Mindful Sensation Seeking: An Examination of the Protective Influence of Selected Personality Traits on Risk Sport-Specific Stress
Stress often has a negative influence on sports performance. Stress-induced decreases in performance can be especially disastrous for risk sports athletes, who often put their life at risk when practicing their sport. Therefore, it is of great importance to identify protective factors in stressful s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2019-08-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01719/full |
| _version_ | 1819119771900182528 |
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| author | Marie Ottilie Frenkel Joana Brokelmann Arne Nieuwenhuys Arne Nieuwenhuys Robin-Bastian Heck Christian Kasperk Martin Stoffel Henning Plessner |
| author_facet | Marie Ottilie Frenkel Joana Brokelmann Arne Nieuwenhuys Arne Nieuwenhuys Robin-Bastian Heck Christian Kasperk Martin Stoffel Henning Plessner |
| author_sort | Marie Ottilie Frenkel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Stress often has a negative influence on sports performance. Stress-induced decreases in performance can be especially disastrous for risk sports athletes, who often put their life at risk when practicing their sport. Therefore, it is of great importance to identify protective factors in stressful situations in risk sports. On average, risk sports athletes score extremely high on the personality trait sensation seeking. At the same time, theoretical considerations about dispositional mindfulness suggest that mindful athletes can handle stress more effectively. The main goal of this experiment is to examine the influence of sensation seeking and mindfulness on the stress response to a risk sport-specific stressor. To induce stress, 88 male students completed the Heidelberg Risk Sport-Specific Stress Test (HRSST) which utilizes fear of falling as the stressful event during a climbing exercise. Psychological (anxiety) and physiological (cortisol) responses were measured at multiple time points before and after the HRSST to determine the severity of the stress response. In reaction to the stressor, a significant increase in self-reported state anxiety, but no significant increase in cortisol were observed. The mindfulness subscale external observation correlated positively with anxiety in the climbing wall, sensation seeking and the anxiety scales after the jump correlated negatively and sensation seeking predicted anxiety subscales after the jump in hierarchical regression analyses. However, mindfulness did not predict anxiety measures. Neither sensation seeking nor mindfulness correlated significantly with cortisol levels. The results suggest that high sensation seekers perceive a risk sport-specific stressor as less stressful. The missing physiological response might be explained by the Cross-Stressor-Adaptation-Hypothesis and particularities of the sample. Good internal observers might be especially aware of their need of stimulation and new experiences, which in turn might explain the higher experience-seeking scores. Future studies should further examine the role of mindfulness in stressful situations and the interaction of its subscales with sensation seeking. The current experiment offers new possibilities for adjoining research fields at the interface between sports sciences, psychology and medicine: The findings can be transferred to high risk professions such as police officers, firefighters and military forces (e.g., for selection processes or for interventions). |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T06:10:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6fd2a52342a947f48aa7e58911c0429c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T06:10:04Z |
| publishDate | 2019-08-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-6fd2a52342a947f48aa7e58911c0429c2022-12-21T18:36:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782019-08-011010.3389/fpsyg.2019.01719457599Mindful Sensation Seeking: An Examination of the Protective Influence of Selected Personality Traits on Risk Sport-Specific StressMarie Ottilie Frenkel0Joana Brokelmann1Arne Nieuwenhuys2Arne Nieuwenhuys3Robin-Bastian Heck4Christian Kasperk5Martin Stoffel6Henning Plessner7Institute of Sports and Sports Sciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyPsychological Institute, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, GermanyDepartment of Exercise Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New ZealandBehavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, NetherlandsInstitute of Sports and Sports Sciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyDepartment of Internal Medicine I and Clinical Chemistry, Steroid Laboratory, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, GermanyInstitute of Medical Psychology, University Hospital Heidelberg, Heidelberg, GermanyInstitute of Sports and Sports Sciences, Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, GermanyStress often has a negative influence on sports performance. Stress-induced decreases in performance can be especially disastrous for risk sports athletes, who often put their life at risk when practicing their sport. Therefore, it is of great importance to identify protective factors in stressful situations in risk sports. On average, risk sports athletes score extremely high on the personality trait sensation seeking. At the same time, theoretical considerations about dispositional mindfulness suggest that mindful athletes can handle stress more effectively. The main goal of this experiment is to examine the influence of sensation seeking and mindfulness on the stress response to a risk sport-specific stressor. To induce stress, 88 male students completed the Heidelberg Risk Sport-Specific Stress Test (HRSST) which utilizes fear of falling as the stressful event during a climbing exercise. Psychological (anxiety) and physiological (cortisol) responses were measured at multiple time points before and after the HRSST to determine the severity of the stress response. In reaction to the stressor, a significant increase in self-reported state anxiety, but no significant increase in cortisol were observed. The mindfulness subscale external observation correlated positively with anxiety in the climbing wall, sensation seeking and the anxiety scales after the jump correlated negatively and sensation seeking predicted anxiety subscales after the jump in hierarchical regression analyses. However, mindfulness did not predict anxiety measures. Neither sensation seeking nor mindfulness correlated significantly with cortisol levels. The results suggest that high sensation seekers perceive a risk sport-specific stressor as less stressful. The missing physiological response might be explained by the Cross-Stressor-Adaptation-Hypothesis and particularities of the sample. Good internal observers might be especially aware of their need of stimulation and new experiences, which in turn might explain the higher experience-seeking scores. Future studies should further examine the role of mindfulness in stressful situations and the interaction of its subscales with sensation seeking. The current experiment offers new possibilities for adjoining research fields at the interface between sports sciences, psychology and medicine: The findings can be transferred to high risk professions such as police officers, firefighters and military forces (e.g., for selection processes or for interventions).https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01719/fullmindfulnessanxietycortisolsensation seekingrisk sport-specific stress |
| spellingShingle | Marie Ottilie Frenkel Joana Brokelmann Arne Nieuwenhuys Arne Nieuwenhuys Robin-Bastian Heck Christian Kasperk Martin Stoffel Henning Plessner Mindful Sensation Seeking: An Examination of the Protective Influence of Selected Personality Traits on Risk Sport-Specific Stress Frontiers in Psychology mindfulness anxiety cortisol sensation seeking risk sport-specific stress |
| title | Mindful Sensation Seeking: An Examination of the Protective Influence of Selected Personality Traits on Risk Sport-Specific Stress |
| title_full | Mindful Sensation Seeking: An Examination of the Protective Influence of Selected Personality Traits on Risk Sport-Specific Stress |
| title_fullStr | Mindful Sensation Seeking: An Examination of the Protective Influence of Selected Personality Traits on Risk Sport-Specific Stress |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mindful Sensation Seeking: An Examination of the Protective Influence of Selected Personality Traits on Risk Sport-Specific Stress |
| title_short | Mindful Sensation Seeking: An Examination of the Protective Influence of Selected Personality Traits on Risk Sport-Specific Stress |
| title_sort | mindful sensation seeking an examination of the protective influence of selected personality traits on risk sport specific stress |
| topic | mindfulness anxiety cortisol sensation seeking risk sport-specific stress |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01719/full |
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