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Extreme Sports

A Positive Transformation in Courage and Humility

Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia

L.G. Oades

University of Wollongong, Australia

Extreme sports and extreme sports participants have been most commonly explored from a negative perspective, for example, the "need to take unnecessary risks." This study explored what can be learned from extreme sports about courage and humility—two positive psychology constructs. A phenomenological method was used via unstructured interviews with 15 extreme sports participants and other firsthand accounts. The extreme sports included BASE (building, antenna, span, earth) jumping, big wave surfing, extreme skiing, waterfall kayaking, extreme mountaineering, and solo rope-free climbing. Results indicate that humility and courage can be deliberately sought out by participating in activities that involve a real chance of death, fear, and the realization that nature in its extreme is far greater and more powerful than humanity.

Key Words: humility • courage • extreme sports • risk-taking

This version was published on January 1, 2009

Journal of Humanistic Psychology, Vol. 49, No. 1, 114-126 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0022167808326199


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