Abstract:
It is a common assumption that human behavior is guided by a desire to feel safe and avoid harm. However, this view is challenged by the popularity of high-risk leisure sport and other practices that involve subjecting oneself to a considerable danger with no apparent gain. By using real-contact stick fighting as an example, I suggest that the attractiveness of at least some such practices can be explained by cognitive dynamics that are typical of affectively intense rituals such as initiations. Affectively intense rituals are known to enhance personal meaning-making and foster identity fusion, that is, the overlapping of personal and social identities. The sense of meaning thus engendered effectively satisfies common identity motives and thus elicits positive affect. By introducing ritual studies perspectives into the edgework paradigm that is commonly used to conceptualize voluntary risk taking, I contribute to an increased understanding of the cognitive processes motivating participation in extreme leisure sport.
摘要:
这是一个常见的假设,即人类行为是由一种感觉安全和避免伤害的愿望来指导的。然而,这种观点受到高风险休闲运动和其他做法的流行的挑战,这些做法涉及使自己面临相当大的危险而没有明显的收获。以真接触棒战斗为例,我建议,至少可以通过认知动力学来解释某些此类实践的吸引力,这些认知动力学是诸如启动之类的情感激烈仪式的典型特征。众所周知,激烈的仪式可以增强个人的意义和促进身份融合,也就是说,个人和社会身份的重叠。因此产生的意义感有效地满足了共同的身份动机,从而引起了积极的影响。通过将仪式研究的观点引入到通常用于概念化自愿冒险的边缘工作范式中,我有助于加深对参与极限休闲运动的认知过程的理解。