Understanding performance in risky sport: The role of self-efficacy beliefs and sensation seeking in competitive freediving

Sensation seeking and self-efficacy beliefs have been shown to be associated with participation and risk taking in risky sport. Little attention, however, has been given to their role in relation to performance. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether and how self-efficacy and sensation seeking predict sport performance in lower- and higher-risk freediving disciplines. A sample of 129 freedivers practising a lower-risk freediving discipline (N = 86) and a higher-risk freediving discipline (N = 43) completed a self-report questionnaire assessing socio-demographics, freediving experience and performance, sensation seeking, and freediving self-efficacy. The results provided evidence that the performance in the lower-risk discipline was predicted by freediving experience and freediving self-efficacy, while the performance in the higher-risk discipline was predicted by freediving self-efficacy and sensation seeking. The results suggested that sensation seeking and self-efficacy represent two different predictors of the performance in the higher-risk freediving discipline. Further research is needed to verify whether current findings may be extended to other risky, competitive sports.