Abstract
Behavior in an adventure recreation experience is based in part on perception of risk and competence. If incorrectly perceived, an unexpected condition may result, the outcomes of which may be socially, mentally or physically negative. To prevent such undesireable events, and to continue research in this arena, an understanding of the adventure experience is necessary in terms of the two constructs: perceived risk and perceived competence. This study performed a pair of factor analyses on the responses of first and second year subjects engaged in a ropes course program in order to explore and confirm factor structure of these two constructs. Subjects were responding to the Dimensions of an Adventure Experience (DAE) survey: a semantic differential of twenty four bipolar adjectives concerned with perceptual changes in risk and competence which may occur from participating in adventure experiences. The exploratory analysis formed three factors related to risk (fear, eustress, and distress) and two factors related to competence (abilities and attitudes). The confirmatory analysis formed the same factors with slightly different loading coefficients. From these findings, a combination of several theoretical models was achieved.