An investigation into how different people perceive the risks involved in surfing.

Abstract

Sensation seeking is something that resides in every human to a varying
degree. Some people express this by doing dangerous activities, others by
talking to different groups of people, etc.
This dissertation takes a look into why different people have different perceptions
of the risks involved in the chosen sport of surfing. It compares people who
don’t surf at all to amateur surfers and semi-professional surfers. It takes into
account the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) produced by Zuckerman in 1990
and a few personalised questions directed directly at the sport of surfing itself.
The dissertation covers a range of different topics in order to gather an overall
view of why people are different, and asks the main question of does personal
experience influence the way the person perceives a particular activity.
This dissertation can also be furthered into specific areas of geography, for
example, does personal experience of living in an earthquake zone influence an
individuals perception of risk within that particular area.