Vacationers Happier, but Most not Happier After a Holiday
PRIMARY, pre-test/post-test design with 1,530 Dutch individuals, of whom 974 vacationers answered happiness questions before and after a holiday trip. Vacationers reported higher pre-trip happiness than non-vacationers, possibly because they were anticipating the holiday. Only a very relaxed trip raised vacationers' happiness further after their return, and in general vacationers and non-vacationers did not differ in post-trip happiness. TWO LIMITS THE ARTICLE MUST RESPECT: the causal language is 'possibly', and the comparison is between vacationers and non-vacationers rather than within a person before and after. Suggestive of anticipatory benefit, not a
PRIMARY, pre-test/post-test design with 1,530 Dutch individuals, of whom 974 vacationers answered happiness questions before and after a holiday trip. Vacationers reported higher pre-trip happiness than non-vacationers, possibly because they were anticipating the holiday. Only a very relaxed trip raised vacationers' happiness further after their return, and in general vacationers and non-vacationers did not differ in post-trip happiness. TWO LIMITS THE ARTICLE MUST RESPECT: the causal language is 'possibly', and the comparison is between vacationers and non-vacationers rather than within a person before and after. Suggestive of anticipatory benefit, not a
Written from the abstract read 2026-10-18.
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Nawijn, J., Marchand, M. A., Veenhoven, R., & Vingerhoets, A. J. (2010). Vacationers Happier, but Most not Happier After a Holiday. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 5(1), 35-47. doi:10.1007/s11482-009-9091-9.