Passion in hiking guides affects their group management skills and functional psychobiosocial experiences

Using the individual zones of optimal functioning model as a conceptual framework, the purpose of this study was to examine the interplay between passion, perceived group management skills, and functional emotion-related (psychobiosocial) experiences in hiking guides. The participants were 60 Italian hiking guides, 47 men and 13 women, aged 32–74 years (M = 57.25, SD = 10.49). They were asked to fill in an online questionnaire containing measures of harmonious and obsessive passion, perceived group management skills, and psychobiosocial experiences. Path analysis results showed positive indirect effects of both harmonious passion and obsessive passion on psychobiosocial experiences via group management skills. Additional results from moderated moderation suggest that high levels of obsessive passion, combined with low levels of both harmonious passion and perceived group management skills, are associated with lower intensity levels of psychobiosocial experiences. The findings contribute to increasing our understanding of the overall experience of hiking guides, and the important role they play in motivating people to engage in physical activity in a natural environment.