To Analyze Thrill, Define Extreme Sports

Abstract

Emotions are a signaling system, evolved by providing selective advantage through enhanced survival and reproduction. The selective advantage conferred by thrill or exhilaration, however, remains unknown. Hypotheses, as yet untested, include overcoming phobias or honing physical skills as juveniles, or exhibiting desirability during mate selection. Extreme sports can provide an ethically and experimentally feasible tool to analyze thrill. To use this tool, extreme sports must first be defined in a non-circular way, independent of participant psychology. Existing concepts, from different disciplines, focus, respectively, on drama, activity types, or consequences of error. Here, I draw upon academic and popular literature, and autoethnographic experience, to distinguish extreme from adventurous levels for a range of different outdoor sports. I conclude that extreme outdoor adventure sports can be defined objectively as those activities, conditions, and levels, where participant survival relies on moment-by-moment skill, and any error is likely to prove fatal. This allows us to examine the motivations, experiences, and transformations of individuals who undertake these activities. In particular, it will allow us to examine the emotional experience of thrill, previously studied principally as an aspect of personality, from new neurophysiological and evolutionary perspectives.

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“…As much as Adventure tourism is about provocation, stimulation, delight and personal growth (Swarbrooke, et al, 2003), is also about knowing and respecting the personal limits (Large & Schilar, 2018). Accordingly, an activity must not be a thrill seeker (Daily, 2015) to be classified as an Adventure experience (Buckely, 2018). Categories of adventurism also include social or jungle tourism, disaster or ghetto tourism, cultural shock and any other activity that pushes the subject out of the comfort zone.…”

Coping with Stress and Pain in Hard and Soft Adventure Mountain Athletes

“…These risks can impact a climber's cognition, behaviours and emotions (Lazarus, 2000). Hard adventure mountain athletes must manage risk and fear of falling or injury, thus they must have high physical endurance, technical skills, and psychological resources to cope with said danger (Buckley, 2018;Morrison & Schöffl, 2007).…”

Resilience, stressors and protective factors in sports performance

“…Researchers, athletes, specialists in sports science and applied sports psychology consider that extreme sports attract more attention and interest due to dangerous demands (accident, injury or even death) (Immonen, Brymer, Davids, Liukkonen, & Jaakkola, 2018). Buckley (2018) states that extreme sports can be defined in a non-circular way, independent of athlete psychology. This author says that extreme sports can be a suitable tool to examine thrill, which is related to sensation-seeking or thrill-seeking.…”