Prosocial behaviour in volunteer tourism

Alexandra Coghlan

Annals of Tourism Research, 2015, vol. 55, issue C, 46-60

Abstract: This paper applies Self-Categorisation Theory to examine issues of role ambiguity and the balance between prosocial behaviour and personal benefits in volunteer tourism. Using interviews with returned volunteer tourists, the cognitive processing of their experiences was analysed; particularly the processes of individuation uncovered through “I” statements, and depersonalisation, through impersonal “you” statements. Results revealed that “I” statements described the tourist experience and personal benefits of volunteering, whilst impersonal “you” statements described the volunteering experience. Furthermore, as the theory predicts, the depersonalisation process (impersonal “you” statements) co-occurred with prosocial behaviour (co-operation, altruism, empathy, and shared norms). The findings suggest new and promising communication-based methods to better understand tourists’ self-assigned roles and prosocial behaviours.

Keywords: Volunteer; Self-categorisation; Depersonalisation; Individuation; Prosocial behaviour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738315001036
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:55:y:2015:i:c:p:46-60

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2015.08.002

Access Statistics for this article

Annals of Tourism Research is currently edited by John Tribe

More articles in Annals of Tourism Research from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().