Stress and emotions at work: an adventure tourism guide's experiences.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored stress and emotions resulting from employer-guide interactions in an adventure tourism context from a psychological perspective, using a reversal theory framework guided data analyses of key motivational states, sources of stress, and resulting emotions.

About: This article is published in Tourism Management.The article was published on 2013-06-01 and is currently open access. It has received 114 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Coping (psychology) & Tourism.

Summary

1.1. Significance of the study

• The literature has often neglected the study of guide experiences by focussing primarily on tourist experiences and behaviours.
• 2010) , research has focused on participants' psychological experiences of adventure activities (e.g., Houge Mackenzie, Hodge, & Boyes, 2011; Sibthorp, Paisley, & Gookin, 2007) , rather than psychological aspects of working in adventure tourism.
• While these studies (e.g., Beedie, 2003; Holyfield & Jonas, 2003; Pomfret, 2006; Sharpe, 2005) have presented sociological accounts of adventure guiding and identified emotional labour associated with guide-to-client interactions, psychological investigations of stress and emotions in adventure guiding resulting from other interpersonal interactions (e.g., employereguide; guide-to-guide) are lacking.

1.2. Tourism work, psychological stress, and emotions

• Hospitality and attractions tourism staff experience a range of stressors (e.g., Ross, 1993) , many of which are related to management practices and interpersonal interactions.
• Studies of outdoor field instructors in wilderness settings support the notion that adventure guides may experience a range of work-related stressors.
• Due to the significant role that guides play in promoting tourist satisfaction (Ap & Wong, 2001) and the high emotional labour demands placed on guides (e.g., Sharpe, 2005) , emotional experiences and sources of stress for adventure tourism guides, particularly with regard to employereguide inter actions, merits further investigation.

1.3. The nature of adventure tourism guiding

• It is likely that adventure tourism guiding may present unique sources of stress and emotions due to the nature of this job.
• Adventure guides often work seasonally across distinct cultural settings.
• The reverse pattern is often evident for skiing or snowboarding guides.
• Research indicates that while individual appraisals of these novel cultural situations dictate how positively or negatively they will be interpreted, operating in unfamiliar cultural contexts is generally more stressful and results in increased psychological adjustment problems (e.g., Babiker, Cox, & Miller, 1980; Berno & Ward, 2005) .
• Adventure guiding often requires increased levels of technical skills and personal responsibility (e.g., for clients, safety, trip planning, logistics); specialised qualification or training require ments; extended exposure to clients and other guides (e.g., via shared living quarters; camping); and may necessitate quickly learning and acclimatising to novel outdoor environments and operational systems.

1.4. Psychological frameworks informing the study

• Extensive catalogues of possible emotions and a number of different theoretical approaches have been explored in psychological and consumer behaviour research (e.g., Izard, 1991; Johnson & Stewart, 2005; Oliver, 1993) .
• In the autic state, a person is egoistic and concerned with the self, while feeling altruistic and concerned with others in the alloic state.
• Different combinations of motivational states result in different emotional outcomes; reversal theory predicts 16 primary emotions which are produced by different state combinations (see Table 2 ).
• The greater the mismatch between felt and preferred levels of felt arousal or felt transactional outcome, the greater the level of tension stress.

1.5. Study aims

• The reviewed literature indicated that improved understanding of adventure tourism guiding experiences over time was needed from an 'insiders' perspective.
• Adventure tourism research could also benefit from the integration of established psychological theory to further develop their understanding of the mechanisms governing guides' subjective experiences.
• The case study presented here extends previous literature that has focused primarily on guide-to-client interactions by qualitatively detailing an adven ture tourism guide's experiences in relation to employer-guide interactions, and identifying motivational reversals, accompanying emotions, and stress responses that occurred throughout these experiences.
• While reversal theory constructs have been previously described and compared to conceptual frameworks in tourism literature (Gyimothy & Mykletun, 2004) , no research has explicitly used reversal theory as the primary basis to explain tourism guiding experiences.
• To identify sources of stress and emotions in the employereguide relationship through the use of an established psychological framework (reversal theory).

2. Methodology

• While not one of the primary study aims, this project also contributed an emergent methodological approach to the tourism discourse: autoethnography.
• This method was chosen due to the exploratory nature of this study, the lack of previous research in this area, and the unique 'insider' insights it could yield.
• It also offered the opportunity for an in-depth longitudinal analysis of stress, emotions, and interpersonal transactions in adventure guiding.
• This approach contrasted with previous ethnographic research that has focused on guide-to-client interactions and social constructions of adventure experiences (e.g., Holyfield & Jonas, 2003; Jonas, 1999; Sharpe, 2005) .

2.1. Autoethnographic approaches

• Recent tourism research reflects the emergence of more inter pretative and critical forms of enquiry.
• A central distinction between autoethnography and traditional methodolo gies is that researcher biases and reflexivity are openly acknowl edged and discussed in autoethnography.
• Notwithstanding this paradigmatic shift, scholars such as Hall (2004, pp. 140, 142) have critiqued continued resis tance towards autoethnographical methods in tourism research: Accounts of any discipline and of research within that field of study are situated.
• Think of how few times such an expression of the first person is included in academic writing as expressed in the majority of tourism jour nals and text.
• This investigation applied an established psychological framework (reversal theory) to deductively understand motivations and emotions experienced during adventure guiding, rather than using autoethnographical data inductively to support a new moti vational construct.

2.2. Thick descriptions: the autoethnographer, data collection procedures, and analysis

• Rather than judging the 'representativeness' of qualitative data in terms of objectivist criteria such as frequency or variability, the value of qualitative research is largely dependent on providing sufficient 'thick descriptions' of the researcher(s), data collection, and analysis procedures to establish trustworthiness (e.g., Denzin & Lincoln, 2005) .
• While a number of scholars have recently proposed and discussed criteria for evaluating autoethnographical research (e.g., Anderson, 2006; Ellis & Bochner, 2000; Richardson & St. Pierre, 2005; Schwandt, 1996; Smith & Hodkinson, 2005) the challenge to develop flexible criteria relevant to different types of research remains (e.g., Anderson & Austin, 2012; Garrett & Hodkinson, 1999) .
• Textual analysis of each journal entry and email was conducted by coding data for motivational states and emotions with the Met amotivational State Coding Schedule (O'Connell, Potocky, Cook, & Gerkovich, 1991), as well as emergent themes.
• A third independent person (experienced in qualitative research and familiar with reversal theory) acted as an external data auditor reviewing the authors' 'audit trail', as rec ommended by Lincoln and Guba (1985) .

3. Results and discussion

• Raw data are presented chronologically and thematically to facilitate contextual understanding of the adventure guiding experience as it unfolded over the sixteen week river season, and to highlight reoccurring emotional patterns.
• Verbatim data (autoethnographical journal and email excerpts) appear in italics.
• All data presented is drawn from journal entries unless denoted as 'email' data in brackets following the quote.
• Following the presen tation of raw data, theoretical analyses are presented and discussed.

3.1. Arrival and certification

• When the authors finally arrived in [town] after 30 hours, it was pissing down with rain and freezing .
• Awoke very tired and went to the local council to get all my documents together.
• I started getting quite annoyed at.all of these regulations.
• They are so nice and have looked after us really well, even giving me most of the gear I need to work on the river here.
• I felt stressed out [about the river exam] because I didn't want to let my boss down after all he had done for me with giving us food, accommodation, basically taking us into his home with him and his family.

3.2. Employer-to-guide interactions: dual relationships

• And yet today he asked me to guide three people down the river [alone].
• I'm starting to feel happier and more settled here now that my guiding confidence has gone up and all my visa legalities have finally been sorted out.
• He also says he likes [foreign] guides for their work ethic.
• The authors had a group with all the wrong sizes and I had to just pretend that the suits fit fine and was just cringing with embarrassment as [Juan] taped fins to peoples' feet so they wouldn't fall off.
• I feel annoyed and angry with him for putting me in that situation where it's hard to say no to your clients or him.

3.4. Theoretical analysis: stress and emotions

• Unpleasant emotions reflected the fact that some aspects of the adventure guiding experience were stressful.
• She was not as familiar with the river as she would have liked and asked another guide (Pete) to join the trip.
• Her serious approach to guiding and concern for safety regulations appeared to dissipate and her unpleasant anxiety and anger converted to pleasant feelings of relaxation (low arousal in the serious, rule-abiding states) and placidity (serious, rebellious states) ("I feel more relaxed with everyone").

4. Implications

• This study supported previous research findings that operating in unfamiliar cultural contexts is generally more stressful and can cause psychological adjustment issues (e.g., Berno & Ward, 2005) .
• Data also reinforced findings that tour guiding can be stressful, adventure guiding requires high levels of emotional labour, and that guiding can be associated with negative well-being outcomes, such as feelings of tension, anger, frustration, conflicting emotions, and potentially physical illness (e.g., Ap & Wong, 2001; Furnham, 1984; Pearce & Stringer, 1991; Sharpe, 2005) .
• This could be facilitated by developing mentoring relationships with experienced adventure guides, or by employers who can help support the development of these mental skills through training programs or one-on-one mentoring for new guides.
• The psychological benefits of intercultural training have also been identified (see Brislin & Yoshida, 1994 for review) and these principles could be adapted for foreign adventure tourism guides and their employers to facilitate their unique intercultural contexts.

5. Limitations

• The purpose of this study was to provide critical analysis and interpretation of an 'insider' account of stress and emotions expe rienced in adventure guiding.
• The data was situated and constructed within the lead author's previous personal experiences and cultural values.
• While the authors believe this enhanced the depth of analysis in a number of ways, it may have limited alter native interpretations of these data.
• Given that females are traditionally underrepresented in the adventure literature and that many adventure tourism guides must operate in intercultural settings, this psychological analysis of adventure guiding experiences provides valuable information for researchers and practitioners alike.

6. Future directions

• Researchers should investigate the psychological implications of dual relationships that frequently develop in 'live-in' situations, or isolated communities, where peers and employers may be close friends, surrogate families, and/or superiors and employers.
• While reversal theory and consumptive emotion models share key emotions, findings suggest that current consumptive emotion models may be inappropriate to explain tourism work experiences.
• It also identified and explained key motivational and emotional states experienced during adventure tourism guiding, and potential sources of stress in the relationship between adventure guides and their employers.

Figures

Table 2 Somatic and transactional state combinations and the resulting 16 primary emotions.

Table 1 Proposed motivational state pairs in reversal theory.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What contributions have the authors mentioned in the paper "Stress and emotions at work: an adventure tourism guide’s experiences" ?

Due to these gaps in the literature, and the recognised potential of psychological theories to enhance studies of stress and emotions in tourism settings, this study explored stress and emotions resulting from employereguide interactions in an adventure tourism context from a psychological perspective. Results are discussed in relation to psychological theory and stress and coping research. Analyses identified potential transactional sources of stress and negative emotions for adventure tourism guides, and motivational states associated with stress and emotional outcomes in the employereguide relationship. 

Q2. What are the future works mentioned in the paper "Stress and emotions at work: an adventure tourism guide’s experiences" ?

Increasing globalisation, the growing demand for adventure tourism, and the seasonal nature of adventure guiding opportuni ties make understanding the psychosocial dynamics present in adventure tourism guiding contexts, particularly intercultural settings, an essential avenue for future research. Future research should further explore potential areas of convergence and divergence in models of emotional experience amongst tourists and tour guides. Finally, the current study integrated an established psychological framework that has the potential to enrich future tourism research and discourse. For example, researchers should investigate the psychological implications of dual relationships that frequently develop in ‘ live-in ’ situations, or isolated communities, where peers and employers may be close friends, surrogate families, and/or superiors and employers. 

Q3. What makes the study an essential avenue for future research?

Increasing globalisation, the growing demand for adventure tourism, and the seasonal nature of adventure guiding opportuni ties make understanding the psychosocial dynamics present in adventure tourism guiding contexts, particularly intercultural settings, an essential avenue for future research. 

Q4. What are the characteristics of tourism settings?

Tourism settings are ideally suited to developing and applying psychological theories and studying issues such as stress and emotional labour. 

Q5. What is the meaning of effort stress in reversal theory?

Attempts to cope with tension stress, by changing levels of the relevant variable, is termed effort stress in reversal theory (Svebak & Apter, 1997). 

Q6. What did the data reveal about adventure guiding?

Data analysis revealed that adventure guiding was a dynamic experience characterised by a range of both pleasant and unpleasant somatic and transactional emotions. 

Q7. What are the benefits of intercultural training programs?

Intercultural training programs have been shown to promote real istic goals and achievement expectations in other cultures, decrease stress and stereotyping, and increase: cultural awareness (of one’s own culture and others); the ability to solve problems incorporating cultural differences; confidence in dealing with cultural differences; enjoyment during intercultural interactions; and performance in heterogeneous work groups (e.g., Brislin & Yoshida, 1994). 

Q8. What is the effect of emotional labour on guideeclient interactions?

The authors found that emotional labour may occur in employereguide relations, in addi tion to guideeclient interactions, and that this may contribute to dissatisfaction, burnout, and turnover. 

Q9. What could be the benefits of social support networks for guides?

Employers and guides could benefit from awareness of how to use these skills for motivational and performance purposes, and to cope with emotions resulting from interpersonal transactions. 

Q10. What is the main reason why adventure tourism guides are often understudied?

Coupled with the heightened levels of risk and uncertainty inherent in adventure activities, these factors suggest that adventure tourism guides may encounter unique sources of stress and distinct motiva tional and emotional responses. 

Q11. What can guide expect to learn from this study?

Guides can expect to experientially learn about diverse cultural perspectives of adventure, risk, customer service, and the role of an adventure guide. 

Q12. What can be done to improve the understanding of the human psyche?

Exploring the multitude of interpersonal inter actions and novel environments experienced by tourists, guides, and operators, all of whom could be foreign visitors or members of the host culture, can provide novel insights into the human psyche. 

Q13. What are the important factors in establishing trustworthiness?

Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) recommendations for trustworthiness include the need to establish credibility, trans ferability, dependability, and confirmability. 

Q14. What factors may have influenced the findings of this study?

The lead author’s position as a western, female guide operating in a foreign language and a culture that endorsed more traditional gender roles may have also influenced these findings. 

Q15. What are the main stressors of the tourism industry?

Hospitality and attractions tourism staff experience a range of stressors (e.g., Ross, 1993), many of which are related to management practices and interpersonal interactions.