Stress Appraisal and Coping Response to Hassles Experienced in Outdoor Recreation Settings

The purpose of this article was to report recreationists' coping response to stress experienced in outdoor recreation settings. Stress was defined as daily hassles. The most frequent sources of hassles were litter, noise from other people, damage to the resource, and too many people at campsites. Recreationists used a coping scheme that combined problem and emotion-focused coping mechanisms. Intensity of stress moderately predicted coping response and frequency of stress weakly predicted coping. The use of coping had a moderately positive relationship with negative impacts to the recreation experience resulting from the hassle situation. The results were interpreted using psychological stress theory to offer refinement and future research directions in recreation-stress research.     

Predictors of Behavioral Loyalty Among Hikers Along the Appalachian Trail

In recent years, conceptual and empirical papers have begun to appear in the leisure literature examining the processes leading to the formation of recreationist loyalty. While this work is still in its infancy, current understanding suggests that leisure involvement plays a formative role in the development of social psychological commitment, which in turn, is an antecedent to loyalty to a brand or organization. In the context of natural resource-based recreation the concept of loyalty is most often used to refer to recreationists' attachments to specific recreation areas. The purpose of this paper is to provide an empirical examination of the first order structural relations among involvement (i.e., Centrality, Attraction, Self Expression), commitment (i.e., Social Investment, Financial Investment, Position Involvement, Informational Complexity, Volitional Choice), resistance to change (i.e., Activity Resistance, Place Resistance) and behavioral loyalty for hikers along the Appalachian Trail. These data provided partial support of our hypothesized model. The strength of the structural models varied and not all predictors were significant. Also, the valence of the dimensional relations varied. These data highlight several measurement related issues relating to each of the constructs modeled. These measurement issues inhibit progress toward a fuller understanding of the relationships between each of the constructs and their dimensions.     

Response to "The One-Way Mirror"

The variable, place attachment, has recently been used by investigators to assist in understanding visitor responses to fee programs on public lands. This paper examines the relationship between place attachment (i.e., place identity and place dependence), attitudes toward paying fees, and visitor preferences for spending fee revenue within the context of social judgment theory. It was hypothesized that both place dependence and place identity would moderate the relationship between recreationists' attitudes toward the site's fee program and visitor support for spending revenue generated by the fee program in the areas of facilities and service development, environmental protection, and environmental education. Data were collected at Mono Basin Scenic Area over the summer of 1998. Results indicated that only place identity was a statistically significant moderator, such that it magnified the relationship between recreationists' attitudes toward the fee program and spending support. As place identity increased and recreationists' attitudes toward the fee program became more positive, support for spending fee revenue also increased. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

What are wilderness areas for? Tourism and political ecologies of wilderness uses and management in the Anthropocene

ABSTRACT

In global imaginaries, wilderness areas are considered to represent the last parts of “original” nature, untouched by civilization and modernization. In most cases, this is misleading as wilderness environments have been exploited, explored and also converted into administrative units in various protected area networks. Indeed, most wilderness areas have been a part of human–environment interactions for a long time and they have been influenced and modified in that interaction. As a result, wilderness is constitutively a cultural and politically loaded idea. While the Western notion of wilderness as a place where “man himself is a visitor who doesn't remain” represents the global hegemonic conservation thinking, it does not necessarily work with different local realities, meanings and use values of “the wild”. In addition, in recent decades, the tourism industry has placed an increasing interest on nature-based and adventure tourism products creating new kinds of ideas and use needs for the remaining wilderness environments. This paper analyzes empirically how wilderness environments and their roles are seen in the context of new and traditional anthropogenic uses and meanings of wilderness areas. More specifically, the paper uses a political ecology approach to evaluate the use and management priorities in the Finnish Wilderness system.     

Use encounter standards and curves for achieved privacy in wilderness

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between wilderness use encounters and degree of privacy achieved at three locations within a wilderness. The theoretical perspective of the research was grounded in environmental psychology, which emphasized the dynamic nature of person and situation fit, rather than the sociology of normative behavior. The study depicted privacy as a dependent measure and argued that privacy is not the opposite of perceived crowding. It also suggested that privacy may be a more appropriate dependent variable for encounter studies than those measures used in past recreation research. Privacy was operationalized as ‘'the level of desired privacy achieved,’’ measured on a 10‐point scale. It was then compared with level of actual, ideal, and maximum use encounters for 600 users of a South Carolina wilderness area. Results indicated that number of actual group encounters was inversely related to degree of desired privacy achieved, in the hypothesized inverse curve pattern anticipated but never proved for satisfaction research. Encounter‐privacy curves for ideal and maximum encounter levels also resulted in predicted patterns. Finally, degree of privacy achieved was negatively affected when ideal and maximum encounters were exceeded by actual encounters, showing a high degree of congruency between theorized and empirical findings.     

Alone with others: The paradox of privacy in wilderness

Attitudinal studies of wilderness visitors have indicated that people seek opportunities to limit interaction with other visitors so as to achieve privacy and solitude. This conventional interpretation of wilderness recreation was evaluated by comparing measures of visitor attitudes and social behavior in the backcountry of Yosemite National Park. Results show no association between visitor attitudes toward crowding and observed social interaction or behavior to avoid such social interaction. These findings suggest that subjective responses of visitors measured by questionnaires and interviews are often of debatable validity. Greater validity can be achieved by avoiding reliance on common‐sense interpretations in theory formulation and by employing multiple measurement techniques.     

Sustaining the Physical and Social Dimensions of Wilderness Tourism: The Perceptual Approach to Wilderness Management in New Zealand

The dynamics of the tourism industry are well illustrated by the case of New Zealand's tourism development over the last decade. The number of international tourists visiting New Zealand has doubled in the last ten years to approximately 1.5 million annual visitors. Associated with this growth has been a significant shift in patterns of tourist demand. No longer do most tourists simply comply with established tourist routes linking the high profile scenic attractions. Rather tourists have demonstrated a preference for more independent and dispersed patterns of travel, including an increase in demand for settings that offer subjective qualities of wilderness experience. This poses a complex but intriguing management challenge. If wilderness recreation involves pristine natural settings in the complete absence of facility development and visitor management, then these resources are more prone to degradation so than any other natural tourism resources. This paper suggests that an understanding of tourist perceptions of wilderness is crucial to the management of wilderness tourism, and considers the application of the perceptual approach to wilderness tourism as a means of sustaining wilderness values while promoting the satisfaction of visitor expectations.     

Both Sides Now: Transgression and Oppression in African Americans' Historical Relationships with Nature

ABSTRACT

Wilderness has been constructed as White, in part through histories that marginalize African American attitudes and experiences. In response, we provide an overview of African Americans' relationships with nature during three historical periods: (a) Enslavement, (b) Reconstruction and Postreconstruction, and (c) 1936–1994. African Americans' relationships with nature were created through an ongoing dialectic of oppression and transgression throughout each historical period. Four types of transgression were identified: wilderness as a space free of White oppression, wilderness as a site to challenge White oppression, engagement with nature despite White oppression, and advocacy for more just relationships with wilderness. Transgression is discussed as a means to remember environmental history and envision new relationships between African Americans and wilderness in the present, bonds for which transgression may one day no longer be necessary.     

Social Values versus Interpersonal Conflict among Hikers and Mountain Bikers

Conflict has traditionally been defined in terms of goal interference (interpersonal conflict) where the physical presence of one individual or group interferes with the goals of another individual or group. Recent research has identified social values differences as an alternative explanation for conflict. Social values conflict can occur between users with different beliefs and values, even if there is no contact between them. This article builds on this conceptual distinction by examining social values and interpersonal conflict reported by hikers (n = 210), mountain bikers (n = 163), and those who participate in both activities (n = 400). Data for this article were obtained from onsite surveys. Respondents evaluated unacceptable behaviors associated with hiking and mountain biking. Across all three groups, less conflict was reported for hiking than for mountain biking. To the extent that conflict did exist for hiking, mountain bikers and dual-sport participants were more likely than hikers to report unacceptable behaviors. For evaluations of mountain biking behavior, hikers were more likely than mountain bikers to experience conflict, whereas dual-sport participants fell in between these two extremes. All three groups reported more interpersonal than social values conflict.     

“I have to watch my back”: Exploring Chinese hotel guests’ generalized distrust and coping behavior

The hospitality industry has been suffering from a pervasive climate of suspicion among guests who are concerned about potential hygiene or safety issues. From the perspective of protection motivation theory, this study presents a conceptual model elucidating the underlying mechanism through which generalized distrust shapes hotel guests' defensive coping behavior. Exploratory semi-structured interviews and online posts were combined to identify hotel guests' on-site coping strategies and underlying mechanisms. Then, an online questionnaire was distributed to 532 respondents, and structural equation modeling was used to test the proposed research model. Results provide empirical support for the “cognition–emotion–coping behavior” pattern in cognitive appraisal theory. This study offers valuable insight into the management of hotel guests’ generalized distrust.     

Toward an understanding of wilderness participation

Abstract

Seventeen variables were used to explain differences in wilderness use or nonuse in samples of the general public and wilderness users from Illinois. The variables important in determining who will use wilderness are different from those that are important in influencing the amount of use among present users. Some traditional demographic variables have been found to be of lesser importance than some nondemographic variables.

Results from multivariate analysis indicate that of the 17 variables tested, sex had the greatest influence in determining both who uses wilderness and who intends to use wilderness in the future. The other standard socioeconomic variables of income, age, and occupation were of little importance, relative to the other variables used, in predicting who would use wilderness. Of the personality variables, only leisure values were important in distinguishing users from nonusers. The measures of wilderness values (approval, purism, and information) were important in determining who uses wilderness, but of little value in predicting the amount of wilderness use among users.

Conversely, the constraining variables of number of children and amount of vacation were more influential in estimating the amount of time spent in wilderness than who would use wilderness. Of the socioeconomic variables other than sex, only income and age were of some importance in influencing the amount of use. The personality variables tested showed little value in distinguishing between heavy and light users.     

Functions of privacy in wilderness environments

Abstract

Westin (1967), in his Privacy and Freedom, suggests that there are four basic functions of privacy in society (personal autonomy, emotional release, self‐evaluation, limited and protected communication). Westin's theoretical model was examined for its utility in understanding the functions of privacy in wilderness environments. Importance ratings of 106 wilderness users for 28 scale items which characterized the privacy functions were factor analyzed. The factor analysis yielded five functions instead of Westin's four; however, Westin's model served as a valuable tool for interpreting the functions. “Emotional release” was rated the most important function, while “resting the mind from anxiety and mental fatigue” was the highest rated individual item.     

Travellers' self-protections against health risks: An application of the full Protection Motivation Theory

Ensuring travellers' health and well-being is an important issue in tourism management and public health. By applying and testing the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), this study serves as one of the early attempts in tourism to explore travellers' self-protective behavior against health risks. This study conducted semi-structured interviews and an online survey. Consistent with the PMT, this study found that both threat and coping appraisals can enhance travellers' protection motivations, which in turn affect their actual behaviors. This study also provided interpretation of maladaptive perception in a tourism context and found its negative association with coping appraisal. Implications were provided on how to encourage travellers to protect themselves against health risks.     

Using Visitors' Motivations to Provide Learning Opportunities at Water-based Recreation Areas

With the increase of nature-based tourism and recreation on public lands in the United States, recreation and tourism planners have an opportunity to provide environmental education to a wide diversity of people. However, recreationists visit natural areas to attain a variety of experiences and benefits, which might or might not include learning. Through an examination of visitors to fresh-water springs in north central Florida, this study identified (1) the recreation benefits visitors to fresh-water springs most desire, (2) the role learning plays in recreationists' motivations to visit water-based recreation areas, and (3) the recreation opportunities (i.e. facilities and services) that will best provide learning opportunities for all visitors. Respondents were divided into four groups according to where they were surveyed and whether or not they had a strong interest in learning. Three of the four groups indicated an interest in developed services and facilities (e.g. visitor centres and museums) to provide for learning opportunities. Results also showed that some visitors' desires for learning benefits were not related to developed facilities and were more closely associated with passive recreation activities and settings. Specific planning implications for the four types of naturebased tourists are described.     

Alternate Measurement Approaches to Recreational Customer Satisfaction: Satisfaction-Only Versus Gap Scores

This study blends service quality and importance-performance methodologies to extend previous research beyond traditional customer service domains. The study examined water-based recreationists' importance and satisfaction ratings across a battery of 19 individual attributes within four domains relevant to outdoor recreation satisfaction (facilities, services, information, and recreation experience). Both the satisfaction-only item scores and gap scores (difference between importance and satisfaction level) were analyzed to determine their relationship within their respective satisfaction domain and with overall satisfaction. The satisfaction-only measures were found to be significantly better indicators than the gap scores of domain-level and overall satisfaction. The items were found to be stronger predictors within the four satisfaction domains than within the overall satisfaction model.     

Social class and wilderness use

Abstract

Using social class and social inequality theories and concepts, we reexamine previous studies of recreation participation in designated wilderness. We suggest that members of the semiautonomous class—highly educated professional‐technical and craft employees who have limited control over what work they do but a great deal of control over how they do it (Wright, 1978)—appropriated wilderness and continue to dominate wilderness use. We propose an explanation of how and why this occurred.     

Planes,trains and wheelchairs in the bush: Attitudes of people with mobility-disabilities to enhanced motorised access in remote natural settings

Managers of remote and wilderness environments have been among the last to accommodate the needs of tourists with mobility-disabilities – partly because of the physical difficulties and expense of doing so, but also due to a wider desire and mandate to preserve the natural and wilderness character of such areas. This research explores the extent to which those with mobility-disabilities desire enhanced access to natural areas. Do they share the same desires and values with respect to wilderness and access as the able-bodied? This paper reports upon a survey of over 400 residents and tourists, some with mobility-disabilities and some able-bodied, and compares their attitudes with respect to the development of various forms of motorised access to wilderness environments. Significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of their desire for greater access and also in how they view the impacts of such development. The group with mobility-impairments expressed a stronger desire for enhanced access in such environments. The environmental values of both groups were also examined using the revised New Ecological Paradigm scale, however no significant differences were found between the groups. The implications for tourism providers and wilderness managers are discussed.     

‘Hike your own hike’: equipment and serious leisure along the Appalachian Trail

We use qualitative methods to extend the understanding of serious leisure among hikers, specifically by examining the processes of acquiring and adapting equipment during an Appalachian Trail (AT) thru-hike. By studying the process of preparing for and embarking on this 2000-mile long, 4–6 month hike, we examine how learning about equipment takes place in close physical and social proximity to other hikers. We find that as experience is gained, hikers use less equipment and adapt equipment they use to more closely meet their needs. Our results suggest that experienced thru-hikers use their knowledge and experience to substitute for equipment in a way that transcends their awareness of equipment.     

身体现象学视角下徒步旅游者Flow体验的生成与意义

近年来,在人文社会科学研究"身体转向"的背景下,微观身体逐渐成为窥探旅游体验的关键视角。文章基于身体现象学,构建了旅游者心流(Flow)体验生成与意义分析框架,利用参与式观察、深入访谈、感官民族志等方法对稻城亚丁徒步旅游者进行实证分析,研究发现:(1)徒步旅游者的旅游世界"知觉场"形成源于外部环境对其身体感觉、运动通道、多感官知觉等具身体验的不断刺激;(2)作为"具身-认知"的过程,徒步旅游者Flow体验生成源于技能与挑战的平衡,且主客互动推动旅游者获得新的认知体验;(3)徒步旅游者Flow体验的意义蕴含在具身实践的身体知觉与特定的社会情境之中,并通过主体知觉意识、情感体验、价值判别呈现;(4)Flow体验状态意味着幸福情绪的获得,最终给予真实自我和真实世界的价值判断。研究尝试从身体现象学视角出发,对体验领域的Flow体验进行研究,是对旅游体验研究话题扩展的有益尝试。     

The Relationships Between Emotional Intelligence,Job Stress,and Quality of Life Among Tour Guides

Considerable evidence supports the notion that higher job stress is associated with lower quality of life (QOL), which is an increasingly common indicator to assess an individual's general health status, mental health and well-being. Those with higher emotional intelligence (EI) levels are more aware of their emotions and have more effective coping strategies to deal with stress-related emotions, all of which lead to higher levels of well-being. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to explore the relationships between EI, job stress and QOL among tour guides, who significantly influence tourists' impressions of a destination. The obtained results indicated that EI was inversely correlated with occupational stress and positively associated with QOL, and a negative link was seen between job stress and QOL. In practice, the results can provide information for developing interventions to enhance tour guides' competencies of EI and stress management, which result in higher levels of QOL.