Investigation of the relationship between the dominant brain areas, risk-taking and alexithymia of outdoor adventure recreation participants

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between dominant brain areas, alexithymia and risk-taking behavior levels of nature and adventure recreation participants. The study was carried out on 652 outdoor adventure recreation participants in different categories (air, land, water) between the years 2016–2017. After meeting normality and homogeneity of data obtained from participants of nature and adventure recreation, it was based on the mediator influence analysis method, which was established by Baron and Kenny (1986, 1176), in order to determine whether alexithymia and extrovert thinking play a mediator role in the relationship between brain dominance and risk-taking behavior. In addition, the significance of stepwise regression analysis results was checked by Sobel Test. The results show that nature and adventure recreation participants with a high level of alexithymia and with extrovert personality tend to take more risks.