Psychoanalytic sociology of deviant tourist behavior

The current article conceptualizes the phenomenon of deviant tourist behavior from the perspective of psychodynamic sociology. The analysis suggests that various unconscious drives can either be gratified by normative tourist activities that involve adaptive defense mechanisms or lead to deviant tourist behaviors that entail distorting defense mechanisms. This argument is illustrated with respect the following unconscious needs: Sigmund Freud’s Id instincts of sex and of aggression, his notion of social rules internalized in the Superego and the archetypes of the hero and of the lost paradise that derive from Carl Jung’s theory. The conceptual analysis is discussed in light of recent theoretical developments within and beyond tourism scholarship.

Research highlights
► This conceptual study examines the phenomenon of deviant tourist behavior.
► The study applies the perspective of psychodynamic sociology.
► The analysis focuses on theories of Freud and Jung.
► The study concludes that unconscious drives can lead to either deviant or normative behavior.