Title: Thrill seeking: the type T personality and extreme sports

Authors: Donald R. Self, Electra De Vries Henry, Carolyn Sara Findley, Erin Reilly

Addresses: Department of Marketing, Auburn University Montgomery, P.O. Box 244023, Montgomery AL 36124-4023, USA. ' Office of Advancement and Alumni Services, Auburn University Montgomery, P.O. Box 244023, Montgomery AL 36124-4023, USA. ' Department of Marketing, Auburn University Montgomery, P.O. Box 244023, Montgomery AL 36124-4023, USA. ' Department of Physical Education, Auburn University Montgomery, P.O. Box 244023, Montgomery AL 36124-4023, USA

Abstract: The type T personality has been described by various psychologists as a thrill seeking or risk taking personality. One positive physical outlet for these thrill seeking tendencies is extreme sports, which are a form of deviance. As more participants become involved in various extreme sports, there is a clear formation of subcultures within the individual sports. While the formation of one subculture is often independent of the formation of the other extreme sports subcultures, there are marked similarities. This paper discusses the commonalities of several extreme sports subcultures and the relationship of their development to evolution of the sport.

Keywords: extreme sports; Type T personality; personality types; deviance; subcultures; product life cycle; risk taking; thrill seeking; sensation seeking; innovations; sport marketing.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSMM.2007.011397

International Journal of Sport Management and Marketing, 2007 Vol.2 No.1/2, pp.175 - 190

Published online: 30 Nov 2006 *

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