TOURISTS’ USE OF EMOTION REGULATION STRATEGIES AND ITS IMPACT ON WELL-BEING

Open Access
- Author:
- Gao, Jie
- Graduate Program:
- Recreation, Park and Tourism Management
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 23, 2016
- Committee Members:
- Deborah Lee Kerstetter, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Deborah Lee Kerstetter, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Andrew Justin Mowen, Committee Member
Benjamin D. Hickerson, Committee Member
Stephanie A Shields, Outside Member - Keywords:
- Tourist behavior
emotion regulation
well-being
travel experience - Abstract:
- Researchers have explored emotions in the travel context and have attempted to link emotions to well-being, yet they have done so with the underlying belief that emotions are static. According to emotion regulation theory, emotions are variable and can be regulated during their generative process. To test this notion, I examined: (1) what emotion regulation strategies (ERSs) tourists used during their vacations; (2) patterns of change in tourists’ use of ERSs during a vacation; (3) the interaction between patterns of change in tourists’ use of ERSs during a vacation and socio-demographic and travel behavior characteristics; and (4) the relationship between tourists’ use of ERSs during a vacation and their perceived post-travel well-being. The results are presented in three chapters (i.e., Chapters 2, 3 and 4), each of which was written as a separate manuscript. In the first manuscript (Chapter 2) I documented what ERSs tourists used during their travel experiences. Guided by the construct of emotion regulation, 11 key themes comprising 3 overarching categories of ERSs (i.e., self-focused, situation-focused and travel-member-focused) were uncovered. All results validated the appropriateness of using emotion regulation theory in the tourism context and contributed to tourism research by documenting the transient, dynamic, and variable nature of emotions. The second manuscript (Chapter 3) focused on examining patterns of change in tourists’ use of ERSs during a vacation as well as whether there were significant interactions between the patterns of change and socio-demographic and travel behavior characteristics. Using an on-line survey and travel diaries, 152 tourists exhibited significant patterns of change when using 6 ERSs with positive emotions and two ERSs with negative emotions over time during their vacations. Some socio-demographic and travel behaviors characteristics were found to play a significant role in explaining the patterns of change associated with using ERSs with positive and negative emotions over time. In the third manuscript (Chapter 4) I explored the relationship between tourists’ use of ERSs during a vacation and their perceived post-travel well-being. Tourists’ use of ERSs was recorded daily while their perceived well-being was measured one day before and after their vacation. Results indicated that tourists’ perceived well-being differ before and after a vacation. In general, they had significantly higher perceptions of well-being after a vacation than before a vacation. The results also revealed that tourists who used ERSs were more likely to perceive a higher sense of post-travel well-being compared with those who didn’t use ERSs. As a whole, the findings have significant theoretical and managerial implications. This dissertation introduced the construct of emotion regulation theory to the tourism field. By accounting for the generative process of an emotional response, this study takes the study of emotions a step further. Instead of recording and examining the status of emotions at a certain point in time, this study presents the possibility for tourists to manipulate their short-lived, subjective feeling, and how to regulate that feeling into positivity. This study also showcases how to extend emotion regulation research in tourism by using a longitudinal perspective through the use of daily diaries. In addition, the results provide a glimpse into how tourism and hospitality professionals should modify programs/experiences in response to tourists’ ERSs.