Coping as a Moderator of The Relation between Recreation Hassles and Hiker Satisfaction

Abstract

The study attempted to explore the relationships among recreation hassles, coping, and hiker satisfaction and to examine the moderating role of coping in the relationship between hassles and satisfaction. Questionnaire surveys were conducted on trails in Yangmingshan National Park in Taiwan in spring 2011. Overall, 316 questionnaires were completed, of which 301 were valid. The results indicated that recreation hassles correlated positively with all coping strategies. Further analysis indicated that the coping behaviors of rationalization significantly moderated the relationship between recreation hassles and hiker satisfaction. The study suggested that an increase in the perceived hassles decreases the satisfaction of hikers. It also indicated that the engagement of the coping strategy of rationalization was likely to decrease the negative effects of hassles on hiker satisfaction. Although a number of studies have discussed a similar argument, relevant empirical works were insufficient. This study clearly confirmed the moderating effect of emotion-focused coping on the relationship between recreation hassles and hiker satisfaction. The study suggests that the Park Headquarters should give the hikers more information on the difficulties and the use of the trails so that the hikers could choose one in accordance with their abilities as well as the frequency of the use of trails. Keywords: Problem-Focused Coping, Emotion-Focused Coping, Moderating Effects To cite this document: Wei-Li Hung and Li-Wen Hsieh, "Coping as a Moderator of The Relation between Recreation Hassles and Hiker Satisfaction", Contemporary Management Research, Vol.10, No.4, pp.273-286, 2014. Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.7903/cmr.12579