Essay: Risk taking in sport

Abstract

S33 Extreme sports have never been so popular. Mountain climbing is one of the fastest growing outdoor pursuits, and interest in extreme skiing—where skiers drop from ledge to ledge on sheer cliffs—is also burgeoning. Paragliding, skydiving, whitewater kayaking, and bungee jumping are fast becoming de rigueur. Full contact martial arts clubs are exploding and no holds barred fighting is becoming the number one pay per view draw. Meanwhile golf courses in the USA and UK struggle to retain members. According to the Freudian interpretation, risk taking individuals like Jim Wickwire (panel) have a death fulfilment wish; as such, the repetition of lifethreatening behaviours is classified as expressing suicidal tendencies. Wickwire himself is still unsure why he pursues his dangerous hobbies, stating that “The people who engage in this [sport] are probably driven to it in a psychological fashion that they may not even understand themselves”. Most seasoned climbers would, however, baulk at this Freudian interpretation, and indeed results of research studies into the mental health of risk takers indicate no differences from the general population. Furthermore, engaging in risky sports leads to an increase in confidence and selfesteem, much like people who take financial risks in the workplace tend to be more successful. Risk taking cannot, therefore, simply be explained away as a selfdefeating psychosis. In fact, strong evidence suggests that the inclination to take risks is hard-wired into the brain and intimately bound to arousal and pleasure mechanisms. Such behaviour might even have ensured our survival as a species and underpinned our rapid population of the earth. Early man first came out of Africa about 100 000 years ago. Confronted by new and hazardous environments our ancestors were forced to take great risks and travel large distances to find food, shelter, and sexual partners. So-called risky genes were therefore adaptive and became more common through natural selection. Although our brains have continued to evolve, primitive instincts still exert a strong influence over us. Genetically, we are evolved for exploration and risk, not for an urbanised and sedentary lifestyle. This evolutionary explanation of risk taking certainly seems