Nature-based extreme sports are often framed through sensation seeking, thrill, and voluntary exposure to risk, yet this framing can obscure the meanings participants attach to prolonged engagement with demanding natural environments. This study explored how experienced South African participants interpreted the relationship between nature-based extreme sport participation and eco-sensitivity. In this article, eco-sensitivity refers to participants' reported environmental attention, affective connection with nature, recognition of ecological dependence, concern about degradation, and efforts to reduce personal impact. A qualitative design using interpretative phenomenological analysis was applied to semi-structured interviews conducted between 29 April and 4 July 2019 with 10 experienced participants, five men and five women, who represented 11 nature-based extreme sport activities and reported two to 22 years of experience. Four interconnected themes were identified: risk as a managed component of participation; connection rather than conquest; sensory sensitivity and experiences consistent with mindfulness and flow; and eco-sensitivity and self-reported pro-environmental orientation. Participants described risk as something to calculate and manage through competence, preparation, and situational judgement. They also described respect for natural forces, heightened bodily and environmental attention, and a stronger sense of ecological dependence. Reported pro-environmental practices were self-reported and were not independently observed. The findings provide an interpretive account of how participants made sense of environmental meanings within prolonged outdoor sport involvement. They do not establish a causal developmental mechanism. The results suggest propositions for athlete education, outdoor recreation management, environmental learning, and future longitudinal research. Keywords: eco-sensitivity; extreme sport; interpretative phenomenological analysis; nature connectedness; pro-environmental behaviour; risk management.
Introduction. This is a qualitative study of the reading habits and experiences of readers of audiobooks and physical fiction books, with a focus on their emotional reactions to the reading process and the format of reading. Method. Qualitative interviews were carried on for Finnish participants (N=6) and transcribed. Analysis. The analysis was interpretative phenomenological analysis, which focuses on the personal interpretations of the participants’ reading experiences. The transcribed interviews were analysed in multiple rounds and the process of coding was used to map out themes. Results. The results suggest that both formats of reading create strong affective and emotional connections in the readers, but in various and often polarizing and dichotomic ways. Feeling of being limited by the format and having control over the environment were two major themes regarding the reading and listening experience. Conclusion. All participants formed strong emotional connections with the medium and felt that the one that they did not prefer had negative connotations and limitations to the reading experience, whereas their preferred medium enhanced their experience and liberated them from the limitations of the not preferred medium.
مقدمه: این پژوهش کیفی به بررسی عادات مطالعه و تجارب خوانندگان کتاب‌های صوتی و کتاب‌های داستانی چاپی می‌پردازد و تمرکز آن بر واکنش‌های هیجانی افراد نسبت به فرایند مطالعه و قالب مطالعه است. روش: مصاحبه‌های کیفی با شرکت‌کنندگان فنلاندی (N=6) انجام و پیاده‌سازی شد. تحلیل: تحلیل به روش تحلیل پدیدارشناختی تفسیری صورت گرفت که بر تفسیرهای شخصی شرکت‌کنندگان از تجارب مطالعه‌شان تمرکز دارد. مصاحبه‌های پیاده‌سازی‌شده در چندین مرحله تحلیل و فرایند کدگذاری برای استخراج مضامین به‌کار گرفته شد. یافته‌ها: نتایج نشان می‌دهد که هر دو قالب مطالعه، پیوندهای عاطفی و هیجانی قوی در خوانندگان ایجاد می‌کنند، اما این پیوندها به شیوه‌های مختلف و اغلب متضاد و دوگانه رخ می‌دهد. احساس محدود شدن توسط قالب و داشتن کنترل بر محیط، دو مضمون اصلی در ارتباط با تجربه مطالعه و شنیدن بودند. نتیجه‌گیری: همه شرکت‌کنندگان پیوندهای هیجانی قوی با رسانه مورد استفاده خود برقرار کردند و احساس کردند قالبی که ترجیح نمی‌دهند، دارای دلالت‌ها و محدودیت‌های منفی برای تجربه مطالعه است، در حالی که رسانه ترجیحی آن‌ها تجربه‌شان را ارتقا داده و آن‌ها را از محدودیت‌های قالب غیرترجیحی رها می‌کند.
