Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Environmental Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1283929

Exploring the influence of situational interest on outdoor tourists' hedonic and eudaimonic well-being

Provisionally accepted
Peng Xu Peng Xu *
  • Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    This study introduces situational interest as a novel antecedent that can affect both hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in outdoor tourism setting. Using data from 642 respondents recruited on the Credamo platform through an online self-report questionnaire, the study explores how different dimensions of situational interest drive tourists' well-being and the mediation mechanisms involved. The results show that instant enjoyment directly boosts hedonic well-being, while novelty has both a direct effect on hedonic well-being and an indirect effect on eudaimonic well-being. Attention demand also influences hedonic well-being directly and indirectly. In addition, challenge and exploration intention indirectly enhance eudaimonic well-being via autonomy need. By revealing the distinct pathways through which situational interest promotes well-being, this study advances our understanding of how outdoor tourism settings can foster both immediate enjoyment and deeper personal growth.

    Keywords: Situational interest, hedonic well-being, Eudaimonic well-being, Time Perception, autonomy need, Outdoor tourism

    Received: 28 Sep 2023; Accepted: 15 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Xu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Peng Xu, Chengdu Sport University, Chengdu, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.