Examining Interactions between Adventure Seeking and States of the Four Channel Flow Model

Abstract

Abstract This study evaluates the relationships between states of the four channel flow model and adventure seeking traits among Whitewater kayakers using a modified Experience Sampling Method. Study hypotheses were concerned with determining whether the interaction between adventure seeking and the four channel flow model predicts differences in dimensions of subjective experience. Questionnaires were administered on‐site to 52 Whitewater kayakers on the Cheat River in West Virginia at eight sites varying in river difficulty (Class I‐V). Data were analyzed at the level of single experience measurements (n = 409 experience observations) rather than per respondent. Statistical analyses (using principal axis factoring and hierarchical linear modelling) confirmed a three dimensional structure of flow indicators, and that the interactions of adventure seeking and the channels of the flow model were significant predictors of an Intrinsic Freedom dimension. Although the adventure seeking trait was a significant...