Psychological profile of Turkish rock climbers: an examination of climbing experience and route difficulty

The purpose of this study was to examine sensation seeking, physical self-perception, and intrinsic and extrinsic motives of rock climbers and to compare these psychological constructs with respect to their years of climbing experience and the difficulty of their climbing routes. 64 climbers (M age=29.1 yr., SD=6.4) voluntarily participated in this study. The Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS), Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ), and Sport Motivation Scale (SMS) were administered to the rock climbers. Analysis indicated that the mean score of rock climbers on the Novelty subscale of the Sensation Seeking Scale was 33.9 (SD= 3.6) and mean value on the Intensity subscale was 29.2 (SD=5.2). The mean scores of rock climbers on the PSDQ ranged between 3.9 (SD= 1.0, Physical Activity) and 5.1 (SD= 1.1, Body Fat). Descriptive analysis indicated that the highest mean score of rock climbers on the SMS was obtained in Intrinsic motivation to Experience Stimulation (5.7, SD= 0.9). The independent sample t test showed no significant differences in sensation seeking, physical self-perception, and sport motivation with regard to years of climbing experience and route difficulty (p>.05). It may be concluded that sensation seeking in climbers is high, and they have internal motivational orientation and positive physical self-perception; their competence in climbing has no obvious relationship to these variables.