*Mervyn Franssen and Rutger Verstegen share an equal contribution to this publication.
Introduction
Our mental state influences how we behave in and interact with the everyday world. Both uncertainty and emotions can alter our mental state and, thus, our behaviour. Although the relationship between uncertainty and emotions has been studied, research into this relationship in the context of daily travel is lacking. Emotions may influence uncertainty, just like uncertainty could trigger emotional responses. In this paper, a study is presented that explores the relationship between uncertainty and emotional states in the context of daily travel. Using a diary study method with 25 participants, emotions and uncertainty that are experienced during daily travel while using multiple modes of transport, were tracked for a period of 14 days. Diary studies allowed us to gain detailed insights and reflections on the emotions and uncertainty that participants experienced during their day-to-day travels. The diary allowed the participants to record their time-sensitive experiences in their relevant context over a longer period. These daily logs were made by the participants in the m-Path application. Participants logged their daily transportation modes, their emotions using the Geneva Emotion Wheel, and the uncertainty that they experienced while travelling. Results show that emotions and uncertainty influence one another simultaneously, with no clear causality. Specifically, this study observed a significant correlation between negative valence emotions (disappointment and fear) and uncertainty, which emphasises the importance of uncertainty and the management of negative valence emotions in travel experiences.
Procedure
All participants signed an informed consent prior to their participation. The study was executed fully digitally, not requiring participants to come to a physical location. This study started with the installation of the m-Path application on participants’ devices. This application allowed for sending participants notifications reminding them to fill out the questionnaires and subsequently offered a platform to show questionnaires directly on their mobile phones. All participants received a guide with instructions on questionnaire reporting, to provide consistency.
During the first day, participants filled out a demographic questionnaire. Next to basic demographics, we also measured how often participants considered they experienced emotions from the GEW and uncertainty during their day-to-day lives. The ‘none’ option of the GEW was created as a separate option that participants could select.
For the following 14 days, participants were instructed to complete a questionnaire after each time they completed a travel. The participants were instructed that it was preferred to report directly after travelling, but in case this was not possible, reporting later on the same day was allowed. For the purpose of this research, travelling was defined as "moving between two different places for at least 5 minutes of movement". Participants reported their travel goal, mode of transport, duration, level of uncertainty, and level of emotions from the GEW. Levels of the emotions and uncertainty were recorded on a 7-point Likert scale. Numerical values were not shown on the Likert scale to aim to avoid skewing uncertainty data with an approach focussed on numbers. For each experienced emotion, participants could select if their (lack of) uncertainty did (not) influence the emotion, and if the emotion did (not) influence their lack of uncertainty. Participants were instructed to report all emotions and uncertainty they experienced during their travel. At the end of each travel entry, participants had the opportunity to add remarks. Each day, participants received questionnaire reminders at 9:30, 12:30, and 17:30 in the form of a questionnaire notification. Upon opening the m-Path application, participants could create a new travel entry at any time, to not limit them from their regular travel schedule and keep flexibility in reporting opportunities.
After recording their daily travel experiences for 14 days, participants were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding their influence of uncertainty on emotions, and their influence of emotions on uncertainty during the study period. As a token of appreciation, participants who completed the study received a 10-euro gift voucher for their participation. This study procedure was approved by the Ethical Review Board of the Eindhoven University of Technology.
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