Personality and risky downhill sports: Associations with impulsivity dimensions

• We compared impulsivity traits among people differing in downhill sport proficiency.
• Participation in downhill sports is associated with high Reward Sensitivity.
• Participants scored lower on Punishment Sensitivity than non-participants.
• No sport group differences in Rash Impulsivity were observed.

Studies show high-risk sports participants report higher levels of Sensation Seeking compared to non-participants, but few have explored other aspects of impulsivity. Using principal component scores to summarize measures of Reward Sensitivity, Punishment Sensitivity, and Rash Impulsivity we compared downhill sport participants (both beginner and proficient) to non-participants in an undergraduate sample (N = 279, 50% female). Downhill sport participants scored significantly higher on Reward Sensitivity, possibly driven by the anticipatory approach facets of the BAS, and proficient participants scored significantly lower on Punishment Sensitivity than beginners and non-participants, driven by traits related more closely to fear than anxiety. No differences were found in Rash Impulsivity. Popular high-risk sports may serve as an important example of an exception to the co-occurrence of common impulsive traits.