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Sensation Seeking Among Experienced Whitewater Kayakers

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Sensation Seeking Among Experienced Whitewater Kayakers University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 5-2017 Sensation Seeking Among Experienced Whitewater Kayakers Lisa Marie Ivester University of Tennessee, Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Outdoor Education Commons Recommended Citation Ivester, Lisa Marie, "Sensation Seeking Among Experienced Whitewater Kayakers. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2017. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/4750 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Lisa Marie Ivester entitled "Sensation Seeking Among Experienced Whitewater Kayakers." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Recreation and Sport Management. Jim Bemiller, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Lars Dzikus, Rebecca Zakrajsek Accepted for the Council: Dixie L. Thompson Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Sensation Seeking Among Experienced Whitewater Kayakers A Thesis Presented for the Master of Science Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Lisa Marie Ivester May 2017 Copyright © 2017 by Lisa Marie Ivester. All rights reserved. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thank you to Jim Bemiller for his guidance and expertise. iii ABSTRACT Whitewater kayaking is an adventure sport that has been continuously growing in popularity (Brymer, 2010). A better understanding of the risk involved could assist programmers, marketers, and decision makers in the future. This study explores sensation seeking in experienced whitewater kayakers. Demographic variables such as age, sex and skill level are studied to make conclusions about risk perception. Kayakers were recruited nation-wide via social media to participate in a survey involving sensation-seeking and demographic questions. The study consisted of 409 participants who completed the self-identifying survey. Past sensation-seeking literature pertaining to adventure sports suggests that there is a correlation between the sensation- seeking trait and risk taking. The findings of this study support the hypothesis that younger experienced kayakers score higher on the sensation-seeking scale and older experienced kayakers. Using SPSS data analysis software, it was discovered that 60.25 percent of respondents scored as high sensation seekers. Of the four subscales within the sensation-seeking scale, the thrill and adventure seeking subscale had the highest scores of 78% sensation seeking. Also, perception of ability and preference of rapid class results indicate that respondents of this study often paddle at or one class above their perceived ability level while whitewater kayaking. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter One Introduction and General Information .............................................. 1 History of Kayaking ........................................................................................... 1 Types of Whitewater Kayaking .......................................................................... 2 River Running ................................................................................................ 2 Play Boating................................................................................................... 2 Creek Running ............................................................................................... 3 Racing ........................................................................................................... 3 Slalom ............................................................................................................ 3 Research Problem ............................................................................................. 3 Significance ....................................................................................................... 4 Chapter Two Literature Review ............................................................................ 7 Sensation Seeking Theory ........................................................................... 12 Chapter Three Materials and Methods ................................................................ 22 Participants ..................................................................................................... 22 Procedures ...................................................................................................... 22 Data Collection ................................................................................................ 23 Data Analysis .................................................................................................. 25 Chapter Four Results and Discussion ................................................................. 27 Results ............................................................................................................ 27 Demographic Results .................................................................................. 27 Sensation Seeking Results .......................................................................... 31 Age Comparison Results ............................................................................. 37 Gender Comparison Results........................................................................ 43 Discussion ....................................................................................................... 44 Chapter Five Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................. 51 Conclusions ..................................................................................................... 51 Limitations ....................................................................................................... 51 Recommendations .......................................................................................... 52 List of References ............................................................................................... 54 Appendix ............................................................................................................. 57 Vita ...................................................................................................................... 69 v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: International River Rating System ......................................................... 10 Table 2: Sensation Seeking Subscale ................................................................ 16 Table 3: Boredom Susceptibility Subscale Results ............................................. 33 Table 4: Experience Seeking Subscale Results ................................................. 34 Table 5: Disinhibition Subscale Results .............................................................. 35 Table 6: Thrill and Adventure Seeking Subscale Results ................................... 36 Table 7: Total Sensation Seeking Results .......................................................... 37 Table 8: Overall Sensation Seeking ANOVA test................................................ 38 Table 9: Sensation Seeking by Age Comparison ................................................ 38 Table 10: Thrill and Adventure Seeking ANOVA test .......................................... 40 Table 11: Experience Seeking ANOVA test ........................................................ 40 Table 12: Disinhibition Seeking ANOVA test ...................................................... 40 Table 13: Boredom Susceptibility ANOVA test ................................................... 40 Table 14: Gender Comparison T-test .................................................................. 43 Table 15: Gender Comparison T-test Results ..................................................... 43 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Respondents by Age ........................................................................... 27 Figure 2: Region of Kayaking .............................................................................. 29 Figure 3: Frequency of paddling per month ........................................................ 29 Figure 4: Comparison of Preference and Frequency by Class ........................... 30 Figure 5: Average Years of Participation ............................................................ 42 Figure 6: Sensation Seeking by Age ................................................................... 42 vii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION AND GENERAL INFORMATION History of Kayaking While humans have used canoes and kayaks as transportation for hundreds, if not thousands of years, whitewater paddling as a sport began to develop in the 1900’s. “It was a sport based on the thrill of exploration and danger, and the development and mastery of newly found technique and skills” (Taft, 2001, p. 1). The appeal of the sport is much the same as rock climbing and skiing, and paddling often attracts the same participants. As early as the 1880’s, members of the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) used native wood canoes to explore whitewater rivers. It wasn’t until around 1914
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