Novelty, conceptualized as the experience of something new and different from the everyday, is widely believed to be what defines tourism experiences and makes them enjoyable. The present study tests the mediating effect of novelty on positive emotions in two longitudinal data sets based on daily psychometric diaries. Findings show that the effect of tourism experience on positive emotions is indeed partly mediated by novelty. The mediation effect is similar for average positive emotions as well as for the emotion of interest, suggesting that novelty sparks positive emotions through goal congruence more than by directly triggering interest. Findings affirm that novelty is indeed fundamental and enjoyable in the tourism experience.
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Leisure research on adolescent females’ holiday experiences, and how these experiences may contribute to their happiness is scarce. Recent work in the area of positive psychology has suggested that novelty within an experience may enhance positive emotions and life satisfaction which together comprise subjective well-being (SWB), a common conceptualization of happiness. The purpose of this paper was to test the direct influence of activity novelty and the mediating influence of emotion balance (the balance between positive and negative emotions) on life satisfaction for a group of adolescent females on a winter holiday. As part of a larger study, participants (n = 74) were German girls aged 12–17 years who completed a diary-based questionnaire for 21 consecutive days (before, during, and after their holiday). A conditional process analysis indicated that activity novelty may have a positive or negative influence on emotion balance depending on pre-vacation activity novelty patterns. Furthermore, while novelty does not have a direct influence on life satisfaction, it has a positive indirect influence through emotion balance. This study provides evidence that holiday experiences can contribute to young women’s SWB and highlights the important role of emotions during such experiences. In addition, results support the use of a positive psychology framework to understand adolescent vacationers’ experiences.
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from the article: "In the past decades, industrial design practice has broadened from designing (mass-)products towards e.g. the design of services, experiences and systems. With this broadening, it is questionable how models of design processes still fit todays’ industrial design practice. By means of process research, this study investigates new roles that designers currently take in practice. It addresses the question how ways of working change for an industrial designer dealing with an open design challenge. The context of research is a design project for a large academic hospital that is in the middle of a large-scale renovation. The project is executed by a design agency with 10+ years of experience in designing healthcare products. However, this project concerns the improvement of service, rather than a product. The data collection (during 21 months) is based on principles of organizational ethnography, combined with interviews. The analysis is based on an events-based approach and provides understanding in how a senior designer experienced the project flow and how he adapted ways of working in eight main events of the project. The findings include strategies of a senior designer dealing with change and novelty in a complex design project in healthcare, and scaffolding concepts in the light of existing theory."
Physical rehabilitation programs revolve around the repetitive execution of exercises since it has been proven to lead to better rehabilitation results. Although beginning the motor (re)learning process early is paramount to obtain good recovery outcomes, patients do not normally see/experience any short-term improvement, which has a toll on their motivation. Therefore, patients find it difficult to stay engaged in seemingly mundane exercises, not only in terms of adhering to the rehabilitation program, but also in terms of proper execution of the movements. One way in which this motivation problem has been tackled is to employ games in the rehabilitation process. These games are designed to reward patients for performing the exercises correctly or regularly. The rewards can take many forms, for instance providing an experience that is engaging (fun), one that is aesthetically pleasing (appealing visual and aural feedback), or one that employs gamification elements such as points, badges, or achievements. However, even though some of these serious game systems are designed together with physiotherapists and with the patients’ needs in mind, many of them end up not being used consistently during physical rehabilitation past the first few sessions (i.e. novelty effect). Thus, in this project, we aim to 1) Identify, by means of literature reviews, focus groups, and interviews with the involved stakeholders, why this is happening, 2) Develop a set of guidelines for the successful deployment of serious games for rehabilitation, and 3) Develop an initial implementation process and ideas for potential serious games. In a follow-up application, we intend to build on this knowledge and apply it in the design of a (set of) serious game for rehabilitation to be deployed at one of the partners centers and conduct a longitudinal evaluation to measure the success of the application of the deployment guidelines.
The FlexEd project is intended as an extension of the Leisure Choices and Wellbeing (LCW) project which is now very concretely and definitively planned to run from November 2024 through January 2026. The LCW project is facilitated by the Academy for Leisure. The Leisure Choices and Wellbeing, The LCW project will use a weekly longitudinal questionnaire of 200 individuals (final sample after attrition) over 40 weeks to measure leisure activity planning, participation, and wellbeing. The three main aims of the project are to uncover the roles of 1) social interaction during leisure, 2) novelty/change in routine during leisure, and 3) leisure travel duration and frequency, in explaining individuals’ and families’ wellbeing. By measuring changes in these leisure activities week to week, it will be possible to uncover how development in leisure choices accrues to improved well-being over time. Societal issueFlexibility in the education calendar for better vacation impacts in society.Collaborative partnersCELTH, ANVR.
Crowdfunding campaigns have empowered countless innovative projects and made funding accessible to a large pool of makers and citizens. Recently, traditional funding bodies such as foundations, provinces and municipalities have acknowledged the potential of crowdfunding to approximate institutional decision-making to citizens, by engaging with the “crowd’s” preferences and further stimulating public and private funding through matchfunding. Matchfunding – the financial contribution of traditional funding bodies to crowdfunding campaigns – is an emerging form of co-funding that has the potential to foster a more inclusive and democratic society. Yet, given its novelty, little is known about how matchfunding works, and how it can be transformed into an efficacious tool that supports project creators and policymakers to develop impactful projects. Looking at the creative industries, one of the most prolific fields in crowdfunding, this project aims to provide this knowledge by: (1) gaining insight into the democratizing potential and best-practices of matchfunding in the creative industries by comparing analysing the extensive databases of crowdfunding and matchfunding pioneer voordekunst and matchfunding partners Kunstloc Brabant and Gemeente Rotterdam, and by conducting interviews with matchfunding parners to gain insight into their challenges and experiences; (2) deepening and sharing findings in Impact-Driven Workshops, which serve to exchange knowledge with and between matchfunding partners, and gain further insights into their motives and best practices. Based on the outcomes of (1) and (2), we develop (3) an online Matchfunding Toolkit, geared towards matchfunding partners, as well as to creators, freelancers and SMEs (potentially) using matchfunding for their projects. Finally, (4) we will disseminate this knowledge to other funding bodies and organisations within and outside of the creative industries by connecting partners and stakeholders in a Dissemination Event. This results in a lasting knowledge hub and network geared to supporting creators, SMEs and freelancers in search of funding.
