Fall in Line: How Surfers’ Perceptions of Localism, Territoriality and Waves as Limited Resources Influence Surf-related Aggression

Abstract

To understand why aggression frequently arises in a sport often described as ‘‘Zen-like,’’ I examined whether surfers’ perceptions of localism, territoriality, and waves as limited resources predicted aggression while surfing, over and above what can be accounted for by individual differences in general aggressive tendencies. Sixty-two surfers (88.7% male; M age = 29.5 years), sampled from popular surfing beaches in Southern California, were asked to complete a brief survey designed to measure their beliefs about territoriality, perceptions of waves as a limited resource, self-identification as a local, and the extent to which they engaged in actual surf-related aggressive behavior and experienced anger-related emotions toward their fellow surfers (i.e., anger, frustration, irritation, agitation and hostility). To measure individual differences in general aggressive personality, participants also completed two subscales (anger and physical aggression) from the Buss-Perry Aggression Scale (Buss & Perry, 1992). Results from partial correlation analyses demonstrate that even when controlling for general aggressive tendencies, beliefs about territoriality, self-identification as a local, and perceptions of waves as limited resources were all significantly associated with greater surf-related aggression and surf-related negative affect. These results shed light on the psychological processes that lead to aggressive behaviors among surfers.