Re-thinking the Value of Events for event attendees: Emerging Themes from Psychology

Although economic and social outcomes of events are well researched, much less is known about the psychological outcomes of events. There is a need for a better understanding of how event participation is valued by attendees, especially in terms of their psychological wellbeing. This chapter includes a literature review on the topic of wellbeing of event attendees. Based on the authors’ familiarity with the topic and prior research in this area, the chapter draws attention to research on self-identity, positive emotions, sense of belonging and flourishing. Specific directions for future research are proposed. Ideas that could form part of a future research agenda include longitudinal investigations of self-identity and sense of belonging in non-sport event contexts, research on positive emotions of event attendees and evaluation and possible adoption of models of flourishing to better understand psychological outcomes of event experiences.