title: Psychological profiles and emotional regulation characteristics of women engaged in risk-taking sports.
abstract: We investigated the psychological profiles and emotional regulation characteristics of women involved in risk-taking sports. The research sample (N=180) consisted of three groups of women engaged in: (1) non-risk sports (N=90); (2) risk-taking sports for leisure purposes (N=53); or (3) risk-taking sports as professionals (N=37). Each participant completed five questionnaires, the Sensation Seeking Scale, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Risk & Excitement Inventory, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale. The results revealed significant differences between the groups' profiles. Of particular interest are the differences that exist between the profiles of Group 2 (escape profile, masculine gender identity, and high scores on sensation seeking, impulsivity, alexithymia) and Group 3 (compensation profile, androgynous gender identity, average score on sensation seeking, and low scores on impulsivity, alexithymia). We propose that the professional woman might be considered a model for preventing destructive risk-taking behaviors.
authors.affiliation: Université d'Orsay, Paris XI, Centre de Recherche en Science du Sport, Orsay, France. ncazenave@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cazenave
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Le Scanff
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Woodman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004644:Emotions; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities; D010551:Personality; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011581:Psychological Tests; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012380:Role; D013177:Sports / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires