Qualitative Analysis of Emotions: Fear and Thrill

Effects of chronic social equality and inequality conditions on passive avoidance memory and PTSD-like behaviors in rats under chronic empathic stress

INTRODUCTION

Social inequality conditions induce aversion and affect brain functions and mood. This study investigated the effects of chronic social equality and inequality (CSE and CSI, respectively) conditions on passive avoidance memory and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-like behaviors in rats under chronic empathic stress.

METHODS

Rats were divided into different groups, including control, sham-observer, sham-demonstrator, observer, demonstrator, and co-demonstrator groups. Chronic stress (2 h/day) was administered to all stressed groups for 21 days. Fear learning, fear memory, memory consolidation, locomotor activity, and PTSD-like behaviors were evaluated using the passive avoidance test. Apart from the hippocampal weight, the correlations of memory and right hippocampal weight with serum corticosterone (CORT) levels were separately assessed for all experimental groups.

RESULTS

Latency was significantly higher in the demonstrator and sham-demonstrator groups compared to the control group. It was decreased significantly in other groups compared to the control group. Latency was also decreased in the observer and co-demonstrator groups compared to the demonstrator group. Moreover, the right hippocampal weight was significantly decreased in the demonstrator and sham-demonstrator groups compared to the control group. Pearson's correlation of memory and hippocampal weight with serum CORT levels supported the present findings.

CONCLUSION

Maladaptive fear responses occurred in demonstrators and sham-demonstrators. Also, extremely high levels of psychological stress, especially under CSI conditions (causing abnormal fear learning) led to heightened fear memory and PTSD-like behaviors. Right hippocampal atrophy confirmed the potential role of CSI conditions in promoting PTSD-like behaviors. Compared to inequality conditions, the abnormal fear memory was reduced under equality conditions.

Tourism as a Tool in Nature-Based Mental Health: Progress and Prospects Post-Pandemic

The healthcare sector recognises the role of nature in mental health. The tourism sector is equipped to take people to national parks. The conservation sector gains support from visitors. Theoretical frameworks for mental health benefits from nature tourism include: tourism destinations and activities; tourist personalities and life histories; sensory and emotional components of tourist experiences; and intensity and duration of memories. Mental health deteriorated worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recovery of global economic productivity requires immediate, accessible, affordable mental health measures at national scales, and nature-based approaches provide the best option. Different countries have adopted a variety of public, private, or voluntary mechanisms. Some focus on design of activities, others on provision of facilities. Costs and implementation depend on key research questions: marginal benefits of nature tour guides or psychologists compared to self-guided nature experiences; comparisons between repeated brief visits and one-off nature holidays; effects of biodiversity, flagship species, and scenic or wilderness quality; and differences between individuals, depending on personalities, life histories, and mental health status and symptoms.

Sensory and Emotional Components in Tourist Memories of Wildlife Encounters: Intense, Detailed, and Long-Lasting Recollections of Individual Incidents

To quantify the role of senses and emotions in creating memorable tourism experiences, we need measurement frameworks that match how memories are created. This study examines that process through directed-content qualitative analysis of tourist encounters with wildlife. Data are derived from: interviews with 20 experienced wildlife tourism experts in 12 countries; 3000 social media posts on tourism enterprise and wildlife encounter websites; and participant observations and records of 168 memorable encounters involving >100 wildlife species, >850 tourists, and ~10,000 h in total, ranging over five decades. Across all data sources, senses and emotions differed between tourist interests and personalities, wildlife species and behaviours, and encounter circumstances. All senses were reported, with the most frequent being sight, followed by sound and smell, and, rarely, touch or taste. Descriptions were fine-grained and complex. The emotions reported were awe, joy, wonder, delight, thrill, amazement, envy, aww (cute-emotion), surprise, elation, satisfaction, interest, boredom, disappointment, sadness, embarrassment, concern, pity, distress, disgust, anxiety, shock, alarm, fear, and panic. Some experiences generated powerful recalls persisting for decades. Short-term, intense, and finely detailed senses and emotions defined experiences, created memories, and determined satisfaction, wellbeing, and subsequent outcomes. More accurate methods are needed to measure and characterise senses, emotions, and memories in tourism experience.

Experience and Management of Fear in Men's World Cup Alpine Ski Racing

Alpine ski racers, specifically in the discipline of downhill, may experience fear competing in such a high-risk environment. The purpose of this study was to explore Canadian national team men's experience and management of fear in World Cup alpine ski racing. This study uses an interpretive phenomenological analysis, conducted with five male members of the Canadian national ski team. Three themes emerged: contextual influences, preparation and process, and risk vs. reward. The findings indicate one's experience and management of fear may be influenced by contextual factors (e.g., weather, course profile) and confidence, and that confidence is influenced by the same situational factors that influence fear as well as athlete preparation. There currently exists a discrepancy between the athletes' approaches to training and racing, making it difficult to master fear management strategies. As a result of the discrepancy created between training and racing, there are several implications for how the national team environment and training is structured, and we present recommendations for how these findings can be applied to training.

Portrait of Boredom Among Athletes and Its Implications in Sports Management: A Multi-Method Approach

There is a common misconception that elite athletes enjoy their sports activities so much that they cannot feel bored. However, this research reveals that boredom is a prevalent emotion among professional, amateur, and college athletes that impacts their performance, brand preferences, and overconsumption behaviors. This investigation relies on a multi-method approach. Qualitative data were collected through interviewing athletes (n = 123), and the critical incident technique was used to record factual boredom incidents. Quantitative data were collected through a survey and analyzed using hierarchical regression models. The purpose of the survey was to evaluate athletes’ proneness to boredom and then present a typical sports consumption scenario in which athletes’ brand preferences and overconsumption behaviors were captured. Overall findings from this research indicate that episodes of boredom are common among athletes when they engage in repetitive tasks (34.8%); negative mood is anticipated (16.9%); teammates show a lack of interest and seriousness (15.7%); they must endure periods of waiting (13.5%); there is a lack of competitiveness and goal-setting (10.1%); there is a lack of participation in activities (4.5%); there is a lack of empathy with teammates and coaches (3.3%); and there are infrastructure issues (1.1%). Furthermore, this study presents evidence that boredom negatively impacts athletes’ performance (β = −0.41). Then, in a specific sports consumption scenario that uses sports drinks, this study finds that a more boredom-prone athlete has a higher chance of purchasing different brands of the same product (β = 0.37) and engaging in overconsumption behaviors (β = 0.44). The relationships among boredom, performance, variety seeking, and impulse buying are congruent with previous research on boredom. This research discusses several sports management implications and presents recommendations from coaches on how to cope with athletes’ boredom.

Economic value of protected areas via visitor mental health

We evaluate methods to calculate the economic value of protected areas derived from the improved mental health of visitors. A conservative global estimate using quality-adjusted life years, a standard measure in health economics, is US$6 trillion p.a. This is an order of magnitude greater than the global value of protected area tourism, and two to three orders greater than global aggregate protected area management agency budgets. Future research should: refine this estimate using more precise methods; consider interactions between health and conservation policies and budgets at national scales; and examine links between personalities and protected area experiences at individual scale.

No Risk, No Differences. Neural Correlates of Temperamental Traits Revealed Using Naturalistic fMRI Method

The main goal of this study was to identify the moderating role of temperamental traits, as defined by Strelau's Regulative Theory of Temperament (RTT), in explaining brain activity evoked by video stimuli of varying stimulatory value. fMRI scans were performed in a group of 61 young females in the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. The validity of stimulus selection had been verified prior to the main study by collecting declarative measures of affective reactions, including valence, arousal, and basic emotions ratings. The choice of dynamic and complex video-stimuli allowed us to induce high levels of arousal effectively. Three categories of movies used in the experiment included neutral, low arousing, and highly arousing scenes. Movies classified into the last category depicted extreme-sport activities allowing us to confront the subjects with recordings potentially life-threatening situations. Results of the study revealed that activation of orbitofrontal cortex in highly arousing conditions is linked to the levels of activity, while traits of perseverance and emotional reactivity were negatively correlated with the BOLD signal in this structure. Low arousing movies evoked higher activation of the amygdala and left hippocampus in emotionally reactive subjects. Obtained results might be coherently interpreted in the light of RTT theory, therefore providing its first validation using functional brain imaging.

To Analyze Thrill, Define Extreme Sports

Emotions are a signaling system, evolved by providing selective advantage through enhanced survival and reproduction. The selective advantage conferred by thrill or exhilaration, however, remains unknown. Hypotheses, as yet untested, include overcoming phobias or honing physical skills as juveniles, or exhibiting desirability during mate selection. Extreme sports can provide an ethically and experimentally feasible tool to analyze thrill. To use this tool, extreme sports must first be defined in a non-circular way, independent of participant psychology. Existing concepts, from different disciplines, focus, respectively, on drama, activity types, or consequences of error. Here, I draw upon academic and popular literature, and autoethnographic experience, to distinguish extreme from adventurous levels for a range of different outdoor sports. I conclude that extreme outdoor adventure sports can be defined objectively as those activities, conditions, and levels, where participant survival relies on moment-by-moment skill, and any error is likely to prove fatal. This allows us to examine the motivations, experiences, and transformations of individuals who undertake these activities. In particular, it will allow us to examine the emotional experience of thrill, previously studied principally as an aspect of personality, from new neurophysiological and evolutionary perspectives.

Skiing and Thinking About It: Moment-to-Moment and Retrospective Analysis of Emotions in an Extreme Sport

Happiness is typically reported as an important reason for participating in challenging activities like extreme sport. While in the middle of the activity, however, participants do not seem particularly happy. So where does the happiness come from? The article proposes some answers from a study of facially expressed emotions measured moment-by-moment during a backcountry skiing event. Self-reported emotions were also assessed immediately after the skiing. Participants expressed lower levels of happiness while skiing, compared to when stopping for a break. Moment-to-moment and self-reported measures of emotions were largely unrelated. These findings are explained with reference to the Functional Wellbeing Approach (Vittersø, 2013), which argues that some moment-to-moment feelings are non-evaluative in the sense of being generated directly by the difficulty of an activity. By contrast, retrospective emotional feelings are more complex as they include an evaluation of the overall goals and values associated with the activity as a whole.

Aging Adventure Athletes Assess Achievements and Alter Aspirations to Maintain Self-Esteem

Achievements and capabilities influence the self-esteem of skilled adventure athletes. Self-esteem affects individual mental health. Aging commonly reduces adventure capabilities. To avoid loss in self-esteem, aging adventure athletes are forced to adjust their aspirations. Here, I examine this process using participant observation, ethnographic and autoethnographic approaches. The qualitative data for this analysis are derived from 60 years’ experience in outdoor adventure activities, and ∼30,000 person-hours of participant observation. I argue that individuals assess their own capabilities against a set of specific feats. For some activities, successful completion of a specific feat is known as nailing it. The selection of these feats depends on factors such as activity and geographic location, as well as individual experience and peer comparisons. I examine the detailed process using a single feat repeated over a period of decades, the bubble-line kayak run through Lava Falls on the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River. I compare other examples of nail or fail to construct a general framework for self-esteem in aging adventure athletes, with both physical and psychological feedback loops. I also identify two key thresholds, as aging adventure athletes recognize their declining skills. These may apply to aging more broadly, beyond outdoor adventure.

Response to "Nature fix: Addiction to outdoor activities"R. C. Buckley's commentary on Heirene, R. M., Shearer, D., Roderique-Davies, G., & Mellalieu, S. D. (2016). Addiction in extreme sports: An exploration of withdrawal states in rock climbers. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 5, 332-341

Buckley's commentary on our study of rock climber's withdrawal experiences raises a number of important questions surrounding the concept of extreme or adventure sports addiction. Drawing on the few available investigations of this topic, we respond to Buckley's questions here, though emphasize the need for further studies of extreme sports addiction in order to provide more empirically informed answers.

Commentary on: Addiction in extreme sports: An exploration of withdrawal states in rock climbers

Individuals can display characteristics of behavioral addictions to nature and the outdoors as well as adventure activities. Research on mental health effects of nature exposure is relevant to research on nature and adventure addictions.