Adventure recreation and subjective well-being: a conceptual framework

ABSTRACT

Despite the documented positive outcomes of adventure experiences, subjective well-being (SWB) frameworks have been largely absent from discourse and analyses in adventure studies. This conceptual paper proposes a framework for understanding how adventure recreation experiences promote eudaemonic SWB. In our framework, we propose that adventure recreation fosters eudaemonic aspects of SWB by supporting the satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, relatedness and beneficence. The framework also integrates ‘contact with nature’ as an important mechanism through which adventure recreation fosters eudaemonic SWB. Analysis of research and practice across diverse aspects of adventure recreation (leisure, tourism, and education contexts) is used to support the proposed framework and to critically evaluate how psychological models, such as self-determination theory (SDT) and SWB, can advance theory and practice in adventure recreation. We conclude by offering a number of suggestions for future research directions and practical implications.

KEYWORDS:

• Self-determination theory
• basic psychological needs
• eudaimonia
• positive psychology
• adventure tourism
• adventure education

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Patrick Boudreau (PhD candidate, University of Otago) for his valuable feedback during the development of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The ‘black box’ issue, identified over 30 years ago (Ewert, 1983; Shellman, 2011), refers to critiques that positive outcomes are frequently reported in studies of adventure recreation and education, but these are seldom accompanied by robust theoretical explanations of how or why these outcomes occurred. Thus, scholars have frequently called for improved theoretical models of what happens during adventure experiences (i.e., in the ‘black box’) to foster positive outcomes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Susan Houge Mackenzie

Susan Houge Mackenzie is a Lecturer in the Tourism Department, School of Business, at the University of Otago, New Zealand (NZ). She primarily investigates links between adventure and well-being across tourism, recreation, and education contexts using psychological frameworks such as self-determination theory, reversal theory, and flow theory. This research is informed by her former career as an adventure guide. Recent projects have focused on outdoor adventure and well-being for tourists, guides, and host communities, and using adventure education to promote engagement in physical activity and science education. She has provided consulting for government and tourism agencies, the New Zealand riverboarding industry, the History Channel, and the United States Forest Service, and currently serves as an Associate Editor for two journals focused on adventure education and outdoor recreation.

Ken Hodge

Ken Hodge is a Professor in sport and exercise psychology at the School of Physical Education, Sport & Exercise Sciences, University of Otago, New Zealand (NZ). His research focuses primarily on the psycho-social effects of participation in sport. In particular, he has investigated issues such as life skill development through sport, self-determined motivation in sport, sport commitment, prosocial and antisocial behaviour in sport, athlete burnout, and athlete engagement. He is a former Associate Editor for theJournal of Applied Sport Psychology; and currently serves on the Editorial Boards forThe Sport Psychologist,Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, Sport, Exercise & Performance Psychology, andPsychology of Sport & Exercise.