Tourism Management 31 (2010) 953956

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Tourism Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tourman

Research Note

Fear and adventure tourism in Brazil

Sandro Carnicelli-Filho a, b, *,1, Gisele Maria Schwartz a, Alexander Klein Tahara a
a
b

rio de Estudos do Lazer, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Av. 24-A, n 1515, 13506-900 Rio Claro/SP, Brazil
Laborato
Department of Tourism, University of Otago, 49B North Road, North East Valley, Dunedin 9001, New Zealand

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 19 May 2009
Accepted 26 July 2009

The search for new non-routine emotions and sensations has become a decisive factor in taking part in
adventure tourism. As Barros and Dines (2000) have pointed out, Brazils natural resources are abundant
and have been widely used to promote the nations tourism. Empirical literature describes fear as one of
the main emotions in adventure activities, and for this reason a questionnaire was designed to examine
the presence of fear before and after three adventure activities (parachuting, white-water rafting, and
rock-climbing). This study not only aimed to consolidate fear as a fundamental emotion in performing
such activities but also to stimulate interest for further studies in this area.
2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Adventure tourism
Fear
Emotions
White-water rafting
Rock-climbing
Parachuting

1. Introduction
The human being has for a long time distanced himself from
nature, especially following the industrial revolution, from which
came migration of capital and people to factories and the cities that
grew up around them. Today humans face a decline in quality of life
(Veenhoven, 2005). This decline results from a number of stress
factors that have become a part of routine life, which can in turn
generate imbalance, especially physiological (Vuori, 2007) and
psychological (Asbury, Chandrruangphen, & Collins, 2006), as
a consequence of sedentary lifestyle and escalating violence. There
is therefore a need to invest in new opportunities aimed at
reversing this situation.
As human beings are also part of nature, there is an interaction
between the two even when certain factors impact that relationship (Swart & Van Andel, 2007; Swart, Van der Windt, & Keulartz,
2001). In fact, technology and improvements made by humans that
have made them urban beings has begun to change the way
people perceive the environment, detaching them from their
natural roots (Ingold, 1992). Through such a perspective, physical
activity as well as relaxing when in touch with nature can be vitally
important to quality of life. This has led to a revaluation of some

* Corresponding author. Tel.: 64 (03) 479 8107.

E-mail addresses: sandro_unesp@yahoo.com.br (S. Carnicelli-Filho), schwartz
171@yahoo.com.br (G.M. Schwartz), alexipatinga@yahoo.com (A.K. Tahara).
1
Present address: 49B North Road, North East Valley, Dunedin, New Zealand,
9001.
0261-5177/$ see front matter 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2009.07.013

types of activities, especially those which bring humans closer to

nature (Brown & Kasser, 2005; Watson & Landres, 1999).
Honore (2004) suggests that tranqS200uility and balance are
often only attained when one can distance oneself from the frenzy
imposed by modern society and turn back to nature, seeking its
natural rhythm, which can permeate ones entire existence and
involves a whole range of practices, from the manner in which one
works and sleeps to the way free time is enjoyed. Such revival
enables a human being to rediscover himself and his emotions.
The search for new emotions and sensations different to those in
daily routine has become a decisive factor to partaking in such
natural practices and thus increase the possibility for new leisure
experiences. In these apparently uninteresting activities, and in an
attempt to break such stereotypes, the human being not only seeks
sheer freedom, spontaneity, and pleasure but also aims to expand
himself in a transcendent experience (Williams & Harvey, 2001). It
is in the universe of physical leisure activities that adventure
activities, which use natural resources, are arising.
In Brazil, as Barros and Dines (2000) point out, natural resources
are abundant and are widely used to promote the nations tourism.
Regions which have rivers, waterfalls, beaches, national parks, and
native forests rely on these attractions to strengthen their local
economy. Adventure activities are immersed in such scenery and
promote new and signicant experiences, especially emotional
experiences, to those who are adept at them.
While practicing such activities, one of the most overriding
elements is likely emotion; after all, the adventure itself will
generally provide the participant with a certain degree of physiological, physical, and psychological reactions that inuence his/her

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S. Carnicelli-Filho et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 953956

perception, learning, and performance of the activity. In this

context it is important to connect and cite emotional theories, such
as arousal theories (Higbee, 1969; Zuckerman, 1979).
Arousal according to Gould and Krane (1992) is a physiological
and psychological activation of the organism that varies in
a continuum from low (deep sleep) to high (intense excitement).
Arousal differs from anxiety, which is a negative emotional state
with feelings such as nervousness, worry, and apprehension and is
associated with arousal of the body (Weinberg & Gould, 1995).
Several arousal theories were developed in psychology (Higbee,
1969; Plutchik, 1984; Pribram, 1984; Solomon, 1980; Zuckerman,
1979), and most of them argue that individuals seek an optimal
level of stimulation in their affective experiences.
However, out of all the emotions and sensations experienced in
the adventure activities and in the quest for an optimal stimulation
level, the emotion of fear is one that mingles in the environment of
confusion (Schuett, 1993). This emotional game is, in the end,
what drives people to practice these activities, and it is also capable
of stimulating their eagerness to practice other similar ones.
Fear is also experienced in routine life. However, especially
when fear is seen to be associated with negative experiences, most
people may wish to isolate themselves from experiencing it. Even
so, one can speculate a little about the intensity of such an emotion
and ask if the intensity of this feeling during an adventure activity
can be the same as experienced routinely. In other words, is the fear
experienced in everyday life the same as that experienced during
an adventure activity? Does fear effectively represent the very
attractiveness of adventure activities?
These questions are focused on the contract between the
emotions that permeate these practices, especially at the moments
of euphoria before and after the activities, when these emotions
intermingle consciously. This article aims to look at the perception
of fear during the initial contact with nature adventure activities.
2. Review of literature
De Masi (2005) points out that todays urban civilization has
a sedentary way of life though contradictorily characterized by
frenzy and a rat race approach toward job opportunities and
security, which may strengthen the link between emotional problems and stress. However, such daily emotions do not contribute
positive value to a persons quality of life. When they perceive
themselves as physically and psychologically weak, people tend to
stabilize their circadian rhythm, seek to reduce passivity, attempt to
reduce such stress, and somehow engage in activities that provide
them with more pleasing and signicant experiences (Wichers
et al., 2008). For that reason, they often take the route of escaping
from reality or seeking their most basic origins or peaceful environments, all in the search for their inner selves, tension relief, or
something like an energy ow or even new emotions and sensations, which can all be provided by contact with nature, including
the practice of adventure activities.
Risk is one of the main elements involved, due to variables that
can offer intense emotions when taking part in adventure activities.
Researchers such as Breivik (2007); Cater (2006); Grant, Thompson,
and Boyes (1996) and Roehl and Fesenmaier (1992) have studied
this theme, which is directly associated to the emotional aspects
involved in the performance of these activities and in the accidents
that might occur.
According to Ibrahim and Cordes (2002), simple involvement
with these activities is enough to present risk as an inherent aspect,
and voluntary participation may be interpreted as ones acceptance
to experience moments of risk. But other points also have to be
considered, such as the possible lack of awareness of the actual
risk involved, which can also encourage voluntary participation.

Cater (2006), however, suggests that risk is not the major issue in
the performance of such activities. He states that the major
attraction is fear, and that participants play with their own fears.
Cater (2006) justies this by not differentiating risk from fear, thus
essentially considering the two compatible.
Even so, risk must not be equated with negligence, although this
is a factor as examined by Callander and Page (2003) among others.
To these authors, many of the accidents that occur during the
performance of adventure activities are not simple fatalities
derived from the inherent risk (or danger) but are in general the
result of poor preparation by guides and tour operators. Consequently the thrust of their research is to focus mainly on negligent
action in a legal context. Yet it is evident that because these
activities are specically performed outdoors where man often has
very little control and thus requires a thorough knowledge of the
specic action location, they are susceptible to risk and danger. This
is exactly why guides need to be fully and highly qualied
specialists in the environment in which they are going to work. The
white-water rafting practice may have completely different aspects
and incur different dangers and risk situations depending on the
river. This is why guides need to be very well prepared and familiarized with the area in which the activity will be performed.
Swarbrooke, Beard, Leckie, and Pomfret (2003) believe that
entities involved in the practice of these activities (tourist agencies
and operators) must acknowledge that their inherent risk is part of
the motivation for the majority of tourists. They must therefore
efciently manage how they mention risk, otherwise according to
the authors: they might experience negative consequences such as
loss of clients, loss of reputation, loss of team members resulting
from the loss of clients or due to disciplinary actions, and loss of
money due to reimbursing clients, all closely associated with
customer satisfaction.
Swarbrooke et al. (2003) assert that risk is only one of many
characteristics of these adventure activities, which also include
uncertainty, challenge, expectation of rewards, novelty, stimulus
and enthusiasm, escape and separation, exploration and discovery,
attention and concentration, and conicting emotions. They state
that many of these characteristics are interconnected and that none
individually and independently characterize adventure. Adventure,
as dened by Swarbrooke et al. (2003), is when a person voluntarily
takes a path that leads to the unknown, where he or she will face
challenges and may nd out or acquire something valuable in
that experience. Such a condition is based on each individuals
perception of the situation and of him or herself, which makes
every adventure subjective and unique. Swarbrooke et al. (2003)
denition of adventure assumes a voluntary characteristic, but
they do not explain how that denition might alter if a person is
involuntarily involved in such activities. Adventure is then
synonymous with risk, fear, and action, and thus cannot be
considered a passive experience. Such action may be physical,
intellectual, emotional, or spiritual in nature and involves being,
doing, touching, seeing, and feeling. It is what some arousal theories call sensation seeking (Zuckerman, 1979) or a search for the
optimal experience (Solomon, 1980).
3. Method
In this study it was selected three adventure activities in which
to analyze the emotional state of fear: parachuting, rafting, and
rock-climbing. A three-item questionnaire was designed to
examine the presence and level of fear before and after each
activity. It assessed whether the person is afraid (i.e., yes, no, or
a little); the level of fear, using a ve point Likert scale
(i.e., 0 no fear and 5 extreme fear); and what the participants thought they would fear during the activity. The intentional

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sample included 30 male and female adventure activity participants over the age of 18 years and of varied socialeconomic level
and educational background. All participants were experiencing
for the rst time at least one of the three adventure activities
(i.e. parachuting, rafting, and rock-climbing). This was done to
preserve the unknown element so that, in this context, the
participants would feel specic emotions without the inuence of
prior experience. Participants were divided into three groups of 10,
one for each of the three activities. All activities were offered by
agencies in ecotourism centers in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
4. Results & discussion
Before the activities, 20 participants reported that they were not
afraid, while three endorsed a little fear, and seven reported that
they were denitely afraid. Regarding level of fear, 10 people
endorsed level 1 (very little fear), seven endorsed level 2 (little
fear), six endorsed level 3 (moderate fear), ve endorsed level
0 (no fear), and one person each endorsed levels 4 (severe fear) and
5 (extreme fear). Overall, more than 70% of participants predicted
their fear would be between levels between 0 and 2. Further, more
than two-thirds denied being afraid, despite their incoherent
scores. The fact that many did not report feeling any fear before the
activity may indicate that they were unable to imagine what the
activity they would be practicing for the rst time would feel like or
to think that something unexpected like an accident might happen
during that time.
Imaginary fear may play a role throughout activity: in the
moments long before the activity begins, immediately before the
activity, during the activities, and even following the activity, one
imagines what could have happened (Morris, Spittle, & Watt, 2005).
Since imagination is subjective, responses to fear arousal differ
between individuals, and according to Higbee (1969), are inuenced by human characteristics such as self-esteem, coping style,
and the feeling of vulnerability to danger.
Regarding the question was about what participants thought
they would fear during the activity, in the parachuting group, six
thought they would most fear some technical problem, like the
parachuting not opening. Three reported that they would be most
frightened when they were on the plane and became aware of the
great height from which they would fall. One participant believed
he/she would fear the unknown, doing something he/she had never
done before.
Of the rafting participants, ve thought they would be afraid of
falling out the boat; two said they feared getting hurt; and one
believed he/she would be afraid of the boat turning over and of the
white-water. For the rock-climbing activity, abseiling was reported
to be the moment of greatest fear for ve of the participants.
Climbing up was reported to be the most frightening for two
participants. One participant each identied their greatest fear as
falling, looking down from the top of the mountain, and the rope
breaking. The majority of these types of fear can be associated with
fear of death, as many of their answers imply accidents from which
someone would be unlikely to survive, such as the plane crashing,
someone falling down the mountain or equipment failure.
Following their experience, participants answered the same
questions so pre-post comparisons of fear could be analyzed. After
the activities, 24 participants (80%) reported that they felt fear at
some moment during the adventure experience. One-third (33.3%)
of the participants rated their fears as falling between 0 and 2,
including four at level 0, two at 1, and four at 2. Twenty participants
(66.6%) rated their fear between 3 and 5, with six at level 3 and
seven each at levels 4 and 5. Differences in ratings are consistent
with Tuans (1979) assertion that fear is not only an objective
circumstance but also a subjective response. Tuan (1979) opines

955

that nature, including forests, rivers, and mountains, were once the
home of the spirit, and thus imposed fear and respect. However,
with time there has been a gradual extinction of the natural worlds
power and their consequent control by human beings.
Regarding the question about moments of greatest fear, six
parachuting participants felt their greatest fear when they became
aware of the height before jumping. For another, it was observing
the delay before the parachutes of other participants opened, and
imagining that his/hers would not open. One participant reported
being most fearful during the time before his/her own parachute
opened, while another individual said it was the moment the plane
took off. Interestingly, one participant reported feeling no fear at
any moment.
Three of rafting participants reported no fear at any moment,
while two were reportedly afraid of falling off the boat and not
being able to get back on. One rafting participant reported feeling
scared when approaching the rapids and another felt fear in the
rapids. One participant feared losing his/her helmet and thus
getting hurt, and another was afraid throughout the entire activity.
For the rock-climbing participants, ve stated that the moment
of greatest fear was at the beginning of the abseiling. Two said that
it was the climbing itself, and one thought it was when he/she was
on top of the mountain and looked down. Another climber reported
the greatest fear at the moment he/she slipped and fell, and another
said it had to trust the gear that was holding him/her.
These responses suggest that the moments of greatest fear are
those in which people face a challenge and acknowledge the risks
involved, thus enabling them to better picture in more signicant
detail the events that may follow, imagining positive as well as
negative outcomes. This moment of total awareness is what
occurs to parachuting participants just before they jump, to rafting
participants in the moments prior to the beginning the activity and
when approaching the rapids, and to rock-climbing participants
when they prepare to descend huge heights supported only by
a rope. Such awareness involves an acknowledgment that the
action will actually take place and that consequences may actually
arise, which could be good or bad. Fear is then manifested when
they imagine the worst. It is that imagining which, according to
Machado (2006), plays an important role in the emergence of
emotions and is the hypothetical state that alters ones psychological behavior and provokes fear.
5. Summary
The objective of this study was to understand the emotional
plots and, in particular, the fear involved in practicing adventure
activities, before and after the event. The presence of fear does not
appear to be solely associated to the activities themselves, but
rather may be association with cognitive aspects of imagination
and is attached to concepts endorsed by the participants, who
believe they will have strong emotional experiences (e.g., fear) the
rst time they perform the activity. This information, which facilitates the belief that they will experience such emotions, is heavily
utilized as marketing strategies by tourist agencies, which use
photographs and videos showing people who are happy and
smiling in certain situations yet tense and apprehensive in others.
Furthermore, assumptions made about the experience of risk are
another aspect that helps us formulate and establish an image of
the activity. These elements move from the imaginary to the actual
when performance occurs, thereby providing emotional experiences for future reference.
The aim of this study was more than to just consolidate fear as
a fundamental emotion in performing such activities. These ndings may help generate interest for further studies in riskmanagement and tourism as well as psychology and physical

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S. Carnicelli-Filho et al. / Tourism Management 31 (2010) 953956

education, not just to examine the inuence of emotions on the

commercial aspects of tourism, but also on the technical and social
aspects of adventure activities. Our results generated some questionable points for further researches such as gender-oriented
perception elements of these emotions; the possibilities of identifying other emotions and feelings; and new ways of understanding
how physical education and tourism professionals deal with the
inherent subjectiveness of these activities. This study provides
a starting point in the quest to understand an individuals complex
subjective interrelations between psychological aspects of fear and
their reections on a human beings actions (e.g., risk-taking).
These and other themes are interesting challenges for further
studies into elucidating the affectiveemotional bonds connected
to performing adventure activities.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr. Neil Carr and the editor for
their supportive help, comments and suggestions on this research
note.
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