Tourism and love: How do tourist experiences affect romantic relationships?

Introduction The need to belong, that is the desire to form interpersonal bonds, is an inborn fundamental human need and essential to well-being (Baumeister & Leary, 1995; Ryan & Deci, 2000). In several empirical studies, the only factor that clearly discriminates happy people from unhappy people turned out to be the strength of people’s social relationships (e.g. Maas et al. , 2009; Mitchell & Popham, 2008). Compared to unhappy people, happy people are highly social and have stronger, fulfi lling social and romantic relationships (Hartig, Evans, Jamner, Davis & Gärling, 2003). An eight-year longitudinal study demonstrated that time spent with one’s partner and marital satisfaction not only promote happiness but also long-term physical health (Waldinger & Schulz, 2010).