Travel and Subjective Well-Being: A Focus on Findings, Methods and Future Research Needs

Abstract

Subjectively experienced wellbeing has recently attracted increased attention in transport and mobility studies. However, these studies are still in their infancy and many of the multifarious links between travel behaviour and wellbeing are still under-examined; most studies only focus on one aspect of this link (i.e., travel satisfaction). In this paper we give an overview of studies concerning travel and wellbeing, focusing on results, methods and gaps in present research. We suggest that travel behaviour affects wellbeing through experiences during (destination-oriented) travel, activity participation enabled by travel, activities during (destination-oriented) travel, trips where travel is the activity, and through potential travel (or motility). The majority of empirical studies to date have been based on hedonic views of wellbeing, where pleasure and satisfaction are seen as the ultimate goal in life. They have paid little attention to eudaimonic views of wellbeing, which emphasise the realization of one's true potential, although this form of wellbeing can also be influenced by travel behaviour. We also argue that longer-term decisions, such as residential location choices, can affect wellbeing through travel. Travel options differ between different kinds of neighbourhoods, which can result in different levels of (feelings of) freedom and consequently different levels of subjective wellbeing. Since studies at present only show a subset of the travel behaviour-wellbeing interactions, we conclude the paper with an agenda for future research.

Do people live in urban neighbourhoods because they do not like to travel? Analysing an alternative residential self-selection hypothesis

“…Although people who do not like to travel will try to self-select themselves in urban neighbourhoods resulting in shorter distances and more active travel, reducing the negative effects of long-distance car use (such as greenhouse gas emissions and congestion), travel haters experience and evaluate their travel less positive compared to travel lovers, which can negatively affect (i) the performance and satisfaction of activities at the destination of the trip and (ii) overall well-being (Bergstad et al, 2011;De Vos et al, 2013;Ettema et al, 2010). People with a more positive stance towards travel are more satisfied with their trips.…”

“…Recently, travel behaviour studies are starting to show more interest in how people experience their travel and how satisfied they are with it (De Vos et al, 2013;Ettema et al, 2010Ettema et al, , 2011. Although these studies indicate that there are substantial differences in the way people experience and evaluate their trip according to varying trip characteristics (e.g., weather conditions, congestion levels) and the chosen travel mode (Abou-Zeid, 2009;De Vos et al, 2015a, 2015bDuarte et al, 2010;Ettema et al, 2011;Friman et al, 2013;Olsson et al, 2013), the link between residential location and travel satisfaction has not been analysed thoroughly.…”

How satisfying is the Scale for Travel Satisfaction?

“…Various studies have shown that active travel generates the highest levels of travel satisfaction, while public transport users' experience is most negative (Abou-Zeid, 2009;De Vos et al, 2015;Duarte et al, 2010;Ettema et al, 2011;Friman et al, 2013;Olsson et al, 2013). Various studies have also indicated that other aspects of travel behaviour are associated with the level of travel satisfaction (De Vos et al, 2013;Ettema et al, 2010). These include trip duration (Ettema et al, 2012; see also Stutzer & Frey, 2008); the activities people perform during a trip ; and the environmental conditions in which travel is undertaken.…”

“…Well-being and travel satisfaction have recently attracted increased attention in transport-related research (De Vos et al, 2013). Over the past years authors have therefore developed scales to measure how people perceive their travel.…”

Analyzing and Assessing the Experience of Traveling by Public Transport

“…(7) Transport and wellbeing Ettema et al (2010), Olsson, Gärling et al (2011), Jakobsson Bergstad, Gamble (2011), de Vos et al (2013 Based on the concept of well-being as an overarching objective, the potential contribution of mobility is examined.…”