1 Minds on the move:New links from psychology to tourism Pearce,P.L.and Packer,J.(2013).Minds on the move:New links from psychology to tourism.Annals of Tourism Research,40,386-411. ABSTRACT This review,which is organised according to key themes,suggests that tourism researchers can profit from contemporary developments in mainstream psychology The themes addressed are motivation and destination choice,attitudes and satisfaction, memory,and personal growth.Patterned and dual processing approaches to behaviour are highlighted.Additionally a framework for advancing the analysis of minds on the move should consider a range of dimensions including emic and etic approaches, transects across domains of inquiry,social as well as individual processes, longitudinal work,pan-cultural analysis and contextual classifications.It is argued that accessing psychology scholarship can build the capacity of tourism researchers. (100 words) Keywords:psychology;motivation;attitudes;satisfaction;memory;personal growth INTRODUCTION This article seeks to assist tourism scholars who need to deal with topics and interest areas which have their roots in mainstream psychology.It is addressed in particular to those who are most interested in how tourists think,feel and behave.As an area of study psychology consists of a vast assembly of ideas,theories and methods for systematically examining human behaviour and experience.It is predominantly focussed at the individual level but social processes and interaction are often viewed as strongly influencing core human functioning.Psychology has a rich history and an organised academy with literally thousands of scholars contributing to the discipline's ongoing evolution(Martin,Carlson Buskit,2007).For tourism scholars the breadth and intense scrutiny of human behaviour and experience undertaken within psychology represents both a resource and a challenge.Mining a resource is not always a simple task as one needs to be careful with what is borrowed and how it is applied.Additionally there are challenges in being mindful of fresh opportunities and not being trapped by previous borrowings and sources of strength. The emphasis in the following sections is on the work of modern twenty-first century psychology.Psychoanalysis and behaviourism,both fading traditions from earlier eras of inquiry,are not a part of the present compass of interest.There is a continuing thread of interest in these earlier traditions of intellectual inquiry as applied to tourism(cf.Kingsbury and Brunn,2004,Tran and Ralston,2006)but as Plog(1987)reported over a quarter of century ago,the concepts are loose,hard to pin down and difficult to apply in consensually agreed on ways.Additionally while psychologists,like some tourism researchers,are broadly interested in minds and existential concerns,our immediate concern does not extend to philosophical debates on the links between mind and body (Gould 2004;Grayling 2005).Instead,a view is adopted that we are concerned with minds on the move where the term mind refers to the lived and reported mental states of tourists. The approach taken in this review is thematic.It is an approach that requires explanation.Typically,there have been somewhat separate fields of inquiry in such
1 Minds on the move: New links from psychology to tourism Pearce, P.L. and Packer, J. (2013). Minds on the move: New links from psychology to tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 40, 386-411. ABSTRACT This review, which is organised according to key themes, suggests that tourism researchers can profit from contemporary developments in mainstream psychology. The themes addressed are motivation and destination choice, attitudes and satisfaction, memory, and personal growth. Patterned and dual processing approaches to behaviour are highlighted. Additionally a framework for advancing the analysis of minds on the move should consider a range of dimensions including emic and etic approaches, transects across domains of inquiry, social as well as individual processes, longitudinal work, pan-cultural analysis and contextual classifications. It is argued that accessing psychology scholarship can build the capacity of tourism researchers. (100 words) Keywords: psychology; motivation; attitudes; satisfaction; memory; personal growth. INTRODUCTION This article seeks to assist tourism scholars who need to deal with topics and interest areas which have their roots in mainstream psychology. It is addressed in particular to those who are most interested in how tourists think, feel and behave. As an area of study psychology consists of a vast assembly of ideas, theories and methods for systematically examining human behaviour and experience. It is predominantly focussed at the individual level but social processes and interaction are often viewed as strongly influencing core human functioning. Psychology has a rich history and an organised academy with literally thousands of scholars contributing to the discipline’s ongoing evolution (Martin, Carlson & Buskit, 2007). For tourism scholars the breadth and intense scrutiny of human behaviour and experience undertaken within psychology represents both a resource and a challenge. Mining a resource is not always a simple task as one needs to be careful with what is borrowed and how it is applied. Additionally there are challenges in being mindful of fresh opportunities and not being trapped by previous borrowings and sources of strength. The emphasis in the following sections is on the work of modern twenty-first century psychology. Psychoanalysis and behaviourism, both fading traditions from earlier eras of inquiry, are not a part of the present compass of interest. There is a continuing thread of interest in these earlier traditions of intellectual inquiry as applied to tourism (cf. Kingsbury and Brunn, 2004, Tran and Ralston, 2006) but as Plog (1987) reported over a quarter of century ago, the concepts are loose, hard to pin down and difficult to apply in consensually agreed on ways. Additionally while psychologists, like some tourism researchers, are broadly interested in minds and existential concerns, our immediate concern does not extend to philosophical debates on the links between mind and body (Gould 2004; Grayling 2005). Instead, a view is adopted that we are concerned with minds on the move where the term mind refers to the lived and reported mental states of tourists. The approach taken in this review is thematic. It is an approach that requires explanation. Typically, there have been somewhat separate fields of inquiry in such
2 domains as memory and cognition,social psychology,clinical psychology, personality,physiological psychology and developmental psychology.Some more recent trends in the last decade have seen courses and texts in positive psychology, evolutionary psychology,cross-cultural psychology and health psychology.The implications of these divisions within psychology for tourism study are that particular topics need to be treated across these intra-discipline divides.Social behaviours and relationships,for example,are considered predominantly within social psychology but there are interesting sub-themes of inquiry and innovative ideas within cognition, personality,clinical studies,and importantly positive psychology.In this review we will try to link the thematic threads of inquiry across the contributions from different psychology fields(cf.Hofstede,1995). A small sample of the research in tourism which addresses mental processes and the embodied actions of those who travel is captured in some key monographs and overviews(Bowen Clarke,2009;Crouch,Perdue,Timmermans Uysal,2004: Kozak DeCrop,2009;March Woodside,2005;Mazanec,Crouch,Ritchie, Woodside,2001;Morgan,Lugosi,Ritchie,2010;Pearce,2005,2011;Pizam Mansfeld,2000;Ryan,1995).A more specific appreciation of the linkages can be gleaned from a summary of the topic areas pertinent to publications in Annals of Tourism Research from a recent span of work,specifically 2007-2011.Other publication outlets may have somewhat different emphases but the broad ordering of interest areas listed in Table 1 is supported by comprehensive bibliometric counts and assessments of psychology related tourism studies(Barrios,Borrego,Vilagines,Olle Somoza,2008)
2 domains as memory and cognition, social psychology, clinical psychology, personality, physiological psychology and developmental psychology. Some more recent trends in the last decade have seen courses and texts in positive psychology, evolutionary psychology, cross-cultural psychology and health psychology. The implications of these divisions within psychology for tourism study are that particular topics need to be treated across these intra-discipline divides. Social behaviours and relationships, for example, are considered predominantly within social psychology but there are interesting sub-themes of inquiry and innovative ideas within cognition, personality, clinical studies, and importantly positive psychology. In this review we will try to link the thematic threads of inquiry across the contributions from different psychology fields (cf. Hofstede, 1995). A small sample of the research in tourism which addresses mental processes and the embodied actions of those who travel is captured in some key monographs and overviews (Bowen & Clarke, 2009; Crouch, Perdue, Timmermans & Uysal, 2004; Kozak & DeCrop, 2009; March & Woodside, 2005; Mazanec, Crouch, Ritchie, & Woodside, 2001; Morgan, Lugosi, & Ritchie, 2010; Pearce, 2005, 2011; Pizam & Mansfeld, 2000; Ryan, 1995). A more specific appreciation of the linkages can be gleaned from a summary of the topic areas pertinent to publications in Annals of Tourism Research from a recent span of work, specifically 2007-2011. Other publication outlets may have somewhat different emphases but the broad ordering of interest areas listed in Table 1 is supported by comprehensive bibliometric counts and assessments of psychology related tourism studies (Barrios, Borrego, Vilagines, Olle & Somoza, 2008)
3 Table 1 Numbers of recent articles linking psychology and tourism themes.Annals of Tourism Research 2007-2011. Directly related-major themes Directly related-minor themes Decision making,consumer behaviour(14) Perceptions and memories(4) Motivation(10) Psychological benefits(3) Satisfaction and attitudes(8) Tourist experiences(3) Social interaction(5) Destination image(3) Identity and self concept(2) Indirectly related-major themes Indirectly related-minor themes Knowledge and understanding(6) Humour(1) Heritage and interpretation (6) Involvement and interest(1) Note."Directly-related themes"are tourism research topics that draw primarily from well-established psychological concepts and subfields "Indirectly-related themes"are tourism research topics that draw primarily from other fields to which psychology also contributes,e.g.,Education,Geography,Cultural Studies,or which draw from new or emerging areas of psychological research Major themes are those where more than five articles were identified;minor themes are those where fewer than five articles were identified. As space does not permit full discussion of each of the topics identified in Table 1, they have been combined as coherently as possible into four broad sets of themes. Initially,two groupings of the themes represented in Table 1 will be considered.The themes are motivation and decision making,and then attitudes and satisfaction.A second section of the paper will consider the more recent interests of tourism studies which can be linked to psychological inquiry.On this occasion the themes to be pursued are memory and personal growth.All of these topics will be considered not so much as inventories of the work already conducted in tourism but more in the spirit of how tourism scholars can re-conceptualise these issues by connecting to dominant considerations in up-to-date psychology research.In a further section some of the concepts borrowed originally from psychology which are now seen as of limited value will be reviewed.Finally,a broad guide to future work will be briefly documented. Many readers of this paper will undoubtedly have some interest in psychology but not a formal training in the discipline.Contemporary tourism courses in business schools in particular tend to give only marginal attention to serious subject options in psychology.This paper offers some guidance to key recent developments but is necessarily selective.There are substantial resources to help scholars seeking to
31 Table 1 Numbers of recent articles linking psychology and tourism themes. Annals of Tourism Research 2007-2011. Directly related- major themes Decision making, consumer behaviour (14) Motivation (10) Satisfaction and attitudes (8) Social interaction (5) Directly related –minor themes Perceptions and memories (4) Psychological benefits (3) Tourist experiences (3) Destination image (3) Identity and self concept (2) Indirectly related- major themes Knowledge and understanding (6) Heritage and interpretation (6) Indirectly related –minor themes Humour (1) Involvement and interest (1) Note. “Directly-related themes” are tourism research topics that draw primarily from well-established psychological concepts and subfields “Indirectly-related themes” are tourism research topics that draw primarily from other fields to which psychology also contributes, e.g., Education, Geography, Cultural Studies, or which draw from new or emerging areas of psychological research Major themes are those where more than five articles were identified; minor themes are those where fewer than five articles were identified. As space does not permit full discussion of each of the topics identified in Table 1, they have been combined as coherently as possible into four broad sets of themes. Initially, two groupings of the themes represented in Table 1 will be considered. The themes are motivation and decision making, and then attitudes and satisfaction. A second section of the paper will consider the more recent interests of tourism studies which can be linked to psychological inquiry. On this occasion the themes to be pursued are memory and personal growth. All of these topics will be considered not so much as inventories of the work already conducted in tourism but more in the spirit of how tourism scholars can re-conceptualise these issues by connecting to dominant considerations in up-to-date psychology research. In a further section some of the concepts borrowed originally from psychology which are now seen as of limited value will be reviewed. Finally, a broad guide to future work will be briefly documented. Many readers of this paper will undoubtedly have some interest in psychology but not a formal training in the discipline. Contemporary tourism courses in business schools in particular tend to give only marginal attention to serious subject options in psychology. This paper offers some guidance to key recent developments but is necessarily selective. There are substantial resources to help scholars seeking to
4 develop a richer understanding of what people do,why they do it and how they feel and think about their lives.The journals Psychological Bulletin and Annual Review of Psychology offer comprehensive reviews,often spanning several decades of work, that trace the intricate development of core ideas and evaluate their current status. Increasingly,major figures in the psychology field write more popular and accessible but still research-derived,versions of their work in key monographs.In the present review examples include Argyle(2001),Seligman(2002),Nisbettt(2003),Collett (2004),Wiseman(2007),Diener and Biswas-Diener(2008).Furnham(2008). Zimbardo and Boyd(2008),and Langer(2009).The approach of monitoring the accessible work of well-established psychology scholars backed by detailed contemporary journal review articles offers stimulating educational pathways for many tourism students and scholars. MOTIVATION AND DESTINATION CHOICE Why people travel Answering the question"Why do people travel?"is,in both an academic and applied sense,a formative but naive question.It is akin to asking the equally broad question"What are the impacts of tourism?"A better approach for those seeking a rich understanding of motivation is why certain groups of people choose certain holiday experiences (see,for example,Larsen,Ogaard Brun's 2011 study on the motivations of backpackers).Importantly,we need to answer these more specific questions without simply re-describing what we observe or seek to study.Such circularity is evident when assertions are made that people choose risky or adventurous activities because they are motivated by sensation or risk seeking (Furnham,2008). Studies of tourist motivation and the linked issue of how tourists choose their holiday destinations are fundamental to much tourism inquiry.Regrettably there has been a dependence on a limited slice of the psychological literature when motivation and decision making issues have been tackled in tourism research(cf.Wlodkowski, 1993,who recognises twenty internationally credible motivation theories).For example,the approach of Abraham Maslow emphasising self-actualisation and a depiction of his work as involving a hierarchy of needs is a familiar model to nearly every business and tourism undergraduate.These ideas are frequently cited as pivotal contributions to our understanding of motivation(Hsu Huang,2008).Some sixty years after its initial formulation,it can be suggested that the value of Maslow's work lies not in the hierarchical system associated with his studies but resides more simply in the diversity of motive forces he outlined.All five levels of Maslow's hierarchy can be seen as co-acting in determining a complete motivational profile(Hsu Huang,2008;Pearce,2011).In particular new status-and relationship-informed patterns of motivational aspirations appear to be necessary in contemporary times as tourism researchers and others consider cultural groups and especially Asian nationalities which were not originally encompassed in Maslow's work(Pearce Panchal,2011;Schutte and Ciarlante,1998). The argument that there are other rich,even untapped,sources of ideas about motivation in fundamental psychology is supported by accessing recent writing on positive psychology(Diener Biswas-Diener,2008).In particular the notion that human beings seek to build their well-being in ways consonant with their values and related to acquiring key character strengths represents a teleological or forward looking approach to social motivation relevant to contexts such as tourism
4 develop a richer understanding of what people do, why they do it and how they feel and think about their lives. The journals Psychological Bulletin and Annual Review of Psychology offer comprehensive reviews, often spanning several decades of work, that trace the intricate development of core ideas and evaluate their current status. Increasingly, major figures in the psychology field write more popular and accessible, but still research-derived, versions of their work in key monographs. In the present review examples include Argyle (2001), Seligman (2002), Nisbettt (2003), Collett (2004), Wiseman (2007), Diener and Biswas-Diener (2008). Furnham (2008), Zimbardo and Boyd (2008), and Langer (2009). The approach of monitoring the accessible work of well-established psychology scholars backed by detailed contemporary journal review articles offers stimulating educational pathways for many tourism students and scholars. MOTIVATION AND DESTINATION CHOICE Why people travel Answering the question “Why do people travel?” is, in both an academic and applied sense, a formative but naïve question. It is akin to asking the equally broad question “What are the impacts of tourism?” A better approach for those seeking a rich understanding of motivation is why certain groups of people choose certain holiday experiences (see, for example, Larsen, Øgaard & Brun’s 2011 study on the motivations of backpackers). Importantly, we need to answer these more specific questions without simply re-describing what we observe or seek to study. Such circularity is evident when assertions are made that people choose risky or adventurous activities because they are motivated by sensation or risk seeking (Furnham, 2008). Studies of tourist motivation and the linked issue of how tourists choose their holiday destinations are fundamental to much tourism inquiry. Regrettably there has been a dependence on a limited slice of the psychological literature when motivation and decision making issues have been tackled in tourism research (cf. Wlodkowski, 1993, who recognises twenty internationally credible motivation theories). For example, the approach of Abraham Maslow emphasising self-actualisation and a depiction of his work as involving a hierarchy of needs is a familiar model to nearly every business and tourism undergraduate. These ideas are frequently cited as pivotal contributions to our understanding of motivation (Hsu & Huang, 2008). Some sixty years after its initial formulation, it can be suggested that the value of Maslow’s work lies not in the hierarchical system associated with his studies but resides more simply in the diversity of motive forces he outlined. All five levels of Maslow’s hierarchy can be seen as co-acting in determining a complete motivational profile (Hsu & Huang, 2008; Pearce, 2011). In particular new status- and relationship-informed patterns of motivational aspirations appear to be necessary in contemporary times as tourism researchers and others consider cultural groups and especially Asian nationalities which were not originally encompassed in Maslow’s work (Pearce & Panchal, 2011; Schutte and Ciarlante, 1998). The argument that there are other rich, even untapped, sources of ideas about motivation in fundamental psychology is supported by accessing recent writing on positive psychology (Diener & Biswas-Diener, 2008). In particular the notion that human beings seek to build their well-being in ways consonant with their values and related to acquiring key character strengths represents a teleological or forward looking approach to social motivation relevant to contexts such as tourism
5 (Csikszentmihalyi Csikszentmihalyi,2006;Seligman 2002).These approaches may be contrasted with earlier but well known Freudian-derived psychoanalytic or personality approaches built on deficit models where individuals are sometimes seen as trapped by their personal past or influenced by evolutionary imperatives.By way of contrast the newer motivation work suggests that individuals seek to maximise their overall state of well-being.This newer emphasis considers not only immediate sensory pleasures(although these remain important)but also includes attempts to achieve desired goals such as respect,status,enhanced relationships,altruism,self- regulation,zest,and several other eudemonic outcomes(Park,Peterson Seligman, 2006).This kind of thinking enriches tourism researchers'attempts to understand why people travel,compared with older notions based on the more limited deficit models of arousal,personality malfunctioning,anxiety or stereotyped applications of Maslow's formulation (Ateljevic,2000;Crompton,1979;Gnoth,1997;Iso Ahola, 1982,Plog,1974). A number of tourism based motivation commentators have specified what is required of theory in this area.The requirements include a treatment of the multi- motive drivers of tourist behaviour,an ability to consider the dynamic and changing nature of an individual's motivation across their tourism experiences and the need for theories and conceptual systems to function as integrative and predictive but also empirically accessible foundations for research(Bowen Clarke 2009;Hsu Huang, 2008;Pearce 1992,2005).A major candidate for developing the study of tourist motivation according to these requirements is the travel career pattern approach reported initially by Pearce Lee(2005)and recently augmented by linking the concepts to core work in affective neuroscience (Panksepp,2005;Pearce 2011).The material on motivation(and emotions)from neuroscience adds to the value of tourism studies by providing contemporary support for the importance of the physiological need for change and social contact.For example,the contribution of affective neuroscience ideas to the travel career model lies in recognising that core affective states such as 'seeking'(e.g.,the need to deal with novelty and change in one's environment)and care'(e.g.,the need to build relationships),directly support the motives that are central to the travel career approach.Other basic affective processes underlie the peripheral motive links. Both in linking to the teleological concerns of positive psychology and by considering the applicability of neuroscience findings the potential exists for tourism researchers to build more complete and solidly based motivation research.In summary,new views of tourist motivation will be oriented more towards a view of tourists as actors who are self-determining,creative,forward looking opportunists who benefit from their own learning and previous experience without being trapped by their personal past.Some of their motivation and experience will be linked to deep and basic emotions but this view is not incompatible with the suggestion that there are key culturally relevant values which may shape the directions of individual ambition. An interesting connection can be noted between this psychology-derived literature and other assessment and category systems which address the roots of tourist travel style and experience.For example,a hybrid blend of motives,interests and travel types underlies Cohen's well known division of tourists into recreational,diversionary, experimental,experiential and existential categories (Cohen,1979).Much of the attention using this scheme has been on whether or not special sub-groups such as backpackers are best described by the existential category or by the other labels (Maoz,2005;Noy,2004).The category scheme devised by Cohen has been and remains influential.It can be seen as an intuitive sorting of sets of motives which are
5 (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 2006; Seligman 2002). These approaches may be contrasted with earlier but well known Freudian-derived psychoanalytic or personality approaches built on deficit models where individuals are sometimes seen as trapped by their personal past or influenced by evolutionary imperatives. By way of contrast the newer motivation work suggests that individuals seek to maximise their overall state of well-being. This newer emphasis considers not only immediate sensory pleasures (although these remain important) but also includes attempts to achieve desired goals such as respect, status, enhanced relationships, altruism, selfregulation, zest, and several other eudemonic outcomes (Park, Peterson & Seligman, 2006). This kind of thinking enriches tourism researchers’ attempts to understand why people travel, compared with older notions based on the more limited deficit models of arousal, personality malfunctioning, anxiety or stereotyped applications of Maslow’s formulation (Ateljevic, 2000; Crompton, 1979; Gnoth, 1997; Iso Ahola, 1982; Plog, 1974). A number of tourism based motivation commentators have specified what is required of theory in this area. The requirements include a treatment of the multimotive drivers of tourist behaviour, an ability to consider the dynamic and changing nature of an individual’s motivation across their tourism experiences and the need for theories and conceptual systems to function as integrative and predictive but also empirically accessible foundations for research (Bowen & Clarke 2009; Hsu & Huang, 2008; Pearce 1992, 2005). A major candidate for developing the study of tourist motivation according to these requirements is the travel career pattern approach reported initially by Pearce & Lee (2005) and recently augmented by linking the concepts to core work in affective neuroscience (Panksepp, 2005; Pearce 2011). The material on motivation (and emotions) from neuroscience adds to the value of tourism studies by providing contemporary support for the importance of the physiological need for change and social contact. For example, the contribution of affective neuroscience ideas to the travel career model lies in recognising that core affective states such as ‘seeking’ (e.g., the need to deal with novelty and change in one’s environment) and ‘care’ (e.g., the need to build relationships), directly support the motives that are central to the travel career approach. Other basic affective processes underlie the peripheral motive links. Both in linking to the teleological concerns of positive psychology and by considering the applicability of neuroscience findings the potential exists for tourism researchers to build more complete and solidly based motivation research. In summary, new views of tourist motivation will be oriented more towards a view of tourists as actors who are self-determining, creative, forward looking opportunists who benefit from their own learning and previous experience without being trapped by their personal past. Some of their motivation and experience will be linked to deep and basic emotions but this view is not incompatible with the suggestion that there are key culturally relevant values which may shape the directions of individual ambition. An interesting connection can be noted between this psychology-derived literature and other assessment and category systems which address the roots of tourist travel style and experience. For example, a hybrid blend of motives, interests and travel types underlies Cohen’s well known division of tourists into recreational, diversionary, experimental, experiential and existential categories (Cohen, 1979). Much of the attention using this scheme has been on whether or not special sub-groups such as backpackers are best described by the existential category or by the other labels (Maoz, 2005; Noy, 2004). The category scheme devised by Cohen has been and remains influential. It can be seen as an intuitive sorting of sets of motives which are