Theoretical linkages between well-being and tourism: The case of self-determination theory and spiritual tourism

Christine N. Buzinde

Annals of Tourism Research, 2020, vol. 83, issue C

Abstract: Self-determination theory (SDT) offers a robust and globally adopted evidence-based foundation from which explorations of increasingly popular forms of travel, like spiritual tourism, can be analyzed for their potential contributions to well-being. This paper draws on SDT to examine outcomes of well-being within spiritual tourism. It draws on autoethnography, a thick data approach to qualitative inquiry, which allows for the emergence of experiential and self-reflective processes engendered by forms of travel like spiritual tourism. The autoethnographic narrative is based on the author's spiritual tourism experience at a yoga/meditation retreat in Rishikesh, India. The narrative is transcended through theory-based linkages to broader social phenomena (i.e., well-being, SDT), by so doing, the legacy of theoretical development, characteristic of interpretive inquiry, is sustained.

Keywords: Subjective well-being; Self-determination theory; Autoethnography; Spiritual tourism; India; Yoga (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:83:y:2020:i:c:s0160738320300645

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2020.102920

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