International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 4 No.

15 [Special Issue – November 2013]

Happiness and Tourism

Kai Liu
School of Management Studies
Shanghai University of Engineering Science
Shanghai, China

Abstract
The goal of all human being’s efforts lies in the gain of happiness. Psychology lays particular emphasis on well-
being about the study of happiness. This article is to make a brief review on happiness from the perspective of
positive psychology and Chinese traditional culture; then combined with the tourist motivation, to find out the
relationship between happiness and tourism. Through previous research findings, we can see that tourism and
happiness are related. But some studies have suggested that the effect, for the promotion of happiness, is mostly
short-lived.
Key words: Happiness; Well-being; Tourism; Relationship
Introduction
In recent years, both academia and journalism are very concerned about happiness. "Are you happy?" once
became a hot topic in China. It’s theoretically and physically vital for us to understand what happiness is. While
tourism, as one of the ways for people to relax, has been more and more popular, and has an increasing impact on
people's daily life. To figure out the relationship between tourism and happiness is very important.
Happiness
Based on different philosophical tradition, there are two kinds of happiness research paradigms from the
perspective of positive psychology: subjective well-being (hedonia) and psychological well-being (eudaimonia).
Subjective well-being (SWB) is dealing with happiness; psychological well-being (PWB) is dealing with human
potential (Ryan &Deci, 2001).Diener et al. offer the following:“Subjective well-being is a broad category of
phenomena that includes people’s emotional responses, domain satisfactions and global judgments of life
satisfaction (Diener et al., 1999).” The primary components of SWB include life satisfaction, positive affect, and
negative affect. SWB tends to be stable over time and is strongly related to personality traits(Steel,2008). PWB is
based on eudaimonic. It is the inheritance of Aristotle's theory of happiness. This kind of happiness consists of
meaning; self-actualization and personal growth (Ryff,1989).In recent years, there are more and more integrated
frameworks come up to redefine happiness.
According to Martin Seligman (2002), there are three “pathways to happiness”:pleasure, engagement,
and meaning, corresponding to three different kinds of happy lives. Compared with pleasure, engagement and
meaning seem to be more important (Peterson et al., 2005). Fave(2011) says happiness may include more than
hedonic components, eudaimonic aspects may also be important constituents. By these integrated analyses, we
can have a better understanding of happiness. In Chinese traditional culture, Le is the closest concept to
happiness. Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism all have the descriptions of Le (ZHANG Xiaoming,2011).They
all expressed people’s apperception and pursuit of happiness. Confucian “Delightfulness of kong-yan” reflected
in harmony with ourselves, others and nature. For Confucians, there are two kinds of Le. One is perceptual, with
the satisfaction of primary needs; the other is rational, without the satisfaction of primary needs. Taoist
“Uppermost happiness” means we should obey nature and pursue inner detachment. It is not a feeling of pleasure,
but a mental epiphany and other worldliness. Buddhist “The joy of nirvana” describes a kind of happiness without
desire. It is a kind of realm, which is far away from desire, competition and anxious. Le derives from an inner
affection experience after the spiritual realm has been constantly promoted (ZHANG Xiaoming, 2011). Spiritual
realm performs an important role in Le.

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This conception of happiness provides another kind of paradigm for people to pursue happiness. Through
personal accomplishment and beliefs, individual go beyond the physical needs, interests, and gain more
fundamental and lasting happiness. This concept of happiness can help those who lack the spirit of faith and
indulge in sensual pleasure (ZENG Hong,2012).
Tourism-from the perspective of tourist motivation
With the development of economy, people earn more and have more leisure time; tourism has become a kind of
fashion. But what’s the driving force behind this kind of phenomenon. There are many reasons for people to
travel, but the main motivations could be summed up as the following: escapism, physical and mental relaxation,
together with the family and friends, visiting the cultural and historical attractions, discovering something new
and different, growth of knowledge, attachments to new people, adventure, and etc. These motivations can be
classified into two categories. The first is more concerned with escapism and hedonism, the second is related
more to adventure, self-development.
There are two related theoretical basis which can exactly explain these two types of motivations, rite of passage
theory and Kolb's experiential learning style theory (YU Zhiyuan, 2012). (1) Rites of passage. Nelson Graburn
(1983) says that the tourism is sacred, from the perspective of anthropology of tourism. He put the tourism as a
ritual, which can separate the sacred and the secular. Through travelling, people can temporarily escape from the
secular world. In a sense, it is a kind of escapism. (2) Kolb's experiential learning style theory. It is typically
represented by a four stage learning cycle: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization
and active experimentation (Kolb, 1984). Individuals can increase their knowledge and expand their horizon
through travelling. Individuals may also benefit from impressions or skills learned while on vacation (Jeroen,
2013).This is related to the motivation of self-development.
The relationship between tourism and happiness
There are two kinds of well-being and two types of tourism motivation as well. The first type is based on SWB
view of good life, the second is based on PWB view. Therefore there are two kinds of approach to understanding
tourist happiness (Filep, 2012). No matter what motivate people to travel, the ultimate goal is the pursuit of
happiness.
Recent research has mostly proved tourism can increase individuals’ happiness (Hallab, 2006;Sirgy, 2008; De
Bloom et al., 2010; Nawijn, 2010; Nawijn, 2011a). Many tourism-linked (Dann, 1991) factors have been
analyzed to enhanced levels of well-being. But according to Lyubomirsky, Sheldon, & Schkade (2005),
approximately 50% of an individual’s happiness is predetermined through heredity, 10% is determined by
circumstances, and 40% is affected by intentional activity. This theory makes it possible for individual to increase
happiness through tourism activity, although just 40% of the happiness can control.
How much does tourism contribute to individuals’ happiness? Hedonic level of affect last only for 2 weeks. The
long-term effect of vacationing on overall happiness and hedonic level of effect is virtually nonexistent (Nawijn,
2011b). Keyes (2002)also says the effect of tourism on individuals’ happiness is mostly short-lived; this kind of
happiness is unrelated to the frequency and duration of tourism.
However, maybe these kinds of happiness can contribute to long-term satisfaction if they are repeated often
enough (Puczkó, 2012). The anticipation of trips and relived memories can prolong the positive effect of travel
(Neal et al. 1999).
Related theories
There are several theories that have been used to explain the relationship between leisure experiences and
happiness. Sirgy (2012) says these include physiology and genetics theory, social motivation theory, effectance
motivation theory, intrinsic motivation and flow theory, telic versus paratelic states theory, sensation-seeking
theory, activity theory, and bottom-up spillover theory. Tourism as a way of leisure should be suitable for the
above theories.
Physiology and genetics theory
Hedonism is a major function of tourism. Through a variety of tourism activities, individuals can achieve physical
and mental relaxation. These can have a positive influence on individuals, it also plays an important role
in improving individual happiness.
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International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 4 No. 15 [Special Issue – November 2013]
While individual well-being is affected by the genetic, in other words, the individual happiness is partly
genetically determined.
Social motivation theory
As is previously mentioned, tourist motivations include individuals together with the family and friends, meeting
new people and so on. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory, tourism can satisfy people some
social needs, such as identity, sense of belonging and respect from others.
Effectance Motivation
Argyle (1987,2001) has argued that leisure satisfaction contributes to happiness through the satisfaction of
effectance or efficacy needs.
Intrinsic Motivation and Flow
Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that comes from inside an individual rather than from any external or
outside rewards. Individuals take part in various tourism activities for its own sake. Flow is the mental state of
operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full
involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. A study (Chen et al., 2010) showed that flow does
contribute to life satisfaction through satisfaction with the leisure event.
Telic Versus Paratelic States
Compared to telic activities, paratelic activities were found to reflect social needs, involve less skill and
challenge, and seem to be more enjoyable.
Sensation Seeking
There are many tourism activities, some exciting included. Such as white-water rafting, scuba diving, racing,
bungee jumping, etc. By participating in these activities, people can get special experiences.
Activity
Varieties of needs are satisfied through tourism activities. Participation in tourism activities contributes to the
sense of well-being.
Bottom-Up Spillover
Leisure SWB can lead to enhanced global SWB through a bottom-up theory of SWB. Newman et al. (2013) try to
address the conceptual gaps by establishing a psychological model that links leisure to SWB in general through a
bottom-up approach.
Summary
With the further development of positive psychology, researches of SWB and PWB appeared the trend of
integration. How to get authentic happiness is the challenge researchers need to deal with. Meanwhile with the
growing prosperity of tourism, more and more attention is paid to the effect of tourism on individual. Through the
research on the relationship between tourism and happiness, we can find that tourism and happiness are related.
But some studies have suggested that the effect, for the promotion of happiness, is mostly short-lived. But with
the continuous development of the tourism industry, tourism will have a greater influence on individual. This
requires us to make further studies on the connotation and denotation of tourism. Combined with the further
study of happiness, new research findings will appear.

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