Assessing the Stress-relief Benefit of Outdoor Travel Using Physiological and Psychological Measures

Tourism, which can be defined as leisure travels outside an individual’s usual environment, has been widely recognized as a necessity of human life (Richards 1999). Thus, scholars from different disciplines have paid increasing attention to the topic of travel benefits (Chen, Petrick, and Shahvali 2016a). For example, several studies have found that leisure travels can help relieve stress and anxiety (Frtiz and Sonnentag 2006; Strauss-Blasche et al. 2005; Westman and Etzion 2001), which is arguably an important finding because chronic stress can lead to poor health conditions (Matousek, Dobkin, and Pruessner 2010). However, most studies examining the stress relief benefit of travel only used psychological measures by asking respondents to self-report their perceived levels of stress (Chen and Petrick 2013). As it is well-documented that there are often discrepancies between physiological measures and psychological perceptions of the same affective state (Matousek et al. 2010), the goal of this study is to assess how the stress level fluctuates during an outdoor travel using the physiological measure of salivary cortisol as well as the psychological perceptions of stress

Vacation Recovery Experiences on Life Satisfaction

This research examined the role of vacations as a stress reliever, particularly focusing on the underlying psychological experiences associated with recovery. Building on the Effect-Recovery Theory, the Conservation of Resources Theory, and research on mood regulation, this research investigated the effects of vacation recovery experiences on overall life satisfaction, and further tested whether the proposed effects are moderated by vacation length. The study results indicated that life satisfaction after vacation is positively influenced by perceived control, psychological detachment from work, relaxation experience, and mastery experience during vacation. The results also revealed that longer vacations might provide more opportunities for detachment and mastery experiences. It is thus concluded that taking a vacation (even a weekend getaway) can help individuals to recover from stressful work, while individuals can benefit more from longer vacations

The Moderating Effect of Familiarity on the Structural Model of Country and Destination Image

This research extends knowledge of how country image influences destination image. Building on Han’s (1989) halo effect model (when consumers are unfamiliar with the product, country image tends to influence product evaluation through product belief) and summary cue model (when consumers are familiar with the product, country image tends to have direct effects on product evaluation), this research examines the moderating effects of familiarity on the structural model of country and destination image. The results indicate that summary cue model is better fitted under both conditions, which highlights the importance of country image as national stereotypes on destination image

WHY PEOPLE TRAVEL? EXAMINING PERCEIVED BENEFITS OF TOURISM

This research attempted to examine the effects of perceived tourism benefits on travel behavior based on the model of attitude importance. The results showed that the three factors of perceived tourism benefits – experiential, health, and relaxation benefits, had positive albeit weak effects on travel behavior through attitude importance, while the direct effects of the three benefit factors on travel behavior were not supported, which indicates that the tourism industry can encourage people to travel more by convincing them taking vacations is beneficial

Why People Travel? Examining Perceived Benefits of Tourism

It has been demonstrated that people often feel happier, healthier, and more relaxed after a vacation. However, there is still lack of research on how people perceive the benefits of travel and how these perceptions influence their travel behavior. Thus, the primary purpose of this research was to examine the effects of perceived tourism benefits on travel behavior based on the model of attitude importance. Since existing scales of tourism benefits failed to incorporate some important items or factors, particularly the health benefits of tourism, this dissertation involved three online panel surveys, including: (1) a preliminary study (n=566) to elicit new benefit items, (2) a pilot study (n=434) to trim down the number of items, and (3) a main survey (n=559) to finalize the scale. As a result, several items associated with health benefits were elicited from the preliminary study; in the later stages of scale development, these items were identified and validated as a convergent dimension of perceived health benefits. Further, several hypotheses pertaining to the effect of perceived tourism benefits and the applicability of the attitude-importance model in tourism were tested. The results showed that: (1) the premise of the attitude-importance model that important attitudes can instigate the process of knowledge accumulation was supported; (2) the applicability of the attitude-importance model in tourism was supported; (3) the three factors of perceived tourism benefits – experiential, health, and relaxation benefits, had positive effects on travel behavior through attitude importance. These results had theoretical and practical implications. First, while previous tourism studies on tourists’ information search have tended to incorporate information search behavior in the context of vacation planning, this research demonstrated that the accumulation of product-related knowledge can be on a regular basis. Second, while previous tourism studies have a strong preference for the evaluative features of attitudes, this research demonstrated that attitude importance as a dimension of attitude strength is relevant in tourism. Finally, the experiential, health, and relaxation benefits were shown to have positive effects on travel behavior, which indicates that the tourism industry can encourage people to travel more by convincing them taking vacations is beneficial

Spontaneous Generation of Vortex Array Beams from a Thin-Slice Solid-State Laser with Wide-Aperture Laser-Diode Pumping

We studied complex lasing pattern formations in a thin-slice solid-state laser with wide-aperture laser-diode end-pumping. Radial and rectangular vortex arrays were found to be formed in a controlled fashion with symmetric and asymmetric pump beam profiles, respectively. Most of these vortices exhibited single-frequency oscillations arising from a spontaneous process of transverse mode locking of nearly degenerate modes assisted by the laser nonlinearity. Single-frequency rectangular array beams consisting of a large number of vortices, e.g., closely packed 36 or 46 vortex pixels, were generated, originating from Ince-Gaussian modes excited by the asymmetric pumping.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figure

The Economic Impact on Leisure Activities

This study explores the influence of the economic recession on leisure activities because economic impact is a significant factor that can change people’s travel decisions. A methodology, Ridit analysis, is applied in this study, and it adopts cumulative probability scores instead of ordinal scores. Results show that current economic crisis has had an impact on people’s ability to take time away from work

Electric-field control of magnetic ordering in the tetragonal BiFeO3

We propose a way to use electric-field to control the magnetic ordering of the tetragonal BiFeO3. Based on systematic first-principles studies of the epitaxial strain effect on the ferroelectric and magnetic properties of the tetragonal BiFeO3, we find that there exists a transition from C-type to G-type antiferromagnetic (AFM) phase at in-plane constant a ~ 3.905 {\AA} when the ferroelectric polarization is along [001] direction. Such magnetic phase transition can be explained by the competition between the Heisenberg exchange constant J1c and J2c under the influence of biaxial strain. Interestingly, when the in-plane lattice constant enlarges, the preferred ferroelectric polarization tends to be canted and eventually lies in the plane (along [110] direction). It is found that the orientation change of ferroelectric polarization, which can be realized by applying external electric-field, has significant impact on the Heisenberg exchange parameters and therefore the magnetic orderings of tetragonal BiFeO3. For example, at a ~ 3.79 {\AA}, an electric field along [111] direction with magnitude of 2 MV/cm could change the magnetic ordering from C-AFM to G-AFM. As the magnetic ordering affects many physical properties of the magnetic material, e.g. magnetoresistance, we expect such strategy would provide a new avenue to the application of multiferroic materials.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure