Motivation and mental well-being of long-distance hikers: A quantitative and qualitative approach

Abstract

Hikers performing long distances (1000-5500 kms a year) were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate their mental well-being and to find their motivation as well as to analyze the excessive physical activity. 112 hikers completed a questionnaire (M (age) ¼ 40.28, SD ¼ 8.77, 57.1% male) and 25 individuals were interviewed. Distance had association only with perceived health status. There were no differences between males and females, as well as between age groups and educational attainments regarding distance. 33.3% of hikers indicated symptoms of loneliness and 4.5% were involved excessively in hiking that was significantly regressed by distress. Hikers had mainly intrinsic motivations to complete long distances including overcoming new challenges, finding the physical boundaries, experiencing a state outside the comfort zone, belonging to a special group with similar interest and attracted by the beauty of nature. Overcoming all these embodied in a flow experience that took them further to perform the new long-distance trails.

Tourists on the Edge: Understanding and Encouraging Sustainable Tourist Behaviour in Greenland

“…After including all four determinants in the multiple regression analysis, cognitive dissonance and injunctive norms are no longer significant, leaving only beliefs (p-value = 0.004) and ascription of responsibility (p-value < 0.001) as predictors of commitment, with the latter having a much larger relative importance as measured by the average contribution to the explained variance (RI = 0.473 compared to about them . Assuming participants who hike long distances are likely to have a keen interest in nature (Mayer & Lukács, 2021), our findings offer empirical evidence in support of this interestparadox.…”

A long entanglement with nature: Flyfishers in the wild

“…The affective relationship with nature nurtures important insight and enhance observational skills and the potential to think (Miller, 2005). Flyfishers, like mountaineers (Dyck et al, 2003) and wild river rafters (Vagias et al, 2005), are motivated to seek challenges in natural environments (Mayer & Luk acs, 2021). Considering work on attraction to situations involving the uncertainty of outcome and novelty (Ewert et al, 2013), it is not surprising that flyfishers seek out environments for optimal arousing encounters, sometimes in a context of competition.…”

“…The dominance by male participants reflects a general male dominance in fishing (Copeland et al, 2017; Magee et al, 2018). Although some studies have not found any differences in the numbers of males and females participating in recreation in wild nature (Di Fabio & Rosen, 2019; Mayer & Lukács, 2021), there is evidence of a higher connection to nature among women (Zhang et al, 2014), which may discourage them from a “blood sport,” a potential interpretation relevant to recreational fishing.…”

How is the effect of social media on intention to outdoor recreations? A study using personal social connections as a moderator

“…On the other side, motivation theory is a perspective for us to understand why the SM negatively impact to outdoor recreation intention. According to motivation theory, motivation is a process of directing people to behave in certain way [ 21 , 22 ]. In order to satisfying needs, people would perceive stresses to take actions in certain way.…”