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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1521716
This article is part of the Research Topic Integrating Health Psychology in Practice: Enhancing Well-being and Improving Health Outcomes Across Diverse Contexts View all 11 articles
Awakening the Soul During Travel: Influence Mechanism of Memorable Tourism Experience on University Students' Life Meaning
Provisionally accepted- School of Tourism and Sport Health, Hezhou University, Hezhou, China, Hezhou, China
In recent years, the mental health issues of university students have received increasing attention. Research has shown that meaningful life experiences, such as memorable tourism experiences, can enhance individuals' sense of meaning in life and promote mental health. This study explores the mechanisms through which memorable tourism experiences influence the sense of meaning in life among university students, focusing on the mediating roles of positive affect, self-reflection, and personality traits, as well as the moderating role of gender.Using a questionnaire survey, data were collected from 880 university students. Validated scales, including the "Memorable Tourism Experience Scale," "Positive Affect Scale," "Self-Reflection Scale," "Personality Trait Scale," and "Meaning in Life Scale," were employed to measure key constructs. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) and multi-group analysis to test the hypothesized relationships and moderating effects.The results indicate that memorable tourism experiences have a significant positive impact on university students' sense of meaning in life. Positive affect, self-reflection, and personality traits all partially mediate this relationship, with positive affect exhibiting the strongest mediating effect, while personality traits show relatively weaker mediation. Furthermore, gender moderates the relationship between memorable tourism experiences and positive affect, as well as the relationship between personality traits and meaning in life.These findings support Self-Determination Theory, demonstrating that memorable tourism experiences can fulfill individuals' basic psychological needs and enhance their sense of meaning in life through multiple psychological mechanisms. This study provides practical insights for mental health interventions targeting university students, particularly highlighting the importance of reflective activities and personalized support in amplifying the psychological benefits of positive experiences.
Keywords: Memorable tourism, Life meaning, self-determination theory, structural equation modeling (SEM), Structural Equation Modeling
Received: 02 Nov 2024; Accepted: 11 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Su. 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:
Qiaolan Su, School of Tourism and Sport Health, Hezhou University, Hezhou, China, Hezhou, China
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