Travelling ‘green’: is tourists' happiness at stake?
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the extent to which the average tourist's happiness is affected by "involuntary green travel", defined as reduced CO2 emission travel imposed by government regulations.
Abstract: Several western governments have implemented environmental policies which increase the cost of air travel. Such policies aim to reduce the impact of air travel on climate change, but at the same time they restrict tourists in their travels. This study examines the extent to which the average tourist's happiness is affected by ‘involuntary green travel’, defined as reduced CO2 emission travel imposed by government regulations. This issue was addressed in a study among 588 Dutch citizens who completed a self-report questionnaire containing questions about their happiness. The strongest determinant of tourists' happiness is freedom in choosing a destination. Any policy measure that interferes with tourists' freedom in destination choice will negatively affect tourists' happiness. Six percent of their happiness is at stake and potentially 17% of all holiday trips are affected. The number of tourists involved is possibly much smaller. The best options for governments are to impose taxes on long-haul destinatio...
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TL;DR: In this paper, a review of the literature on quality of life and wellbeing in tourism is presented, focusing on two major constituency: residents of host communities and tourists, and they highlight sampling and data collection methods, and discuss issues of construct measurement.
507 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors reviewed and discussed existing studies, and provided a framework for a better understanding of perceptions of change, as well as identifying major current uncertainties and research needs.
476 citations
Cites background from "Travelling ‘green’: is tourists' ha..."
...Increasing transport costs as a result of global and national climate policy are not likely to become significant in most parts of the world for many years (Nawjin & Peeters, 2010; OECD & UNEP, 2011)....
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...While there appears to be consensus on the significant role of perceptions (Gössling & Hall, 2006a; Moreno & Becken, 2009; Nawjin & Peeters, 2010; Scott et al., 2007; Scott, Jones et al., 2008), these are insufficiently understood and represent a major research gap in the tourism and climate…...
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors assess the association between perceived tourism impacts and residents' subjective well-being in a mass tourism destination and find that perceived tourism impact is associated with life satisfaction, cognitive component and not with hedonic level of affect, the affective component.
Abstract: Subjective well-being in host–guest relations has only been considered from the viewpoint of the guest. This study addresses the host perspective and assesses the association between perceived tourism impacts and residents’ subjective well-being in a mass tourism destination. Findings indicate that perceived tourism impacts are associated with life satisfaction, the cognitive component, and not with hedonic level of affect, the affective component. The life domains of health, interpersonal relationships, friends, and services and infrastructure, in particular, are positively affected.
138 citations
Cites background from "Travelling ‘green’: is tourists' ha..."
...…2004), a large number of journal papers were published recently (Corvo 2010; De Bloom et al. 2010; De Bloom et al. 2009; Filep and Deery 2010; McCabe 2010; Michalkó et al. 2009; Nawijn 2010, 2011a, 2011b; Nawijn et al. 2010; Nawijn and Peeters 2010; Pearce 2009; Sirgy 2010; Sirgy et al. 2011)....
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TL;DR: Based on the theoretical foundation of subjective well-being and theories of happiness, this paper conducted a longitudinal quasi-experiment in Southeast China to investigate the effect of vacation on the different dimensions of subjective wellbeing.
121 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a study of 3,650 Dutch citizens who reported their leisure travel every 3 months during 2 years and rated their happiness at the end of each year, found that participants who had been on vacation appeared to be marginally happier in terms of hedonic level of affect than those who had not.
Abstract: Does vacationing add to our happiness in the long run? This question was addressed in a study of 3,650 Dutch citizens who reported their leisure travel every 3 months during 2 years and rated their happiness at the end of each year. Participants who had been on vacation appeared to be marginally happier, in terms of hedonic level of affect, than those who had not. This difference in Affect balance between vacationers and non-vacationers is probably due to a very minor causal effect of vacationing on hedonic level of affect. Possibly, vacationing is positively reminisced and these memories allow for the prevalence of more positive affect in people’s lives. Happiness did not predict vacationing. The effect of holiday trips on vacationers’ happiness is mostly short-lived; among vacationers, happiness was unrelated to the number of trips and days spent on vacation. A separate analysis of vacationers, who value vacationing most, yielded the same results. Implications for future research are discussed.
101 citations
Cites background from "Travelling ‘green’: is tourists' ha..."
...Offering people free trips or paying people not to take a vacation may have resulted in different findings as there are signs that restricting travel would affect tourists’ happiness (Nawijn and Peeters 2010)....
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References
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Book•
27 Jan 2005TL;DR: In this new edition of his landmark book, Richard Layard shows that there is a paradox at the heart of our lives as discussed by the authors, which is not just anecdotally true, it is the story told by countless pieces of scientific research.
Abstract: In this new edition of his landmark book, Richard Layard shows that there is a paradox at the heart of our lives. Most people want more income. Yet as societies become richer, they do not become happier. This is not just anecdotally true, it is the story told by countless pieces of scientific research. We now have sophisticated ways of measuring how happy people are, and all the evidence shows that on average people have grown no happier in the last fifty years, even as average incomes have more than doubled. In fact, the First World has more depression, more alcoholism and more crime than fifty years ago. This paradox is true of Britain, the United States, continental Europe, and Japan. What is going on? Now fully revised and updated to include developments since first publication, Layard answers his critics in what is still the key book in 'happiness studies'.
3,564 citations
"Travelling ‘green’: is tourists' ha..." refers background in this paper
...Translation of happiness statements did not cause insuperable problems (Layard, 2005)....
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TL;DR: Using a "subjectivist" approach to the assessment of happiness, a new 4-item measure of global subjective happiness was developed and validated in 14 studies with a total of 2 732 participants as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Using a ''subjectivist'' approach to the assessment of happiness, a new 4-item measure of global subjective happiness was developed and validated in 14 studies with a total of 2 732 participants. Data was collected in the United States from students on two college campuses and one high school campus, from community adults in two California cities, and from older adults. Students and community adults in Moscow, Russia also participated in this research. Results indicated that the Subjective Happiness Scale has high internal consistency, which was found to be stable across samples. Test-retest and self-peer correlations suggested good to excellent reliability, and construct validation studies of convergent and discriminant validity confirmed the use of this scale to measure the construct of subjective happiness. The rationale for developing a new measure of happiness, as well as advantages of this scale, are discussed.
3,126 citations
Additional excerpts
...Construct validation studies of convergent and discriminant validity confirmed the use of this scale in measuring the construct of happiness (Lyubomirsky & Lepper, 1999)....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose that a person's chronic happiness level is governed by three major factors: a genetically determined set point for happiness, happiness-relevant circumstantial factors, and happiness relevant activities and practices.
Abstract: The pursuit of happiness is an important goal for many people. However, surprisingly little scientific research has focused on the question of how happiness can be increased and then sustained, probably because of pessimism engendered by the concepts of genetic determinism and hedonic adaptation. Nevertheless, emerging sources of optimism exist regarding the possibility of permanent increases in happiness. Drawing on the past well-being literature, the authors propose that a person's chronic happiness level is governed by 3 major factors: a genetically determined set point for happiness, happiness-relevant circumstantial factors, and happiness-relevant activities and practices. The authors then consider adaptation and dynamic processes to show why the activity category offers the best opportunities for sustainably increasing happiness. Finally, existing research is discussed in support of the model, including 2 preliminary happiness-increasing interventions.
2,616 citations
"Travelling ‘green’: is tourists' ha..." refers background in this paper
...This may not seem much in itself, but taking into consideration that all assessed socio-demographic variables explain 7%, and that only as much as 40% of happiness is normally explained by intentional activity (Lyubomirksy et al., 2005), it is certainly a relevant finding....
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TL;DR: In this article, the importance of non-pecuniary costs of unemployment using a longitudinal data-set on life-satisfaction of working-age men in Germany was tested.
Abstract: This paper tests for the importance of non-pecuniary costs of unemployment using a longitudinal data-set on life-satisfaction of working-age men in Germany. We show that unemployment has a large detrimental effect on satisfaction after individual specific fixed effects are controlled for. The non-pecuniary effect is much larger than the effect that stems from the associated loss of income.
1,723 citations
"Travelling ‘green’: is tourists' ha..." refers background in this paper
...Unemployed people are known to be less happy (Clark et al., 2008; Winkelmann & Winkelmann, 1998)....
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TL;DR: In this article, a birth-record-based sample of several thousand middle-aged twins using the Well-Being (WB) scale of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire was used to measure subjective well-being, and the authors found that neither socioeconomic status, educational attainment, family income, marital status, nor an indicant of religious commitment could account for more than 3% of the variance in WB.
Abstract: Happiness, or subjective well-being, was measured on a birth-record-based sample of several thousand middle-aged twins using the Well-Being (WB) scale of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire Neither socioeconomic status, educational attainment, family income, marital status, nor an indicant of religious commitment could account for more than about 3% of the variance in WB From 44% to 52% of the variance in WB, however, is associated with genetic variation Based on the retest of smaller samples of twins after intervals of 4 5 and 10 years, we estimate that the heriability of the stable component of subjective well-being approaches 80%
1,512 citations
"Travelling ‘green’: is tourists' ha..." refers background in this paper
...The findings of a large-scale twin study show that socioeconomic status, educational attainment, family income, marital status and religion only account for about 3% of the variance in happiness (Lykken & Tellegen, 1996)....
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