Out-of-Plane Piezoelectricity and Ferroelectricity in Layered α-In2Se3 Nanoflakes

Piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties in the two-dimensional (2D) limit are highly desired for nanoelectronic, electromechanical, and optoelectronic applications. Here we report the first experimental evidence of out-of-plane piezoelectricity and ferroelectricity in van der Waals layered α-In2Se3 nanoflakes. The noncentrosymmetric R3m symmetry of the α-In2Se3 samples is confirmed by scanning transmission electron microscopy, second-harmonic generation, and Raman spectroscopy measurements. Domains with opposite polarizations are visualized by piezo-response force microscopy. Single-point poling experiments suggest that the polarization is potentially switchable for α-In2Se3 nanoflakes with thicknesses down to ∼10 nm. The piezotronic effect is demonstrated in two-terminal devices, where the Schottky barrier can be modulated by the strain-induced piezopotential. Our work on polar α-In2Se3, one of the model 2D piezoelectrics and ferroelectrics with simple crystal structures, shows its great potential in electronic and photonic applications

Visitors' perceptions of religious tourism destinations

This paper addresses the question of how contemporary visitors perceive the more commercial facets of religious destinations. The Four Great Buddhist Mountains of China provided subtly different contexts for the work, but the themes addressed have a broad applicability to the tensions between secular and spiritual features of such sites. Two rounds of detailed interviews in 2014 and 2016 were undertaken. The first identified four types of Buddhist site images: sacred with high spiritual values, cultural with long histories, attractive with natural features, and commercial with shops and restaurants. The second found that visitors' perceptions of these types of destination image contained both strong cognitive and affective reactions to the Buddhist sites. Such perceptions were strengthened by key site features such as an impressive atmosphere, attractive environment, personal beliefs, and loyal behaviors, but weakened by commercial activities, modern buildings, environmental pollution, and secular behaviors. The findings contribute to both theory and practice by clarifying the factors influencing visitors' perceptions about these Buddhist sites and providing further implications for the sustainable development of religious tourism

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

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

Tourists' attitudes toward religious commercialization

Commercial activities exist at different religious sites and the practices arouse global concern. This study identifies and assesses religious commercial activities and explores how they affect tourists' attitudes. The well-known Four Great Buddhist Mountains in China were selected as research sites. Using grounded theory, this study initially conducted 80 detailed interviews to build an understanding of commercialization and then investigated 438 travel blogs. The resulting seven commercial categories were: entrance ticket, food and drinks, accommodation, transportation, shopping, staff service, and entertainment. In addition, the level of different commercial categories for all research sites were assessed. The findings showed that tourists had more negative comments about food and drinks, accommodation, and staff service, with less criticism of transportation and entertainment. It implied that tourists were more likely to feel annoyed when tourism products have ambiguous or exaggerated prices and there is a lack of uniform service standards. The research findings offer insights for sustainable development of religious tourism aiming to benefit both local communities and tourists

Inheritors’ Happiness and Its Relevant Factors in Intangible Cultural Heritage

In recent years, more and more ICH (intangible cultural heritage) has been introduced into scenic areas. As the creators and disseminators of ICH, inheritors are invited to teach ICH skills in these areas. According to the PERMA model (positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and achievement), we conducted several interviews with the inheritors of ICH in scenic areas to explore their authentic happiness in terms of the modes by which they inherited and propagated ICH (as individuals, in studios or in companies) and the factors influencing authentic happiness. The findings show that: (1) in general, ICH inheritors reported high levels of authentic happiness in all five dimensions of the PERMA model; (2), for engagement with work, interpersonal relationships, perception of meaning and sense of achievement, the ways in which the inheritors experienced these four dimensions differed greatly depending on the inheritance mode; (3) the main factors affecting the authentic happiness of the inheritors were personal feelings, social attention, policy benefits and economic benefits. (4) inheritors, intangible culture heritage and tourism form an inseparable system, they promote and interact with each other. This paper provides a new perspective for the further development of both ICH inheritors and cultural heritage tourism

Tourists and Buddhist heritage sites: an integrative analysis of visitors’ experience and happiness through positive psychology constructs

The influence of visiting Buddhist heritage sites on happiness is the core concern of this article. China’s four sacred Buddhist mountains provided the setting for the study. Sixty semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine the positive effects of Buddhism on visitors. Thematic analysis was first undertaken to understand the Buddhism-induced happiness. In the terms of Buddhism, the visitors’ happiness was related to the law of karma, impermanence and reincarnation. The PERMA model from positive psychology was then utilized as a second interpretive framework, in which positive changes in visitors’ attitudes, behaviours and life were noted. The links between the core values of Buddhism and the PERMA model were then established and portrayed. The study makes a theoretical contribution by connecting the positive psychology constructs and the effects of Buddhism in the tourism context. In addition, this study provides insightful suggestions for local communities to manage religious heritage sites sustainably