Motivation and Emotion in High-Risk-Sports
Why do some people engage in high-risk sports such as climbing, skydiving or surfing? From a motivational psychology perspective, in addition to motives such as sensation seeking, emotion regulation, experiencing nature or flower life, incentives also play a decisive role in explaining the practice of these sports. This project therefore aims to identify the incentives of selected risk sports. In addition, emotion regulation, in particular dealing with fear, will be investigated in a subsequent section.
Supervisor: M.Sc. Lisa Hepperle
My research interest is primarily related to the different motivation and the experience as well as the handling of various emotions in different high-risk sports (HRS) such as climbing, mountaineering, surfing or hang gliding. Previous studies have mostly examined the individual differences and motives of these athletes in order to explain their behavior and thus focused on the personal factor. It is known from these studies that there is a wide range of motives, in addition to sensation seeking, emotion regulation and action control, these include flower life, nature experience, freedom or challenge. My research will focus on the situational factor, i.e. the incentives that can be found in the relevant sports, as this approach has been neglected to date. The incentives in mountain sports will therefore be identified in an initial qualitative study. In the further course of the project, the handling of emotions, in particular fear, and the strategies used to regulate them will also be investigated. Findings in this regard may also be useful for other (sporting) settings. Current research areas:
Applications for winter semester 2024/25 are currently still possible. Please send a short letter of motivation with a CV and an overview of previous academic achievements to lisa.hepperle(at)tum.de. Empirical studies are desired; these can also be integrated into the doctoral project. |
Free topic choice: Yes (only with thematic relevance) |
Language: German or English |