Title of Paper

Stress for Success: Potential Benefits of both Perceived and Actual Stress While Cruising

Author Bios (50 Words for each Author)

Jim is a Full Professor, Research Fellow and Chair of Graduate Studies in the Department of RPTS at Texas A&M University. His research interest employs marketing and psychology principles in the context of leisure/tourism services and is concentrated on understanding tourists’ purchase behaviors, to assist in properly marketing to them.

Carl is a PhD student in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department at Texas A&M University. His research focus on ways to enable elderly to live at home safely, and comfortably and is concentrated on understanding remote patient monitoring techniques to enable the elderly to age in their own place.

Farzan is an Assistant Professor in Industrial and Systems Engineering Department as well as Environmental and Occupational Health at Texas A&M University. His research interests include remote health and performance monitoring, telehealth, and healthcare systems engineering.

Abstract (150 Words)

An understanding of the effects travel has on the health of travelers could have profound effects on the industry and behaviors of tourists. While psychometric analyses have suggested travel has the ability to relieve stress and improve one’s overall well-being (Chen, Petick & Shahvali, 2016; Sirgy, et al., 2011), scant research has utilized physiological data to examine the effects of travel on health. The current study was guided by the cognitive activation theory of stress (CATS) and compared self-reported diaries and physiological data (using heart rate monitors) to examine the effects cruising has on both perceived and actual stress. Results empirically validate the use of CATs as a theoretical framework for understanding travelers’ perceived and actual stress, and give specific guidance to cruise management on how to engineer cruise experiences based on stress and for individuals on what to do to have positive stress while traveling.

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Stress for Success: Potential Benefits of both Perceived and Actual Stress While Cruising

An understanding of the effects travel has on the health of travelers could have profound effects on the industry and behaviors of tourists. While psychometric analyses have suggested travel has the ability to relieve stress and improve one’s overall well-being (Chen, Petick & Shahvali, 2016; Sirgy, et al., 2011), scant research has utilized physiological data to examine the effects of travel on health. The current study was guided by the cognitive activation theory of stress (CATS) and compared self-reported diaries and physiological data (using heart rate monitors) to examine the effects cruising has on both perceived and actual stress. Results empirically validate the use of CATs as a theoretical framework for understanding travelers’ perceived and actual stress, and give specific guidance to cruise management on how to engineer cruise experiences based on stress and for individuals on what to do to have positive stress while traveling.