Vacations Over the Years: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis of Tourism Experiences and Subjective Well-Being in the Netherla
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Vacations Over the Years: A Cross‑Lagged Panel Analysis of Tourism Experiences and Subjective Well‑Being in the Netherlands Ondrej Mitas1 · Maarten Kroesen2
© The Author(s) 2019
Abstract Tourism experiences, also called vacations, are known to boost subjective well-being, although it has been argued that the effects are primarily affective in nature and short-lived. We argue that this is a methodological artifact due to the brief duration—1 year or less— of almost all extant longitudinal studies of tourism experience effects. Based on broadenand-build and personal resource theories, we hypothesize that tourism experiences contribute to both affective and cognitive components of subjective well-being over a multi-year timespan. Using random intercept cross-lagged panel models, we tested these hypotheses in 8 years of panel data based on a representative sample of the population of the Netherlands. We found both between- and within-individual effects of vacation frequency on cognitive as well as affective well-being. More frequent vacationers experienced higher life satisfaction and lower negative affect, while the average participant also experienced slightly higher life satisfaction and positive affect following a year with higher vacation frequency. Increases in life satisfaction also predicted more frequent vacationing in a following year, consistent with an “upward spiral” pattern of improving well-being based on accumulation of positive experiences, as suggested by the broaden-and-build theory. Keywords Vacations · Tourism · Experiences · Life satisfaction · Affect · Panel data · Cross-lagged panel model
1 Introduction Many people point to tourism experiences as containing the happiest moments of their lives. Tourism experiences, usually defined as spending at least one night away from one’s usual home for leisure purposes (World Tourism Organization 1994) are characterized by novelty, leisure, and detachment from daily hassles (Mitas et al. 2012a). Thus, it is no surprise that the relationship between tourism experiences and happiness has become an issue * Ondrej Mitas [email protected] 1
Breda University of Applied Sciences, Mgr. Hopmansstraat 2, 4817JS Breda, The Netherlands
2
Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5, 2628BX Delft, The Netherlands
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O. Mitas, M. Kroesen
of substantial research interest. Since 2008, no less than five PhD projects have focused on this topic (Nawijn 2012; Mitas 2010; Hagger 2009; Filep 2009; de Bloom 2012). Consumer behavior scholars (Neal et al. 1999; Sirgy et al. 2011; Uysal et al. 2016), and psychologists (Kemp et al. 2008; Wirtz et al. 2003) have also explored the link between tourism experiences and happiness. Most of these studies have adopted a subjective well-being definition of happiness, which posits happiness as being composed of affective and cognitive components. Research under the subjective well-being view suggests that the effects of tourism experiences on happiness are generally affective and short-lived (Mitas et al. 2017
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