Diving Into The Scuba Psyche

[RJP]

Recently wrapped up some market research comparing the mindset of divers (n=239) to non-divers (n=219). I posted one of the key pieces of data in another post a week or so ago:

The results of the remainder of the psychographic questions have been tabulated, and the full results can be found in brief article on my website:

Consider This...

Interesting results demonstrating a consistent trend of differences across domains that would be intuitively attractive to divers such as risk tolerance, exploration, and the challenge of new/different activities.

I think we've always known that divers are "a little different" and this research may shed a little bit of light on why that is.

 

[TMHeimer]

My wife is starting up a Life Coaching program via the internet (after 2+ years of research, marketing, etc., of which I vaguely understand a bit). So I kind of follow what you've been researching lately. Don't know if I would agree that divers are "a little different" from others or not. I decided to dive purely on my move from Northern Manitoba to the coast of Nova Scotia and my shell collecting hobby. I'm probably different than a majority of people in that respect. It does pose the question about people choosing to dive simply based on location and circumstances.

 

[TSandM]

You know, it's actually very interesting to me, how many people I know think I'm amazingly adventurous for the diving and travel I do. But if you asked ME if I see myself as an adventurous person, well -- I don't, really. I don't think most of the things I do are that adventuresome. Adventure is the guy who was walking across the Congo, or the Nat Geo fellow who is trying to retrace the steps of human expansion out of Africa. Adventure is climbing Mt. Everest (or honestly, even Mt. Rainier). Adventure isn't swimming around in crystal clear water, even if it's a half mile underground. Adventure isn't looking at a puppy pile of white-tipped reef sharks. Those things are NORMAL.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

You know, it's actually very interesting to me, how many people I know think I'm amazingly adventurous for the diving and travel I do. But if you asked ME if I see myself as an adventurous person, well -- I don't, really. I don't think most of the things I do are that adventuresome. Adventure is the guy who was walking across the Congo, or the Nat Geo fellow who is trying to retrace the steps of human expansion out of Africa. Adventure is climbing Mt. Everest (or honestly, even Mt. Rainier). Adventure isn't swimming around in crystal clear water, even if it's a half mile underground. Adventure isn't looking at a puppy pile of white-tipped reef sharks. Those things are NORMAL.

People define words based on themselves, not necessarily the dictionary.

Anybody who drives slower than you is an idiot.
Anybody who drives faster than you is a maniac.
Anything you're willing to do in bed is kinky.
Anything you're not, is perverted.
Any sport you'll try that I won't is adventurous. Or crazy.

 

[RJP]

You know, it's actually very interesting to me, how many people I know think I'm amazingly adventurous for the diving and travel I do. But if you asked ME if I see myself as an adventurous person, well -- I don't, really. I don't think most of the things I do are that adventuresome. Adventure is the guy who was walking across the Congo, or the Nat Geo fellow who is trying to retrace the steps of human expansion out of Africa. Adventure is climbing Mt. Everest (or honestly, even Mt. Rainier). Adventure isn't swimming around in crystal clear water, even if it's a half mile underground. Adventure isn't looking at a puppy pile of white-tipped reef sharks. Those things are NORMAL.

I hear the same thing "You dive in caves... you must be a risk-taker!" I try to explain that cave divers are probably the most risk-averse divers I know... doing everything possible to eliminate/reduce/prepare for risk. The OW diver who heads into a cave? That guy is a risk-taker.

---------- Post added January 24th, 2015 at 11:20 AM ----------

People define words based on themselves, not necessarily the dictionary.

Anybody who drives slower than you is an idiot.
Anybody who drives faster than you is a maniac.
Anything you're willing to do in bed is kinky.
Anything you're not, is perverted.
Any sport you'll try that I won't is adventurous. Or crazy.

Insanity is defined by those who define themselves as sane.

 

[spectrum]

Training and repetitive exposure breeds comfort. If you think cave diving is not a risky adventure you are kidding yourself. It may be prudently managed but it is not sitting on the beach under an umbrella.

Divers run the gamut but I have definitely encountered more participants rock climbing, parachute jumping, pilots, and all sorts of active and to varying degrees risky pursuits since becoming a diver.

Pete

 

[Doc]

.... Don't know if I would agree that divers are "a little different" from others or not. I decided to dive purely on ....my shell collecting hobby. I'm probably different than a majority of people in that respect.

Yes, you are in a very small group of divers, and no, I'm not referencing shell collectors.

You fall substantially outside the norm of what I would know to be that of most divers being queried, if but not for the simple fact that the great majority of divers have not gained the skills to see anything past their SPG. Most divers never log more than 15 dives? Dunno, but that wold be a good follow-up survey (if you could access the names... PADI knows )

Not many observers can even sense that dichotomy.

If you think back to your brain activity during your First X Lifetime Dives, what was your mind really processing? After sorting through the several very new stimuli, what was your primate based brain coming up with? :doctor:

Standard reaction? Putting one's head underwater is a contra-indicated behavior for monkeys.
The first, and so psychology :doctor: would say is the imprint... primal fear.

This is nothing new, PADI switched gears from "diving is happy-fun-time" in the late 1970's after Jaws pointed out the obvious... People like to be scared. They then went with "Dive into Adventure" (at which point the doggy named DEMA followed the tail)

Not much new, but a nice proof.

 

[RJP]

Training and repetitive exposure breeds comfort. If you think cave diving is not a risky adventure you are kidding yourself. It may be prudently managed but it is not sitting on the beach under an umbrella.

I didn't say it wasn't a risky endeavor - certainly more so that sitting on a beach - just that most cave divers don't do it to "seek risk" and try to eliminate/reduce/prepare for the risks that are there.

---------- Post added January 24th, 2015 at 12:21 PM ----------

This is nothing new, PADI switched gears from "diving is happy-fun-time" in the late 1970's after Jaws pointed out the obvious... People like to be scared. They then went with "Dive into Adventure" (at which point the doggy named DEMA followed the tail)

Not much new, but a nice proof.

Wait until you see the results of Phase II of the research... where it appears that touting "adventure" may have backfired as a marketing approach.

 

[SeaHorse81]

I didn't say it wasn't a risky endeavor - certainly more so that sitting on a beach - just that most cave divers don't do it to "seek risk" and try to eliminate/reduce/prepare for the risks that are there.

It sounds like the approach I take to things I do that might be defined from the outside as risky. I don't like them because they're risky. I like them despite the fact that they are because I get so much out of them, and try to make them as safe as possible. I actually wish I could find a way to like things that don't involve so much risk management, to be honest.

 

[Akimbo]

I suggest that being “adventurous” is a superficial reaction to a more fundamental trait. I have noticed that accomplished divers at all levels are comfortable managing personal risk, if not challenged by it. Many people call it bravery, cocky, risk taking, or thrill seeking but that doesn’t accurately describe what I have observed. There may be something very profound to that often quoted saying:

“There are old divers and there are bold divers, but there are no old bold divers”​

I’m not convinced that most in the population consciously manages risk, or likes thinking about it. I assume part of this effort is to find identifying characteristics of people to target marketing Scuba diving to. If so, perhaps this observation is worth investigating?