«Investigating Risk Predisposition on Different level of Experience Speleologists-Athletes»

The aim of present study was to investigate the risk predisposition of speleologists-athletes of different level of experience and different demographic characteristics (sex, age). The involvement of a person in risky situations related with the intensity of the personality trait named "Sensation Seeking"-SS. The questionnaire "Sensation Seeking Scale"-SSS (Zuckerman, 1994) was used as it was modified in Greek language (Belogiannis, 2009) and is expressed by four subscales: "Thrill and Adventure Seeking"-TAS, "Experience Seeking"-ES, "Disinhibition"-Dis and "Boredom Susceptibility"-BS. The sample of the study was 151 Greek speleologists, members of speleological clubs (male: 55.0% female: 45.0%). The speleologists were classified into three experience levels (initial, middle and high) and the results showed statistically significant differences between subgroups of experience in TAS subscale (F(2,148)= 8.078, p<.001) and in general SSS (F(2,148)= 5.468, p<.01). Results also showed that there were statistically significant differences between sex in the general SSS, when male speleologists marked higher scores (M=24.83) than female (M=22.10) and on TAS (M=8.24 and M=7.14, respectively) and Dis subscales (M=5.60 and M=4.41, respectively). Finally, there were no statistically significant differences between the three age subgroups (<29, 30-40 and >40 years) in the general scale and all the subscales. In conclusion, risk preposition of speleologists alters, based on sex and the level of experience, up to middle level, while age does not seem to play any important role.