Applying the Q Method in Identifying Mental Patterns: The Experience of Religious Tourists

Tourism and religion have always been inextricably linked. This study was conducted with the aim of identifying the mental patterns of tourists in religious tourism destinations in the city of Mashhad and is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive in terms of method. In this research, Q methodology has been used to identify mental patterns. The statistical population of the study was tourists who have experienced travel to the holy city of Mashhad at least once. The sampling method was purposeful. The data obtained from the participation of 25 religious tourists in Mashhad were analyzed using Q factor analysis with SPSS 22.0 software. The findings of this study have identified seven mental types for the meaning of religious tourism: 1) Spiritualists, 2) Pacifists, 3) Belongers, 4) Liberators, 5) Seekers, 6) Subjectivists & 7) Empiricists.