Multiple motives for participating in adventure sports

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2012.04.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

The purpose of the present study was to explore possible multiple motives for participation in different adventure sports.

Design

Qualitative design, specifically an inductive-deductive approach informed by reversal theory, was used to analyze participation motivation data.

Method

Data was collected using the Scanlan Collaborative Interview Method (SCIM; Scanlan, Russell, Wilson, & Scanlan, 2003). Participants were very experienced adventure sport participants involved in riversurfing, mountain biking, kayaking, mountain climbing and hang gliding.

Results

The results indicated that the participants' motivation was multifaceted. While some participants shared common motives, these were often described in different orders of importance by different participants. The range of motives for adventure sport participation found included: goal achievement, risk taking, social motivation, escape from boredom, pushing personal boundaries and overcoming fear, as well as connecting with the natural environment, and pleasurable kinaesthetic bodily sensations from moving in water or air.

Conclusions

The authors argue for a continuation of a recent trend to provide a more comprehensive picture of the complexities of human motivation for participation in adventure sports which go beyond excitement- or thrill-seeking behaviour.

Highlights

► We found multiple motives for participation in adventure sport. ► These were: risk taking, goal achievement, social motivation, escape from boredom. ► Also, testing personal abilities, overcoming fear, connecting with natural environment. ► And, unselfconsciousness, pleasurable kinaesthetic bodily sensations. ► Participation motivation in adventure sport goes beyond simple excitement-seeking.

Section snippets

A brief explanation of reversal theory

Reversal theory (Apter, 1992, Apter, 2001) is a general theoretical model of motivation, emotion and personality. Conceptualized within the reversal theory approach are four pairs of mental or metamotivational states. Metamotivational states are frames of mind concerned with the way a person interprets his or her motives at a certain time. There are four pairs of opposing metamotivational states and each state has its own characteristics. A person in the telic state tends to be primarily

Participants

Data was collected from expert adventure sport participants (N = 5). Each participant was experienced at recreational and professional levels in their activity of expertise. Three participants had also competed at an elite level in their adventure activities. The participants included: a female riversurfer; a female downhill mountain bike racer; a male whitewater kayaker; a male mountaineer and a male hang glider pilot. Participants ranged in age from 19 to 52 years (mean age = 36 years).

Study design and procedures

The

Results

This section reports and discusses participation motivation data from interviews with expert adventure sport participants. The participants participated in different adventure activities and their interview data were analysed and interpreted on an individual case study basis. The full gamut of participant motives are reported, which were sometimes exclusive to one individual or sport and sometimes shared. The experts and their interview statements are presented in the following order:

Discussion

The purpose of the present study was to explore possible multiple motives for participation in adventure sports. The qualitative results represented a range of participation motives that varied inter- and intra-personally. In order to better conceptualise and understand how this diverse range of motives underpins adventure sports participation, a reversal theory analysis of the data was conducted. The advantage of reversal theory (Apter, 1982, 2001) is that it can accommodate multiple motives

Acknowledgement

This research study was partly funded by The Duffus Lubecki Award for Applied Sciences at the University of Otago which was awarded to the second author.

References (46)

  • M.J. Apter

    Motivational styles in everyday life: A guide to reversal theory

    (2001)
  • M.J. Apter et al.

    Gratuitous risk: a study of parachuting

  • P. Beedie

    Mountain guiding and adventure tourism: reflections on the choreography of experience

    Leisure Studies

    (2003)
  • M. Brown et al.

    Re-evaluating risk and exploring educational alternatives

    Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning

    (2009)
  • E. Brymer et al.

    Extreme sports as a precursor to environmental sustainability

    Journal of Sport and Tourism

    (2010)
  • C. Castanier et al.

    Beyond sensation seeking: affect regulation as a framework for predicting risk-taking behaviors in high-risk sport

    Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology

    (2010)
  • N. Cazenave et al.

    Psychological profiles and emotional regulation characteristics of women engaged in risk-taking sports

    Anxiety, Stress & Coping

    (2007)
  • K. Charmaz

    Grounded Theory: objectivist and constructivist methods

  • B. Florenthal et al.

    The impact of persuasive information on changes in attitude and behavioral intentions toward risky sports for arousal-seeking versus arousal-avoidance individuals

    Sport Marketing Quarterly

    (2001)
  • M.G.I. Freixanet

    Personality profiles of subjects engaged in high physical risk sports

    Personality and Individual Differences

    (1991)
  • S.R. Heyman et al.

    Psychological variables affecting SCUBA performance

  • Houge, S. P. (2009). Reversal theory and flow: Toward an integrated framework of optimal experiences in adventure...
  • S. Houge Mackenzie et al.

    Expanding the flow model in adventure activities: a reversal theory perspective

    Journal of Leisure Research

    (2011)
  • Cited by (129)

    • Examining the diversity of ultra-running motivations and experiences: A reversal theory perspective

      2022, Psychology of Sport and Exercise
      Citation Excerpt :

      Subsequent research (Kerr & Males, 2010, 2011; Males, Kerr, Thatcher, & Bellew, 2006) investigating the experiences of volleyball and lacrosse athletes also found a variety of metamotivational state combinations, pre, during, and post-competition. Research into adventure sports (Houge Mackenzie, Hodge, & Boyes, 2010, Houge Mackenzie, Hodge, & Boyes, 2011, Houge Mackenzie, Hodge, & Boyes, 2013; Houge Mackenzie & Kerr, 2012, 2014; Kerr & Houge Mackenzie, 2012, 2014) has also demonstrated the range of metamotivational experiences and state combinations that may occur amongst athletes. In the context of ultra-endurance activity, Lloyd and Apter (2006) found each of the eight core states of reversal theory were experienced by solo polar explorer Pen Hadow.

    • How can we adventure sustainably? A systematized review of sustainability guidance for adventure tourism operators

      2022, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management
      Citation Excerpt :

      Boudreau and colleagues (2020) offer a more technical definition by suggesting that adventures are “self-initiated, nature-based physical activities that generate heightened bodily sensations and require skill development to manage unique perceived and objective risks” (p. 2). While the term ‘adventure’ remains contested in academic literature and popular usage, in the realm of leisure and tourism there seems to be broad agreement that key dimensions include voluntary activity featuring uncertainty, physical and mental challenges, and an outdoor context, which is often accompanied by kinaesthetic pleasure (e.g., Ewert & Hollenhorst, 1989; ATTA, 2016; Kerr & Houge Mackenzie, 2012; Swarbrooke et al., 2003; Beames & Pike, 2019). While typical definitions of outdoor adventure exclude sustainability criteria, we have adapted Higgins' (2010) views on learning for sustainability, which suggest that while there are many dimensions of sustainability that have nothing to do with outdoor adventure, every aspect of outdoor adventure is inherently linked to sustainability.

    • Family adventure tourism: Towards hedonic and eudaimonic wellbeing

      2021, Tourism Management Perspectives
      Citation Excerpt :

      Commentaries were replete with positive emotions, reflecting the excitement respondents anticipated from adventure activity participation, and the link between positive affect and HWB (Huta & Waterman, 2014). As previous research (Kerr & Houge Mackenzie, 2012) notes, adrenaline was both a motive and a benefit of adventure activity participation. In considering RQ4, adrenaline was prominent, particularly in older children's (11–17 years old) accounts, suggesting their hedonic motives and HWB differ from other family members.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text