How Outdoor Sports Are Socializing Nature

Lapuente Alvarez, Cesar

The increasing popularity of outdoor sports where natural spaces serve as the "playground" reflects a paradigm shift in human-nature relationships, emblematic of the transition from modern to hyper-modern society. Sociologists identify this transition as a shift from a productive or extractive relationship with nature to a recreational and ludic one, characteristic of hyper-modern society, shaped by information overload, rampant consumerism, and individualism.

This study focuses on "trail running" as a case to analyse how individuals socializing nature through sports activities. Fifteen in-depth interviews with trail running practitioners and one discussion groups with people engaged in productive activities was useful to get an exploratory analyse to identify main items to implement alongside surveys targeting trail runners and non-nature sports participants. The survey consisted in 1.200 responses to a questionary submitted to runners on trail running and road running from Spanish Athletics Federation. The study explores how outdoor sports practitioners' socialization of nature influences their behaviours within hyper-modern society. The findings reveal two behavioural patterns: hyper-individualism, characterized by competitiveness, and holistic individualism, characterized by an eco-recreational approach. This dual analysis underscores the impact of nature socialization on pro-environmental behavior, offering insights into the contemporary dynamics between individuals and their natural environment.

The explanation model is composed by four elements: Nature Relatedness, Pro-environmental Behaviour and Sense of Place, and how their relationships are influenced by Outdoor sports experience.

This research provides a theoretical and methodological framework for public managers and event organizers to understand, measure, and predict attitudes and behaviours of outdoor sports practitioners, aiding in identifying behaviour profiles and informing sustainable management strategies for natural spaces.