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Mountain Biker Psychology
Biker Psychology
We often hear from those who ride mountain bikes that they are on the trail for the same reasons that hikers, walkers and equestrians are. Both formal studies and informal sources show that that is not generally the case. Do this simple informal study yourself. Go to a news stand and look at a copy of Sierra or Backpacker magazine. You will find that there are photographs of nature that are devoid of people. Now look at a copy of any of the top mountain biking magazines. Almost every photograph will have at least one mountain biker in it. In the five mountain bike magazines that we looked at for the month of September 2002, we could find no photographs without mountain bikers in them. That's probably because hikers are on the trail to enjoy nature whereas mountain bikers are on the trail to enjoy their sport. They are both enjoying the outdoors but they are each there for different reasons. Neither way is the only way and neither way is 'the' correct way but it does help us to understand the source of some of the conflict. As discussed elsewhere on this site off-road mountain biking is a thrill sport comparable to downhill skiing, auto racing, skydiving or skateboarding. There is a substantial literature on the psychology of those who engage in such risky sports and we will briefly examine those findings and how they apply to the current problems of conflicts between mountain bikers and hikers on Santa Barbara front country single-track trails. Biochemical Differences Underlying the Personality Differences In general, practitioners of such thrill sports score much higher on indices which measure such things as "sensation seeking" or seeking of "arousal" as compared to control groups which pursue less risky sports (1, 2, 7, 8, 11-14, 16-19, 22). This difference is also found in mountain bikers, in particular as compared to other groups (1). These "sensation seekers" as a group have substantially higher rates of engagement in a whole range of more risky activities than do individuals who are less inclined to seek thrills. These activities include drug usage, law breaking, risky driving, heavier alcohol usage and risky sex (6, 10, 19, 23). Again downhill riders have these correlates as well (1). This does not mean that all members of the group engage in these activities but that as a group there is generally a higher rate than other populations. There are also correlates of this in differences in the amount of the enzyme Monoamine Oxidase in blood and tissue of these two groups with the high sensation seekers having lower amounts. The mechanism proposed has to do with the role of dopamine in the central nervous system (3, 20, 21, 23). There are also differences in the genes for dopamine receptors between sensation seekers and others. Thus, there are biochemical differences underlying the personality differences. Participants in high risk sports also repress or underestimate the degree of risk associated with their activities (17), clearly a serious problem in shared use situations. It may take a lot to get us hikers going, but once we do.... On an experiential level, the sensation seekers can handle high levels of sensation resulting in high levels of arousal from their activities without reaching incapacitating levels of anxiety (1, 20, 23) and readily become bored in the absence of novelty and sensation. The low sensation seekers, in contrast, much more readily experience fear as a result of high levels of stimulation. Thus, there are differences in the personalities of mountain bikers and hikers that are at the root of their conflicts. That is these very different personalities view the world differently and respond to it differently. As a result, they seek very different experiences in their recreation. This difference leads to the asymmetry which is commonly observed that hikers are much more upset by the presence of bikers than vice versa (4). It is sometimes assumed that those who participate in both sports can speak for hikers, however, this is not necessarily so because these dual sports participants are almost certainly higher in sensation seeking than are hikers. This personality difference may also be related to the aggressiveness with which bikers seek access to trails, construct illegal trails, and are unwilling to give up trails (5, 15). Because of their temperament, hikers are also much more reluctant to press their concerns. The off-road mountain bikers are seeking a highly stimulating experience in mountain biking on steep, narrow, rocky single-track trails. This sort of thrilling and dangerous experience is exhilarating to them and they can get a feeling of "flow" including awareness of the natural world. To them, at most, hikers are obstructions, like rocks in the trail, that must be avoided and are sometimes in awkward places. They probably do not experience high levels of additional arousal even from almost hitting a hiker, because their level of arousal is already so high. While they are riding, their level of arousal is so high and their speed sufficient that detailed, fine-grained examination and appreciation of the environment is impossible. The feeling of connection and intense awareness, which some note, is on a coarse-grained scale resulting from the thrill of traveling fast and surviving. This level of awareness is so removed from considered reflection upon their environment that they may not even notice the trail destruction that they cause on steep trails. Because of this personality orientation they find it difficult to understand why their presence can be so upsetting to hikers and equestrians. Whatever the hikers are seeking on the trails, it's certainly not thrills and danger. They often are seeking the opposite in fact, an environment with solitude, free of the arousing stimuli of our everyday world. Because of their physiological difference, the hikers are typically startled by the sudden appearance of a mountain bike and take some time to recover a non-aroused state. This response is exacerbated in those who have had narrow escapes with mountain bikes. This asymmetry of responses means that the hikers are much more upset with the presence of bicyclists than the bicyclists are with hikers (4). The hikers also have good reason to be concerned for their safety, because people have been killed by being hit by mountain bikes at speeds less than 10 mph (9) and yet 15mph is generally accepted as OK among the bikers and that speed is often exceeded by the more skilled. This conflict between cyclists and hikers is based not on a lack of acceptance of differences between people (social values) but rather upon actual interference (interpersonal conflict or goal interference) with the desired recreational experiences(4). In general separation of activities is appropriate to resolve interpersonal conflict among users while education is less relevant than it would be if the problem were social conflict (4). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bibliography 1. Anstiss, B. 1998. The efficacy of sensation seeking as a predictor of multiple risk behaviours among a sample of New Zealand mountain bikers. Master of Arts. Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand. 2. Apter, M. J. 1992. The dangerous edge: the psychology of excitement. Macmillan, New York. 3. Calhoon, L. L. 1988. Explorations into the biochemistry of sensation seeking. Personality & Individual Differences 9:941–949. 4. Carothers, P., J. J. Vaske, and M. P. Donnelly. 2001. Social Values versus Interpersonal Conflict among Hikers and Mountain Bikers. Leisure Sciences 23:47-61. 5. Chavez, D. J. 1996. Mountain biking: Issues and actions for USDA Forest Service managers. Report PSW-RP-226. 6. Cooper, M. L., V. B. Agocha, and M. S. Sheldon. 2000. A motivational perspective on risky behaviors: The role of personality and affect regulatory processes. Journal of Personality 68:1059–1088. 7. Duroy, L. C. 2002. A comparison of sensation-seeking and personality measures between road cyclists and mountain bikers. 8. Durtschi, S. K. 1999. Emotions and cognitions of athletes competing in a high-risk sport. (mountain biking). 9. Graw, M., and H. G. König. 2002. Fatal pedestrian-bicycle collisions. Forensic Science International 126:241–247. 10. Jonah, B. A. 1997. Sensation Seeking and risky driving: A review and synthesis of the literature. Accid. Anal. and Prev. 29:651–665. 11. Laskar, A. H. 2000. Sensation Seeking Tendency in Mountain Climbers. iuniverse.com, Lincoln, NE. 12. Potgieter, J., and F. Bisschoff. 1990. Sensation seeking among medium- and low-risk sports participants. Perceptual & Motor Skills 71:1203–1206. 13. Rossi, B., and L. Cereatti. 1993. The sensation seeking in mountain athletes as assessed by Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale. International Journal of Sport Psychology 24:417–431. 14. Rowland, G. L., R. E. Franken, and K. Harrison. 1986. Sensation seeking and participation in sporting activities. Journal of Sport Psychology 30B:12–220. 15. Schuett, M. A. 1997. State park directors' perceptions of mountain biking. Environmental Management 21:239–246. 16. Shoham, A., G. M. Rose, and L. R. Kahle. 1998. Marketing of Risky Sports: From Intention to Action. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 26:307–321. 17. Slanger, E., and K. E. Rudestam. 1997. Motivation and disinhibition in high risk sports: sensation seeking and self-efficacy. Journal of Research in Personality 31:355–374. 18. Vealey, R. S. 2002. Individual differences and sport behavior, p. 39–82. In T. Horn (ed.), Advances in Sport Psychology, 2nd ed. Human Kinetics, Champaign, Il. 19. Zuckerman, M. 2000. Are You a Risk Taker? Psychology Today. 20. Zuckerman, M. 1994. Behavioral Expressions and Biosocial Bases of Sensation Seeking. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 21. Zuckerman, M. 1990. The Psychophysiology of Sensation Seeking. Journal of Personality 58:313–345. 22. Zuckerman, M. 1983. Sensation Seeking and Sports. Person. individ. Diff. 4:285–293. 23. Zuckerman, M., and D. M. Kuhleman. 2000. Personality and Risk-Taking: Common Biosocial Factors. Journal of Personality 68:999-1029. === I am working on creating wildlife habitat that is off-limits to humans ("pure habitat"). Want to help? (I spent the previous 8 years fighting auto dependence and road construction.) Please don't put a cell phone next to any part of your body that you are fond of! http://home.pacbell.net/mjvande |
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A rehash by a hack psych major - eom
eom
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with an unstated agenda -eom
eom
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#4
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and flawed logic and reasoning - eom
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and flawed logic and reasoning - eom
Hey Mike - my god you are an idiot - mountain bikers are acoholics,
drug users and practice risky sex - and you have so-called references to that - what an ass - references to other dweeb hikers like you - I bet you are a totally boring person. I montain bike for exercise and pleasure - but muncher! |
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and flawed logic and reasoning - eom
Jimster wrote:
Hey Mike - my god you are an idiot - mountain bikers are acoholics, drug users and practice risky sex - and you have so-called references to that - what an ass - references to other dweeb hikers like you - I bet you are a totally boring person. I montain bike for exercise and pleasure - but muncher! And you're an idiot too- cross posting replies to a troll. Mike is kill filed- now so are you. "PLONK" -- ------------------------------------------------------- "Every day is Saturday when you're retired." Bob Burns Mill Hall PA (email is a spamtrap) |
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and flawed logic and reasoning - eom
On Feb 13, 9:41 am, "Jimster" wrote:
Hey Mike - my god you are an idiot - mountain bikers are acoholics, drug users and practice risky sex - and you have so-called references to that - what an ass - references to other dweeb hikers like you - I bet you are a totally boring person. I montain bike for exercise and pleasure - but muncher! you forgot to mention devil worshippers |
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