The sensation of risk and motivational tendencies in sports: An empirical study

Sudden Withdrawal from Skydiving: A Case Study Informed by Reversal Theory's Concept of Protective Frames

“…According to reversal theory, excitement and provocativeness (rebelliousness) are high-arousal emotions associated with the paratelic and negativistic states. The paratelic-negativistic nature of her skydiving experience is in accord with findings from previous reversal theory risk sport studies which used quantitative methods to examine parasailors (Chirivella & Martinez, 1994), snowboarders (Cogan & Brown, 1999), as well as surfers, parachutists, and motor-cycle racers (Kerr, 1991). In these studies, risk sport participants were found to spend more time in the paratelic and negativistic states than participants in safer sports (e.g., badminton, marathon running).…”

“…Research studies have also shown that paratelic (a playful mental or motivational state) arousal seeking can also be a fundamental element in risk sport participation (Chirivella & Martinez, 1994;Cogan & Brown, 1999;Kerr, 1991). As a basis for further explaining the paratelic-oriented motivation for participation in skydiving in a way valuable and meaningful to applied sport psychology consultants, reversal theory's (Apter, 2001, Kerr, 1997 concept of protective frames is especially relevant in the context of the present study.…”

Sensation Seeking and Spatial Ability in Athletes: an Evolutionary Account

“…Sex differences in sensation seeking have also been found among athletes, with male athletes having higher scores than female athletes (Schroth, 1995;Chirivella & Martinez, 1994). Lord and Leonard (1997) have reported no sex differences in spatial ability among athletes, while Lord and Garrison (1998) reported higher scores in female compared to male basketball players.…”

“…Consequently, it can be expected for athletes to differ from general non-athlete population in different behavioural outcomes. For example, it has been shown that sensation seeking can be used to differentiate between athletes and non-athletes, with athletes scoring higher on sensation seeking (Schroth, 1995), and between athletes participating in sports of variable risk, with athletes participating in high-risk sports scoring higher than athletes participating in low-risk sports (Gomà-i-Freixanet, 1991;Chirivella & Martinez, 1994;Wagner & Houlihan, 1994;Schroth, 1995;Slanger & Rudestam, 1997;Jack & Ronan, 1998;Zarevski, Marusic, Zolotic, Bunjevac, & Vukosav, 1998). As for differences in spatial ability between athletes and general population, there is no clear pattern of results.…”

Current understanding in climbing psychophysiology research

“…In a climbing context, climbers needlessly confront themselves with risk in order to achieve high arousal, this high arousal may be experienced as anxiety, but if the danger or challenge is overcome there may be a switch to the paratelic curve, resulting in excitement as intense as the anxiety (Shepherd, Lee, & Kerr, 2006). More generally, it has been found that those who are paratelic-dominant tend to choose and participate in risky and explosive sports, whereas a telic-dominant prefers safe and endurance sports (Chirivella & Martinez, 1994).…”