By land or sea: Exploring motivations for outdoor adventure activities in a college student population

ABSTRACT

Over the past several decades outdoor adventure recreation programs (OARPs) have seen an increase in popularity on university campuses across the country. This study used the Leisure Motivation Scale (LMS) developed, to measure motives for participation; that is, the study investigated college students’ motivations to participate in OARPs. Specifically, we sought to build a model for predicting interest in water or land-based activities based on experience levels and year in school. Using a sample of 152 participants from an OARP at a Midwestern University, results indicated significant differences in motivations based on stimulus avoidance. The findings from this study will help researchers and practitioners understand motivations for participation in OARPs and provide direction for more attractive and impactful outdoor programming.

KEYWORDS:

• Adventure education
• Leisure Motivation Scale
• motivations
• outdoor adventure recreation programs (OARPs)

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).