Risk-taking instinctive
11. February 2008 by Tridad.
by Erik Monasterio
People drawn to high-risk adventure sports can blame inherited personality traits – and may have cause to be grateful that the same instincts don’t draw them into more anti-social pursuits.
Adventure sports such as mountaineering, kayaking, rock climbing, mountain biking and base jumping are increasingly popular.
These risk-taking sports court significant dangers and attract individuals who are prepared to gamble their personal safety, and at times their life, in search of a rush of excitement or an unusual accomplishment.
Paradoxically these sports have increased in popularity at a time when modern societies have become obsessed with risk-avoidance and risk- management.
Could it be that the bombardment of ACC warning signs highlighting the risks of everything from falling off a curb to wandering cattle, the current culture of blame, hand rails, safety bars and compulsory helmet use have contributed to this trend?
There is growing evidence to suggest that the propensity to take risks is strongly determined by the chemistry of the brain – “hard-wired”.
Risk-taking genes and exploratory behaviours are likely to have conferred specific advantages in the early (hunter and gatherer) stages of human evolution, and therefore may have become more common through natural selection.
Despite the changed social environments these primitive instincts continue to exert a strong influence, and the modern civilisations that pride themselves on risk-avoidance and predictability may indeed be the recruiting ground of adventure sports people.
Risk- taking or “extreme” sports may well provide socially sanctioned opportunities for the expression of risk-taking instincts.
As a mountaineer and psychiatrist, I have been involved in a number of studies to try to determine whether people who take up adventure sports have unique personalities, and whether biological and genetic factors contribute to their choice of leisure activity.
Also, as New Zealand currently promotes itself as an adventure destination, where “extreme” sports and activities are popular and traded commercially, it is important to determine just how dangerous these sports are.
In a New Zealand-based study of experienced and committed mountaineers, I found that almost half of them had suffered at least one climbing related injury.
Two-thirds of those injured were hospitalised and 20 per cent required more than three months to recover, or were left with long-term health problems. Four years after starting the study there was a 10 per cent death rate (five deaths) – four due to climbing accidents.
Other studies of mountaineers have found similar results. For example, Murray Malcolm from the University of Otago found that the death rate from climbing in the Mount Cook National Park was 5000 times greater than from work-related injuries.
The death rates from climbing on the highest peaks in the park were similar to those of climbers to peaks over 7000m, approximately 4 per cent.
I also found that the personality of climbers was quite different to that of average people. Climbers scored higher in the areas of novelty-seeking and self- directedness and lower on harm-avoidance.
What this suggests is that climbers generally enjoy exploring unfamiliar places and situations. They are easily bored, try to avoid monotony and so tend to be quick- tempered, excitable and impulsive.
They enjoy new experiences and seek out thrills and adventures, even if other people think that they are a waste of time.
When confronted with uncertainty and risk, climbers tend to be confident and relaxed. Difficult situations are often seen by climbers as a challenge or an opportunity.
They are less responsive to danger and this can lead to foolhardy optimism. Climbers also have good self-esteem and self-reliance and therefore tend to be high-achievers.
Base jumping is probably the most dangerous sport in the world and involves parachute jumping from either tall natural features or man- made structures. The parachute is initially closed and is opened after a (short) free fall.
In a study of base jumpers, I also found a high rate of injury– two-thirds of the participants had suffered at least one base jumping accident. Almost all of those injured required hospital treatment and two-thirds needed more than three months to recover, or were left with long-term health problems.
All base jumpers estimated that they had had “near- misses” and all of them had witnessed friends die from the sport. Overall, the personalities of base jumpers were very similar to that of mountaineers.
These findings are similar to those of other studies, which have found that risk-taking sports people score high on the measure of sensation seeking (very similar to novelty- seeking). What this suggests is that biology and genetics do, indeed, play at least a moderate role in determining who will take up adventure sports.
We know that harm- avoidance, novelty-seeking and sensation-seeking are genetically inherited and determined by the levels of a number of brain neurotransmitters, called monoamines. These monoamines (dopamine and serotonin) are chemicals that pass information between lower and higher brain regions.
High novelty-seeking and sensation-seeking are both associated with low levels of dopamine and involvement in risk-taking activities may help to boost the levels of this brain neurotransmitter.
It has also been established that individuals who score high on these measures are at significant risk of developing drug and alcohol addictions and are more frequently involved in reckless behaviours and criminal activities.
High harm-avoidance, which confers a propensity to become anxious or scared in the face of risk or uncertainty, is related to levels of serotonin in the brain. Risk-taking sports people have low levels of harm-avoidance and this may explain why they are able to tolerate risk without becoming overwhelmed by fear and anxiety.
In fact, the low levels of harm-avoidance may contribute to a tendency to underestimate danger and therefore may partially account for the high rates of accidents.
The study of risk-taking sportspeople provides interesting and compelling results. Not surprisingly sports, such as mountaineering and base jumping, are associated with a significant risk of injury and death.
People who choose to take up these sports appear to have a unique biological make-up and these differences in brain chemistry help to explain why they choose to put themselves in peril.
Although the risks are not insignificant, risk-taking instincts may well be better off channelled into adventure sports, where experience and training can minimise danger, than to drug addictions and anti-social or criminal behaviours.
Erik Monasterio is a Bolivian/New Zealand medical doctor and mountaineer, specialising in forensic psychiatry.