Conceptualizing adventurous nature sport: A positive psychology perspective

ABSTRACT

Research and public policy has long supported links between traditional sports and well-being. However, adventurous nature sport literature has primarily focused on performance issues and deficit models of risk or sensation-seeking. This standpoint is limited by assumptions that participation is: (a) dependent on personality structures; (b) solely motivated by risk-taking and hedonism; (c) only attractive or accessible to a narrow demographic; and (d) widely perceived as dysfunctional or deviant. In contrast, recent research suggests that adventurous nature sports provide unique benefits due to their context. This paper critically assesses the validity of dominant perspectives against emerging literature to illustrate how nature sports can be conceptualized through a positive psychology lens as well-being activities that facilitate both hedonic and eudaimonic outcomes. The significance of this perspective is that nature sports may become an important consideration when designing health and well-being interventions for both people and the planet.

KEYWORDS:

• Eudaimonia
• extreme sports
• positive psychology
• adventure motivations
• well-being
• high risk sports

Acknowledgements

We wish to thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback that helped to improve this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Susan Houge Mackenzie, PhD, is a lecturer at the University of Otago Department of Tourism. Previously, she served as a whitewater guide and safety assessor in New Zealand, Chile, and the USA. Her research seeks to understand the diverse ways that adventure can foster psychological well-being by developing and applying positive psychology theories, such as flow theory, self-determination theory, and reversal theory. Her work has been applied across adventure tourism, recreation, and education contexts to inform curriculum development, customer experience design, mental skill training workshops, and consulting for agencies such as the US Forest Service, The History Channel, the New Zealand Ministry of Tourism, and Galapagos tour operators.

Eric Brymer is a Reader in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University, UK and an Adjunct at Queensland University of Technology, Australia. He specializes in outdoor and adventure sports with a focus on the health benefits of being in nature and the psychology of extreme sports. Eric’s research focuses on the two major interrelated issues confronting societies today: concern for the health and wellbeing of populations and the state of the natural environment. He specializes in researching the reciprocal wellbeing benefits of the human-nature relationship. Projects include investigating the psychological health benefits of nature-based experiences, understanding how the relationship between human beings and nature benefits wellbeing and learning for pro-conservation and pro-sustainability behaviours.

ORCID

Susan Houge Mackenzie http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5660-6325

Eric Brymer http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0274-1016