities that are more often experienced as purely eudaimonic (e.g., the visitation of concentration camps) or purely hedonic (e.g., going to an amusement park; Henderson & Knight, 2012). Consequently, researchers continue to emphasize the importance of simultaneously measuring and distinguishing between the eudaimonia and hedonia (e.g., Henderson & Knight, 2012; Waterman, 2008). Given (1) growing interest in eudaimonia in tourism, (2) recognition of the influence of in situ eudaimonic reflection and personal meaning during travel experiences, and (3) calls for further quantitative studies on eudaimonia in tourism (e.g. Nawijn & Filep, 2016), we developed a quantitative measure of the two core psychological features of eudaimonia—meaning and reflection—within the context of a travel experience. Furthermore, this measure distinguishes eudaimonic experiences from hedonic experiences to provide a more nuanced understanding of positive tourist experiences.

Subfields: Geography, Planning and Development, Health, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/ad2149970c1c714cc3fda3fe08109dcf98deaf8b

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Citations in the corpus

Nature tourism and mental health: parks, happiness, and causation (2020, background): “Third, numerous studies of outdoor recreation indicate that most participants perceive themselves as gaining improved self-perceived personal well-being (Coghlan, 2015; Lengieza et al., 2019; Smith & Diekmann, 2017; Uysal et al., 2016) through their preferred activities (Groulx et al.”
Place-Oriented or People-Oriented Concepts for Destination Loyalty: Destination Image and Place Attachment versus Perceived Distances and Emotional Solidarity (2021, background): “…in positive psychology, thus calling for nonutilitarian/nonhedonic, and other- and inner-oriented tourism experiences for eudaimonic transformation, well-being, and happiness (Filep and Laing 2019; Gretzel et al. 2020; Kirillova, Lehto, and Cai 2017; Lengieza, Hunt, and Swim 2019; Sheldon 2020).”