Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Research (AHTR) 2147-9100 2148-7316 Akdeniz University 10.30519/ahtr.1629677 Tourism (Other) Turizm (Diğer) Helping and Tolerance Behaviour Among Malaysian Residents in Rural Tourism: The Mediating Role of Resident-Tourist Interaction Quality https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1977-392X Shaari Hasnizam Universiti Utara Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0784-8840 Ahmad Norzieiriani Universiti Utara Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6849-468X Saad Shahrin Universiti Utara Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3187-526X Sulaiman Yaty Universiti Utara Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6953-5471 Perumal Selvan Universiti Utara Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0395-3934 Ibrahim Johan Afendi Universiti Utara Malaysia https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4552-0934 Jaroenwanit Pensri Khon Kaen University Azman Muhammad Alif Aiman GA Island Sdn Bhd Advanced Online Publication 01 31 2025 10 30 2025 Copyright © 2013, Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Research (AHTR) 2013 Advances in Hospitality and Tourism Research (AHTR)

Rural tourism is a key driver of social, economic, cultural, and environmental growth within the nation. This study examines residents’ attitudes toward rural tourism (economic, cultural, and social impacts) and how these attitudes influence supportive behaviours such as helping and tolerance. It also investigates the mediating role of resident-tourist interaction quality on the relationship between attitude toward rural tourism and supportive behaviours. This study employed a quantitative approach involving 380 residents from eight different rural areas in the northern and eastern regions of Malaysia. The findings revealed that cultural and social impacts are significantly related to helping behaviour, while only perceived social impact affects tolerance behaviour. Perceived social impact significantly influences the quality of interaction between residents and tourists. Further analysis also revealed that the quality of these interactions has a notable effect on helping behaviour. The mediation analysis revealed that the quality of resident-tourist interactions serves as a bridge between perceived social impact and helping behaviour. This study expands the knowledge on the multidimensionality of attitudes toward rural tourism by investigating both active resident engagement (helping) and passive resident engagement (tolerance). The study further concludes that residents' perceptions of rural tourism impacts are context-specific to the local area.

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