To Walk or Not to Walk? The Hierarchy of Walking Needs

TLDR

Declining walking rates threaten quality of life, prompting researchers to develop a transdisciplinary, multilevel model that explains how individual, group, regional, and environmental factors influence walking behavior. The article proposes a social‑ecological model of walking that dynamically maps the decision‑making process. The model organizes walking needs into a five‑level hierarchy that functions as antecedents in the decision‑making process. The model serves as a framework to assess variable importance, generate hypotheses on how factors influence walking decisions, and guide future research and practice.

Abstract

The multitude of quality of life problems associated with declining walking rates has impelled researchers from various disciplines to identify factors related to this behavior change. Currently, this body of research is in need of a transdisciplinary, multilevel theoretical model that can help explain howindividual, group, regional, and physical-environmental factors all affect physical activity behaviors. To address this gap, this article offers a social-ecological model of walking that presents a dynamic, causal model of the decision-making process. Within the model, a hierarchy of walking needs operates and organizes five levels of needs hierarchically and presents them as antecedents within the walking decision-making process. This model can (a) serve as a framework by which to understand the relative significance of the cornucopia of variables identified by existing research, (b) offer hypotheses for how these factors affect peoples' decision to walk, and (c) help to guide future research and practice.