![Sample our Behavioral Sciences journals, sign in here to start your access, latest two full volumes FREE to you for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/110801/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Behavioral-Sciences.jpg"})
Abstract
The paper presents a theoretical framework and empirical research. It intends to broaden understanding of the dynamics of emotions and subjective experiences as they develop during a recreational event. The hypothesis is that a congruence between recreational mode and actual behavior facilitates the optimal recreational experience. Data sets from two Norwegian studies, comprising sport fishers, canoeists, and hikers, were examined against this hypothesis. In the first study, 346 participants completed questionnaires measuring place attachment, activity goals and affective responses during their recent fishing trip. In Study 2, outdoor recreationists (n = 305) were approached in the field and asked to describe their recreational mode and to report on their affective responses during an active and a resting phase of the trip, respectively. Analyses were undertaken by means of the so-called flow-simplex, revealing that optimal experiences typically develop if the recreational mode is congruent with the present recreational event. The two studies suggest that it is not possible to understand the dynamics of a recreational experience unless the issue of cognitive representations is considered.
