Are Tourism Practitioners Happy? The Role of Explanatory Style Played on Tourism Practitioners’ Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

Research on tourism has gradually focused on the study of well-being, but relatively little attention has been paid to the psychological well-being of tourism practitioners. This study adopted the theoretical lens of explanatory style and the PERMA model (P = positive emotion, E = engagement, R = relationships, M = meaning, A = accomplishment) to investigate the influence of tourism practitioners’ explanatory style on their psychological well-being (PWB). The survey study demonstrated that explanatory style was significantly related to PWB; whilst an optimistic explanatory style was positively related to PWB, a pessimistic explanatory style was negatively related to it. Additionally, in the context of Chinese culture, tourism practitioners were inclined to attribute PWB to internal, stable, and specific causes. This study falls within the extensive field of occupational health psychology and theoretically contributes to the literature by connecting positive psychology and its effects on practitioners in the tourism context. Meanwhile, there are similarities and differences between the PWB and explanatory style in the Chinese cultural context and in the Western context. This finding has practical implications for generalizing the PWB of tourism practitioners in different cultural backgrounds, especially in countries with Eastern cultural backgrounds, further improving the sustainable development of tourism destinations.

PERMA Model of Well-Being Applied to Portuguese Senior Tourists: A Confirmatory Factor Analysis

“…Well-being in tourism experiences has been the target of recent attention in the academic community [1][2][3][4], with divergent results, the impact of vacations pointing either to an increase or decrease in the well-being and quality of life of the individual [5]. Nonetheless, recent studies have reported that senior tourists travel to enrich themselves personally, have new experiences, socialize, entertain and seek well-being [6][7][8][9], taking into account the existence of some concerns when planning a trip [10].…”

“…Meanwhile, Han et al [2] revealed a gap in research dedicated to well-being tourism, suggesting the need for more research regarding the impact of tourism on the psychological well-being of tourists, since there were similarities between psychological well-being between Eastern and Western cultures. In fact, there is a well-established relationship between tourism, travel, and health, in which the individual seeks relaxation and a greater sense of well-being [13].…”