A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT FACTORS OF CHINESE HIKERS' PARTICIPATION MOTIVATION
Authors: Wu Geng'an , Tan Jingru , Yang Peiqi , Yang Feifei , Peng Siyi 
Published: July 2022

Background

As hiking has gradually become a popular way of tourism in the global economy and society, countless tourists participate in it. Different from traditional group tourism, hiking highlights the individual needs and self-worth pursuit of tourists, not only to enjoy the scenery, but also to meet the needs of tourists and achieve the highest level of self-esteem. The research on the participation motivation of foreign hikers is more mature and perfect than that in China. However, the research on the motivation of hikers' participation in China is not unified, and the driving factors are diverse, which needs to be further standardized. In particular, the factors involved in motivation and emotional regulation need to be discussed.

Research Objects and Methods

This study obtained the original interview data of Chinese hiking tourists' participation motivation through interviews. On this basis, the conceptual model of participation motivation is constructed by using grounded theory, and the conceptual dimension of hiking tourists' participation motivation is determined. Through in-depth interviews with 30 Chinese hikers, this paper analyzes the motivation of hikers to participate in hiking by using grounded theory. The question of this survey interview is “what is the motivation to participate in hiking?” The subjects were 30 hikers, including 24 offline and 6 online using social software. There were 13 male and 17 female respondents. At the same time, the study investigated the emotional behavior of subjects. This study uses the center for flow survey Depression Scale (CES-D), which is specially designed to evaluate the frequency of current depressive symptoms, focuses on depressive emotion or mood, and tries to compare the cross-sectional survey results at different time points. Different from Beck Depression Scale (BDI) and Zung's Depression Scale (SDS), cer-d cannot be used for clinical purposes and can not be used to monitor the changes of depression severity during treatment. There are 20 items in cer-d, which represent the main aspects of depressive symptoms. Radloff extracted them through factor analysis of a large number of clinical literature and existing scales. The items reflect the following six aspects of depression: depression, guilt and worthlessness, helplessness and hopelessness, psychomotor retardation, loss of appetite and sleep disorder. When filling in the form, subjects were asked to explain the frequency of symptoms in the last week. The answers include: “occasionally or none (less than one day)”; “Sometimes (1-2 days)”; “Regular or half time (3-4 days)”; “Most of the time or duration (5-7 days)”, the value of each frequency is 0-3. There are four items that point to non depression to prevent patients from answering indiscriminately. The total score ranges from 0 to 60. The higher the score, the higher the frequency of depression.

Results

From the qualitative data obtained from in-depth interviews, 22 concept categories were extracted through annotation. Then, eight main categories are extracted by axial coding. Through the analysis, it is finally determined that the participation motivation of hikers is divided into eight factor dimensions: Hobby motivation, escape motivation, social motivation, health motivation, achievement motivation, cognitive motivation, interest motivation and protection motivation. Comparing the eight dimensions of motivation with the conclusions of other scholars, it is found that protection motivation and interest motivation are two dimensions, which is not found in the conclusions of previous literature. From the results of the study, aggregate validity: examine a group of non group subjects with a 60 item table and ask a question about loneliness: “generally speaking, how much do you feel about your loneliness?” The answer is divided into 10 levels, from “never” (0) to “always” (10). This variable was significantly correlated with DLS score: male under 25 years old r = 0.45, over 25 years old r = 0.58; Young women r = 0.55, middle-aged and middle-aged women r = 0.45 (P values are less than 0.001). This shows that although the table does not mention “various motives”, it does measure the dissatisfaction with various motives related to hiking. The average of the four correlation subscales' 39, significantly lower than its internal consistency (average 0.72). Through factor analysis of 60 items, it is found that the factors obtained by group and non group groups are roughly related to four communication types (four subscale dimensions).

Conclusion

The participation motivation of Chinese hikers includes hobby motivation, escape motivation, social motivation, health motivation, achievement motivation, cognitive motivation, interest motivation and protection motivation. According to the theory of self-determination and the logical relationship between motivation and raw materials, the eight motivations can be divided into two categories: demand and incentive. Therefore, the eight main incentive factors can be divided into two categories: incentive and demand. The former includes hobby motivation, escape motivation, seeking cognitive motivation and protection motivation, while the latter includes social motivation, health motivation, achievement motivation and interest motivation.