The Spirit of the Appalachian Trail: Community, Environment, and Belief

Appendix III. Tables of Spiritual and Personal Values

AppendiX iii TABleS of SpiriTuAl And perSonAl VAlueS Table III.1 The transcendent outcomes with the highest average ratings, and those correlated to mileage completed. Statement % very true or true (or untrue or very untrue for negative statements) Adjusted % very true or true Average rating Adjusted average rating Enhanced by mileage Enhanced by prayer/ meditation Contact with nature inspires me to think about God 57 40 3.57 2.86 No Pre** On** This trip made me aware of my personal deficiencies and failings 51 37 3.46 2.79 No Pre* On** I have felt close to God (gods, spirit) while on this trip 50 36 3.36 2.71 No Pre** On** This trip made me more aware of the beauty of God (spirit, gods) 49 36 3.29 2.66 No Pre** On** I think about religious or spiritual matters more when I am hiking 45 33 3.24 2.63 No Pre** On** This trip has facilitated prayer or meditation 42 31 3.14 2.56 No Pre** On** This trip has helped me to correct my own negative attitudes or wrong doing 35 25 3.05 2.49 Yes* No Participating in religious ritual prayer or mediation in nature or outdoors has exceptional spiritual, religious or personal meaning 38 28 2.98 2.17 No Pre** On** This trip has been spiritual or religious learning experience 39 28 2.95 2.42 No Pre** On** This trip has helped me to think about my religious or spiritual responsibilities to other people 35 25 2.94 2.41 No Pre** On** While on this trip I felt God (spirit, gods) was guiding me 37 27 2.75 2.27 No Pre** On** Mileage correlated statements This trip has increased my religious or spiritual commitment 29 21 2.66 2.21 Yes Pre** On** This trip has made me more aware of my religious heritage or roots 20 15 2.30 1.94 Yes* Pre** On** Statement concerning on-trail community I had a sense of spiritual community with the people I encountered on this trip 29 21 2.67 2.21 No Pre** On** Note: (p=.05*, p=.01**) The adjusted values assign a “1” to the blank responses of those hikers not answering Section 6 of the survey, thus provide an estimate of the scores if all hikers, including the very unreligious. Table III.2 Hiker response to statements that concern personal needs or circumstances or that reflect self-perception. Statement % very true or true Average rating Domain Enhanced by mileage Enhanced by prayer This trip made me feel positive about the meaning of my life. 66 3.89 Personal No Pre** On** This trip provided a sense of harmony with my life 57 3.73 Personal No Pre** On* This trip gave me a sense of inner peace 58 3.65 Personal No Pre** On* This trip will help me to cope with difficulties in my life 48 3.41 Personal No Pre* I have strengthened old friendships on this trip 38 3.01 Communal No No This trip has helped me to manage a life transition 36 2.87 Personal Yes** No This trip has helped me to break a bad habit 19 2.07 Personal No No This trip has helped me to heal from an emotional or psychological illness, condition or injury 19 2.03 Personal No Pre* This trip has helped me to heal from a physical illness, condition or injury 9 1.56 Personal No Pre* On* This trip has strengthened or improved relationships with my significant other 30 2.58 Communal No No ...