{"id":2797,"date":"2020-05-30T12:20:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-30T10:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dodentocht.be\/nieuws\/motivation-at-the-start-of-dodentocht-influences-experience-and-chances-of-success\/"},"modified":"2020-05-31T15:31:27","modified_gmt":"2020-05-31T13:31:27","slug":"motivation-at-the-start-of-dodentocht-influences-experience-and-chances-of-success","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dodentocht.be\/en\/press\/motivation-at-the-start-of-dodentocht-influences-experience-and-chances-of-success\/","title":{"rendered":"Motivation at the start of Dodentocht influences experience and chances of success"},"content":{"rendered":"
Who are they, what do they do, what drives them to start the 100km Dodentocht in Bornem with 13,000 annually? Ghent University surveyed 1 383 walkers about their motivation to walk a hundred kilometers. \u201cThe motivation of walkers to participate in the 100km Dodentocht turns out to be a unique predictor of the experience and walking performance, in addition to gender and age,\u201d says Joachim Waterschoot, research manager at UGent.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cLast year, our 13,000 tickets left in less than two hours. You wonder what drives walkers to want to walk those hundred kilometers in a maximum of 24 hours. Why do they want to be there at all? The Faculty of Psychology came up with the idea to check on the motivation of our walkers. As an organization, this is very interesting information to help and prepare walkers even better \u201d, says Andr\u00e9 De Clerck, chairman vzw Kadee Dodentocht.<\/p>\n Ghent University investigated the motivation of 1 383 walkers to participate in the 50th edition of the 100km Dodentocht. 22 walkers were subsequently interviewed extensively. “The results show that the type of motivation of the walker, for the walk, is a strong predictor of how the walker keeps walking, how the walker handles pain and boredom, and even walking performance,” explains Joachim Waterschoot.<\/p>\n Four types of motivation for walking<\/strong><\/p>\n A few days before the Dodentocht, the walkers received a questionnaire in which their motivation was assessed. Four groups emerged from this, each with their own type of motivation to pursue their goal.<\/p>\n Results<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cDuring the tour we asked the walkers at four times. Namely at 27.3 kilometers in Ruisbroek, 53 kilometers in Merchtem, 72 kilometers in Lippelo and 89.8 kilometers in Sint-Amands. The results showed that the amount of pain for everyone increased sharply to 72 kilometers and then stabilized. Boredom peaked at 72 kilometers and descended towards the finish. The walkers also lost their purpose of walking even further as the end came in sight.<\/p>\n Hikers from the second and third groups (with strong motivation and a lot of pressure) fell into a negative spiral during the tour. The pressure, which they already experienced beforehand, increased the sensitivity to pain and boredom. This put them under even more pressure. For example, a hiker said, “I have to walk further here, otherwise it will lose face.” In vain this just resulted in more feelings of pain and boredom.<\/p>\n The absence of enthusiasm among group 1 and 4 walkers meant that they lost their purpose to continue walking faster than others. It was striking that the well-motivated group started to protect themselves from the pain and boredom by focusing on the usefulness and pleasure of the walk.<\/p>\n Next year again?<\/strong><\/p>\n Walkers’ motivation for the hike was predictive of some key outcomes during and after the hike. First, motivation predicted the chance of gaining weight, on top of the gender (men are more likely) and the age of the walker (the older, the more likely to gain weight). \u201cThe poorly motivated group had a lower chance of gaining weight. Most of the publishers, namely 42%, came from this group. Remarkably, during the interviews, walkers from this group indicated that the well-motivated group sooner gave up quickly (\u201cWalking for fun? That doesn’t exist.\u201d), While the well-motivated group predicted a faster task for the poorly motivated group. (“You have to want it yourself and not so much for someone else”). Second, participants from the less motivated group and the poorly motivated group indicated that they did not feel like participating again. The strong and well-motivated groups made it clear that they will be there again at the 51st edition \u201d, Joachim Waterschoot concludes.<\/p>\n UGent will start again next year. In August 2020, the university will conduct a follow-up study in which the focus will be on the experience of walkers and the effect of a scientific mental preparation on the experience and performance during the walking tour. More information about this research can be found on their website.<\/p>\n More information:<\/p>\n Link to the results and information about the 2020 Dodentocht study: www.ugent.be\/dodentocht<\/a><\/p>\n Contact person Ghent University: Contact person 100km Dodentocht: Who are they, what do they do, what drives them to start the 100km Dodentocht in Bornem with 13,000 annually? Ghent University surveyed 1 383 walkers about their motivation to walk a hundred kilometers. \u201cThe motivation of walkers to participate in the 100km Dodentocht turns out to be a unique predictor of the experience and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1867,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n
\nJoachim Waterschoot – Vakgroep Ontwikkelings-, Persoonlijkheids- en Sociale Psychologie
\nT 09 264 62 70 \u2013 M 0476 59 18 60<\/p>\n
\nIlse Robyn – Press officer Dodentocht vzw
\nT 03 331 30 20
\nE\u00a0pers@dodentocht.be<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0ilse.robyn@dodentocht.be<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"