Abstract
This paper analyses the Tourism Wellbeing Scale, a new measure in the tourism sector built from Positive Psychology variables: wellbeing, creativity, optimism, and spirituality. It empathizes the importance of multidisciplinary work and thus it focuses on a psychological approach to understand wellbeing in tourism. The empirical research used Exploratory Factor Analysis (n=429) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (n=428). Reliability through Cronbach' Alpha was .874 and evidence of convergent validity was found with the Creative personality scale-short form, Global wellbeing scale, optimism scale, and spirituality scale. A final 8-item structure, with a one-factor solution and confirmatory analysis with: a) Normed Chi-squared (χ2/df) =1.076; b) Root Mean Square Residual (RMR) =.041; c) Goodness of Fit (GFI) =.992; d) Adjusted Goodness of Fit (AGFI) =.977; e) Comparative Fit Index (CFI) =.999; and f) the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) =.013 was obtained. Overall, this instrument has an adequate goodness-of-fit and acceptable psychometric quality to be used in the field. This study is an innovation in bringing a new instrument to the field based on psychological principles with the potential to help stakeholders in the development of new marketing products where wellbeing can be a major turn-point for the tourism industry.
Highlights
In recent years the world has been involved in several unseen challenges like never before, including a shift in the way people think that even science could not forecast (Andreote 2018)
In this study Psychology, Positive Psychology joins Tourism to fill a gap in scientific research regarding the study of people that travel and, joining the dialogue of interdisciplinarity
Other results from this study showed that tourism can be a promoter of wellbeing both for tourists and residents; nature is associated with wellbeing and; that wellbeing can be an important innovation opportunity for entrepreneurs
Summary
In recent years the world has been involved in several unseen challenges like never before, including a shift in the way people think that even science could not forecast (Andreote 2018). The European Commission recognized the importance of multidisciplinary work to combat challenges in today’s world, including the relevance of social sciences and humanities (Strom et al 2018). It acknowledged that “to open up for further concrete interdisciplinary approaches in European research and innovation, more efforts are needed and this is a gradual process” A dialogue between sciences is needed, looking beyond the individual fields and searching for ways where they are connected (Milanez 2015). In this study Psychology, Positive Psychology joins Tourism to fill a gap in scientific research regarding the study of people that travel and, joining the dialogue of interdisciplinarity. Happiness, life satisfaction, optimism, and many other concepts are often linked to positive outcomes in people lives, such as more personal
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call