Differences in SCUBA diver motivations based on level of development

Abstract

This study examined SCUBA divers' level of development in relationship to their motivations to dive. During the fall of 1999,869 divers ranging from beginners to post-experts were surveyed (37% response rate). Respondents ranked 24 motives on a 5-point importance scale. When the data were reduced using factor analysis to tease out major themes, six factors (explaining 60 percent of the variance) emerged: adventure, learn, escape, social interaction, stature, and personal challenge. When mean scores were compared among levels of development using one-way analysis of variance, all six factors differed significantly (p