Stress Seeking: Selected Behavioral Characteristics of Elite Rock Climbers

Abstract

Although it has generated much theorizing (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Ellis, 1973; Harris, 1980; Mitchell, 1983), the phenomenon of stress-seeking behavior, as demonstrated in regular long-term involvement in the high-risk sports, has not been researched widely. In an attempt to go beyond the prevalent but simplistic "exhilaration' ' type of explanation for stress-seeking, this study examined the phenomenon in terms of the psychological characteristics associated with successful long-term involvement in the risk sport of rock climbing. Four behavioral characteristics were assessed: sensation seeking (SS), defined as "the need for varied, novel and complex sensations and experiences and the willingness to undertake physical and social risks for the sake of such experiences" (Zuckerman, 1979, p. 10); trait anxiety (TA), which refers to relatively stable individual differences in anxiety proneness (Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970); need for achievement (NAch), which relates to the determinants of direction, magnitude, and persistence of behavior when the individual knows that his or her performance will be evaluated (Atkinson, 1964); and affiliation (AFF), which refers to the tendency to seek out, attain, and maintain a social bond with other people (Alderman, 1974).