Tourist State of Mind: The Effects of Geography on Dispositional Awe, Personality, and Life Satisfaction

Tourist State of Mind: The Effects of Geography on Dispositional Awe, Personality, and Life Satisfaction

Psychology

Bernard, Ellie

Malloy, Madison

Kassner, Matthew (Mentor)

Dispositional awe is an emotion mixed with fear and wonder, which remains fairly stable over time. This study sought to determine if trait-level awe emerges as a function of the environment. In this study, 1,001 participants were surveyed throughout the United States to attain individual levels of dispositional awe and determine geographic region. Each individual was categorized by personality geo-cluster and ranked by the amount of tourism in their state, as determined by hotel bookings per state. We hypothesized that people from states with higher tourism rates will have greater dispositional awe. Additionally, we expect to see differences in trait-level awe between personality clusters, with the highest levels in the relaxed and creative region.