Benjamin Hickerson

Dr. Benjamin Hickerson is an Associate Professor and the Interim Chair of the Department of Community and Therapeutic Recreation at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. His research program is on the design of leisure and recreation experiences that can be modified to encourage physical activity participation and the development of social capital. He has studied both physical (i.e., parks and summer camps) and digital (i.e., videogames) environments. His research has been published in outlets including the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, Journal of Physical Activity and Health, Journal of Youth Development, Leisure Sciences, Society & Leisure, Therapeutic Recreation Journal, and World Leisure Journal. Dr. Hickerson has served as a board member for the Academy of Leisure Sciences, National Recreation and Park Association Education Network, and Leisure Sciences. He has received teaching excellence awards at Illinois State University, North Carolina State University, and Pennsylvania State University.

There are 34 included publications by Benjamin Hickerson :

TitleDateViewsBrief Description
Assessing the relationship between community engagement and perceived ownership of an urban park in Philadelphia 2019 950 Urban parks provide many benefits, though evidence of environmental injustice associated with certain park investments is growing. Some cities fail to engage communities in park planning, which can reduce residents’ sense of ownership of new and reno...
The association of cultural and environmental factors with mental health among Asian immigrants 2021 204 Purpose – During exposure to new cultures, immigrants face numerous life changes and challenges, which negatively affect mental health, yet environmental supports may address these concerns. This study aims to examine how neighborhood quality, accult...
Behavioral and psychological involvement of online video gamers: Building blocks or building walls to socialization? 2013 5141 Video gaming has often been associated with negative outcomes such as aggression and social isolation, particularly for those who spend significant amounts of time playing. However, advances in video game technology have enabled online, multi-player ...
Changes in tourists’ perception of well-being based on their use of emotion regulation strategies during vacation 2017 1444 Based on the theoretical foundation of emotion regulation, this exploratory study aimed to examine changes in tourists’ perceived well-being and to determine whether these changes were due to use of emotion regulation strategies (ERSs) during their v...
Children’s Summer Camp-Based Physical Activity 2010 922 Childhood physical inactivity and obesity is a major concern because the current generation of children is one of the most inactive and unhealthy in history (Ogden, et al., 2006). A national study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prev...
Constructing a Trade Show Exhibitor Satisfaction Scale from a Stakeholder Perspective 2016 2165 The purpose of this study was to construct and validate an Exhibitor Satisfaction Scale that accounts for the significant roles of three key stakeholders (i.e., trade show visitors, exhibitors, and organizers) in a trade show context through a pilot ...
Design Thinking: Assessing the health needs of college students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. 2021 845 Background: There is a dearth of literature related to well-being of college studentswith IDD. The purpose of this study was to use design thinking to identify health-related innovations for college students with IDD.Method: Two design thinking event...
Digital Tourism and Wellbeing: Conceptual Framework to Examine Technology Effects of Online Travel Media 2022 249 The current pandemic is accelerating the wide-spreading popularity of digital tourism. Given that technology innovation has broadened the horizon of tourist experiences to the realm of virtual environments, this study aims to (re)conceptualize travel...
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Corporate Sponsorships at a Minor League Baseball Park 2013 1191 Corporate sponsorships are vital to the success of minor league sport businesses. As competition for sponsorships intensifies in these venues, there is a need for minor league sports to demonstrate a return on the sponsorship investment based on fan ...
The experience of learning/teaching qualitative research approaches: An ethnographic autobiography 2008 1186 The purpose of this paper is to use reflexive methodology to describe the emotions and experiences of doctoral students and a professor who collaboratively conducted a research study using triangulated qualitative research data. The study was the maj...
Exploring the conditions that promote intergroup contact at urban parks 2021 172 Urban parks have the potential to serve as places that facilitate intergroup contact between racially and ethnically diverse users. However, there is limited evidence identifying the conditions under which intergroup contact occurs in urban park sett...
Health disparities and health promotion needs of college students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities: A systematic literature review 2019 1648 Objective: A new population of college students is emerging on campuses across the United States: students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD). With this new and growing population of college students, an important question pers...
Implications of the Great Recession for Higher Education in Leisure Studies 2020 8 Although students in the broad field of leisure studies may pursue a variety of opportunities post-graduation, employment within local parks and recreation represents one potential career path. Unfortunately, the Great Recession disproportionately im...
Investigation of the technology effects of online travel media on virtual travel experience and behavioral intention 2018 616 This study investigates technology affordances of online travel media determining ways of presenting pictorial information and creating the spatial structure of a destination: modality and navigability. To examine the impacts of technology affordance...
Leisure as a cross-cultural concept 2013 5018 Leisure is a complex topic that, at times, appears to defy logical explanation. Research that examines and compares leisure cross-culturally can provide important information to aid our understanding of the phenomenon. With an increasing need for suc...
Leisure time boredom: Issues concerning college students 2007 462 Students who do not have leisure skills, cannot manage leisure time, or are not aware that leisure can be psychologically rewarding are more likely to be bored during leisure. This study examined the impact of boredom on leisure of college students i...
Let’s talk about health: Engaging college students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and support staff in conversations about health and wellness needs. 2020 134 This study explored the health experiences and health promotion needs of college students with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) through individual interviews with current college seniors (n = 5) and recent college graduates (n = 3...
Measuring physical activity in youth settings: Considerations for instrument selection 2011 1347 Increasing physical activity participation has become one of the primary strategies for prevention of early-onset health conditions including obesity and Type II diabetes. Youth programs including summer camps and after-school programs are premium pr...
Opportunities for youth physical activity promotion: An examination of youth summer camps 2014 831 Background:Youth summer camp programs have the potential to provide opportunities for physical activity, but little to no research has been conducted to determine activity levels of campers. This study aimed to examine physical activity occurring in ...
Parental Intention to Support Video Game Play by Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: An Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior 2015 1504 Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine parental attitudes regarding engagement with video games by their children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and whether attitudes vary based on ASD symptom severity.Method Online survey methodolog...
Physical activity and health in camps 2013 596 Camp experiences enrich children’s lives. Camp is a significant context for youth development. Many people who have gone to camp or served as camp staff know these statements are true. Although many positive anecdotes exist, efforts to systematically...
Physical Activity Mode and Mental Distress in Adulthood 2017 585 Introduction:Nearly one fifth of American adults suffer from mental health issues, yet many treatments have side effects and stigma attached. Physical activity can be an effective treatment for mental health disorders, but most promotion efforts fail...
Relationship of perceived environmental characteristics to self-efficacy and leisure time physical activity among Asian immigrants in the U.S. 2020 139 Background: Given the high prevalence of physical inactivity among Asian immigrants and its potential negative effects on health, more attention should be paid to identifying factors that might affect their participation in leisure time physician act...
Repositioning undergraduate education in recreation and leisure studies 2018 378 This article applies the repositioning framework developed for recreation and leisure service providers (Crompton, 2000, 2009) to recreation and leisure studies as an academic field. To ensure the viability of recreation and leisure studies, internal...
The Role of Functional and Wellness Values in Visitors' Evaluation of Spa Experiences 2014 4186 By responding to the current emphasis on health and wellness in modern society, the spa industry has experienced a rapid growth in the last two decades. To understand the determinants of revisitation and long-term attitudinal loyalty, this study inve...
The Role of Social Contact in Public Perceptions of Homelessness in Parks and Public Spaces 2023 14 Unsheltered homelessness – in which people reside in parks or on streets – is on the rise and poses a challenge for municipal parks and recreation agencies. Simultaneously, public opinion on homelessness has softened in recent years and may be misali...
Service Delivery Experiences and Intervention Needs of Military Families with Children with ASD 2016 2174 The purpose of this study was to describe the experiences of military families with children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) specifically as it relates to relocation. Online survey methodology was used to gather information from military spouses ...
Social Referencing Gaze Behavior During a Videogame Task: Eye Tracking Evidence from Children With and Without ASD 2017 1779 The purpose of this study was to understand the social referencing behaviors of children with and without autism spectrum disorder (ASD) while visually attending to a videogame stimulus depicting both the face of the videogame player and the videogam...
Spring break travel: thirty years of scholarly evidence, 1980-2010 2012 26 Spring break is a week-long North American collegiate travel vacation period that draws hundreds of thousands of young tourists to a few select tourism destinations, and has become a topic of growing social and economic importance. In spite of a risi...
“To be quite honest, if it wasn’t for video games I wouldn’t have a social life at all”: Motivations of young adults with autism spectrum disorder for playing video games as leisure 2018 1588 Leisure activities are underutilized as a context for intervention in the field of speech-language pathology despite the fact that leisure can be an important context for skill development. The current study investigated the perceptions of individual...
Understanding the Sources of Online Travel Information 2018 1792 Given that online travel media enable multilateral communication patterns in destination marketing, this study investigates technical attributes presenting the number and type of source-related visual cues. From a technological perspective, the sourc...
"A unifying force in the community”: Perceptions of a neighborhood park renovation 2017 384 Although the benefits of community parks are well established, evidence supporting the impact of park capital renovations is valuable for organizations seeking funding for such projects. This study assessed stakeholders’ perceived impacts as a result...
Values, Ideologies, Attitudes, and Preferences for Relative Allocations to Park and Recreation Services 2019 148 Local park and recreation agencies rely heavily on tax-based allocations as a funding source. However, such allocations have recently been cut both overall and relative to other services, incentivizing exploration of alternative funding strategies. P...
Women and leisure: Premises and performances uncovered in an integrative review 2007 1612 Research about women and leisure continues to expand as meanings are examined from different perspectives. The purpose of this paper is to extend three previous integrative reviews about research trends and outcomes regarding women's leisure. Researc...