... behaviours as expressive of suicidal tendencies, a death wish ("Thantos") or repressed feelings of masculine inadequacy. It was therefore proposed that people such as mountaineers were illogical, or even pathological. Indeed the legacy of this train of thought continues to be influential although the balance of intellectual power has long since shifted. The main problem with this explanation of risk taking behaviour is that there is no evidence to support these speculations, a criticism that can also be raised against many other psychoanalytic ideas. Psychological research studies that have investigated the mental health of risk takers have been inconclusive or contradictory, and in some cases risk taking behaviours (e.g. ocean sailing) have even been shown to lead to increases in self-esteem. Similarly people who take financial risks in the workplace generally tend to be more successful in their jobs, findings which run contrary to the idea that risk taking is ...

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