2019/07/01 by Lijun Zhou, Karolina Chlebosz, John Tower +1
Medicine · Psychology · #Adventure Sports and Sensation Seeking #Recreation, Leisure, Wilderness Management #Winter Sports Injuries and Performance
paper · doi:10.1080/00222216.2019.1627175
crossref issued 2019/07/01 · crossref published 2019/07/01 · crossref published-online 2019/07/01 · openalex publication_date 2019/07/01 · crossref created 2019/07/01 · crossref deposited 2019/12/20 · crossref published-print 2020/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31
While participation in traditional sports and leisure-time physical activity (PA) is declining globally, participation in extreme sports is increasing. Few studies have examined the motives of participants in extreme sports. Adopting a qualitative design, we explored motives for participation in extreme sports in China. Participants were 14 adults who participated in extreme sports as serious leisure pursuits. We interviewed participants about the reasons they participated in their chosen activity. Each interview lasted between 40 and 60 minutes. We transcribed digital recordings verbatim and conducted an inductive-deductive content analysis. We identified 9 general dimensions (motives); 7 were consistent with participation motives in traditional sports (mastery, enjoyment, psychological condition, physical condition, affiliation, others’ expectations, competition/ego), and 2 were new to extreme sports (vertigo, catharsis). We note limitations of this study, draw conclusions for future research, and propose implications for increasing participation in sport and PA arising from this study.