Multiphase Affective Experience while Walking on Kumano Kodo

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how affective experience changes while walking on Kumano Kodo. To this end, in May (Study 1) and September and October (Study 2) 2017, two questionnaire surveys were conducted for Japanese walkers on the Kumano Kodo trail. Based on the Affect Valuation Theory (Tsai et al., 2006), four types of affect (high-arousal positive, lowarousal positive, low-arousal negative, high-arousal negative) were measured. Results of Study 1 that focused on affective changes before and after walking on Kumano Kodo revealed that lowarousal negative affect significantly decreased after walking. Results of Study 2 that focused on the four phases (five survey points) affective changes during walking on Kumano Kodo identified that only high-arousal positive affect changed according to the peak model (Clawson & Knetsch, 1966). In conclusion, this study indicates that affective changes while walking on Kumano Kodo vary not only in the valence dimension (i.e., positive vs. negative), but also in the arousal dimension (i.e., high- vs. low-arousal).