Sustainable accommodation choice in tourism and emotional intelligence connected. An exploratory study looking for evidence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is considered an advantage in everyday life, starting from the area of work relationships to intimacy, from stress tolerance to the general well-being of an individual. However, the theme and issue of sustainability in tourism have become relevant after a growing awareness regarding the risks of an excessively massified tourism industry and excessive exploitation of the domain. This study aims to find evidence of the relation between EI and sustainable accommodation in tourism. This is done considering EI as a mental function that promotes adaptability and consciousness, while also assuming an environmental perspective. A survey was conducted on a sample of 157 (36.3%males and 63.7% females) Italian emerging adults and adults, aged between 19 and 37 years (mean = 26.5; DS = 4.4). In particular, we studied the contribution of EI in the building of clusters, including some dimensions of sustainable hospitality and some of social well-being. For this reason, bivariate analyses were conducted to evaluate the relationship between the variables, and a cluster analysis was accomplished to identify the groups on the basis of the scores obtained from the questionnaires. The results suggest that a psychological function, such as EI, could illustrate a more comprehensive framework of sustainable accommodation and identify a new criterion for market segmentation.