Gratuitous risk: danger and recklessness perception of adventure sports participants

Citation

Ebert PA, Durbach I & Field C (2024) Gratuitous risk: danger and recklessness perception of adventure sports participants. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport. https://doi.org/10.1080/00948705.2024.2335350

Abstract
Since the 1970’s there has been a major increase in adventure sports participation but it seems that engagement in such sports comes with a stigma: adventure sports participants are often regarded as reckless ‘daredevils’. We approach the questions about people’s perception of risk and recklessness in adventure sports by combining empirical research with philosophical analysis. First, we provide empirical evidence that suggests that laypeople tend to assess the danger of adventure sports as greater than more mundane sports and judge adventure sports participants as more reckless than participants in non-adventure sports. We contextualise these findings within existing psychological risk perception paradigms and outline new philosophical explanations of the identified pattern in laypeople’s risk perception.

Keywords
Risk perception; recklessness; adventure sports; concepts of risk

Journal
Journal of the Philosophy of Sport