What Camino elements facilitate transformative experience : insights from pilgrims
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Despite recent exponential growth in research on pilgrimage and the ubiquitous agreement that pilgrimage can be transformational, the literature needs a holistic concept of the pilgrimage elements that facilitate transformation. Using the thriving religious pilgrimage of the Camino de Santiago (Camino) as a descriptive study, this exploratory sequential mixed-methods research examined the components of the Camino that facilitate transformation guided by two questions: (1) What is important or meaningful to pilgrims about the Camino? and (2) What element-related activities/experiences on the Camino do pilgrims believe effect changes in their lives? Previous literature reveals elements found to elicit positive change: religion/spirituality, long-distance walking, community, challenge, simplicity, being in nature, art/history/culture, and multiculturalism. Content analyses of Camino pilgrims' social media messages and survey responses confirmed those eight components as the most meaningful and essential aspects of the Camino. Exploratory factor analysis was utilized to establish to what extent each of the eight elements was perceived by pilgrims to have fostered change and how pilgrims perceived the connections between these elements. This study enhances the understanding of pilgrims' transformative experiences on the Camino.
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M.S.