Daredevil (psychology)

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A daredevil (from “going on something”), also hot spur , gambler , warrior or devil , is a person who makes quick decisions, courageously, sometimes thoughtlessly and ruthlessly gets involved in something. The admission can also concern dangerous, adventurous, risky situations.

Linguistic meaning

The colloquial term "daredevil" can have an admiring, but also a derisive or derogatory meaning:

The daredevil finds admiration for his ability to face dangerous tasks without hesitation. Mockery contains the idea of ​​a somewhat rude, but not unappealing person. The devaluation is based on the impression that the so-called person aligns his actions more to an oversized ambition than to mature considerations.

In technical terminology , the term daredevil corresponds to terms such as “ sensation-seeking ” (Zuckerman) or “ thrill- seeking” (Warwitz). Depending on the point of view and motivation, the daredevil can portray himself as a “hot spur”, “gambler”, “warrior” or simply as a “devil” or “risk taker”. As for the “brave daring”, he lacks the sober weighing of reason ( ratio ) and a supporting value basis .

Manifestations

Daredevil can express itself in different areas of life. It is often found in military scenarios in which dangerous actions and risky missions are pending, in which rational considerations of one's own safety have to be neglected because of an urgent danger prevention or conflict resolution. Reputation in the troops, career prospects and expectation of the order are usually additional driving factors. Daredevilism can also often be observed in extreme athletes and cross-border commuters , when ambition and an exaggerated need for recognition as well as sponsor expectations determine action. Politicians often reveal their bravado in passionate election speeches, heated debates and polemical heckling. For example, were Franz Josef Strauss or his opponent Herbert Wehner as a daredevil in the political arena.

Human type

The digital dictionary of the German language uses the term daredevil to describe a daring person who strives for a goal without hesitation with vigor and does not allow himself to be deterred by any dangers. He is characterized by a robust, not complacent character who takes on difficult challenges more spontaneously than deliberately, often daringly. With his goal in mind, he puts aside concerns about his own vulnerability and endangerment. The writer Ernst Jünger uses the expression in his war diary of the First World War to denote the mentality of the adventure-hungry young recruits who, after conquering six enemy artillery, can hardly wait for the next attack order, with the succinct words: “ A hurray flared up. Daredevil awakened. "According to Warwitz, the daredevil becomes a" high-spirited gambler "and" thrill seeker "who does not know, underestimates or simply ignores the potential dangers he is getting into. In this way, he often becomes a so-called “threat” in community with groups that are connected to him or even dependent on him. Only the direct experience of the cruel reality of the war allows the soldiers at Jünger to realize that a death-defying rush alone is not enough to be successful in the medium term and, above all, to have a chance of survival.

Negative interpretation

In colloquial expressions such as “ going on it ” with the meaning “ senselessly to death ” or “ incorrigible daredevil ” expresses a derogatory and derogatory understanding of daring and its possible consequences.

rating

Mere bravado is not desirable in almost any area of ​​life because it lacks the necessary rational control and is often activated by excessive craving for recognition. In the training of special military units, for example, self-control and team-friendly discipline are required and trained as unavoidable additional character traits, and headless solo efforts, even if they lead to success in individual cases, are rejected and sanctioned as negative performances. According to the doctrine of success, what counts is coordinated, disciplined team work with clear and binding command structures , to which individual ambition must be integrated. A tamed, team-friendly form of bravado is also an indispensable prerequisite for success in the big sports games such as football , ice hockey or basketball , or as a control body in martial arts such as boxing , karate or judo . The opposite type of daredevil is known in technical jargon as "pince-nez".

Historical and literary reflection

In the German-speaking world, daredevils are increasingly found in the literary epochs of the early heroic poetry and the so-called “ Sturm und Drang ” (1765–1785) with very young poets such as the epoch-making Friedrich Maximilian Klinger , the “apostle of genius” Christoph Kaufmann or Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart . They gave the " emotio " (freedom of feeling and instincts) priority over " ratio " (control and reason). The guiding principle for these daredevils' attitude to life was a self-confident, exuberant "genius", which was already articulated in an exalted, coarse, unrestrained, but expressive language:

Henry Percy (1364–1403), called "Hotspur" illustration from the 19th century.
  • William Shakespeare gives in parts I and II of his drama " Heinrich IV. " The historical Henry Percy (1364 / 66-1403), called "Harry Hotspur", which means something like "hot spur", "heated daredevil", an important role as a friend and later an enemy of King Henry IV of England. His character as a daredevil had earned him respect in his time and a steep, albeit short, military and political career.
  • With his “ Michael Kohlhaas ” Heinrich von Kleist created a tragic figure who developed from a righteous person through a blatant experience of injustice into a ruthlessly violent murderer and murder burner who, in the face of a lack of alternatives, resorted to ever increasing vigilante justice. The historical model named Hans Kohlhase lived in the 16th century. In his drama " Prinz von Homburg ", Kleist immortalized the figure of an ambitious young general in the army of the Great Elector , who, driven by a lust for battle and heroism, throws himself into battle despite the warnings of his officers against the express order when he arrives at the elector he sees extreme danger, for which he was threatened with the death penalty according to the strict Prussian military rules, despite his successful intervention for refusing to give orders . For Kleist, sources were the "Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire de la maison de Brandebourg" by Frederick the Great from 1751, in which he reports such an incident from the Battle of Fehrbellin in 1675.

motivation

The starting point and motivations that make people daredevils are of very different nature. Usually character traits and social conditions add to each other:

An exuberant temperament and mental as well as physical dynamics determined the personal actions and poetry of the literature known “Stürmer und Dränger” or Henry Percy or Götz von Berlichingen. The Prince of Homburg was characterized by a high degree of military ambition and a strong thirst for fame. Michael Kohlhaas and Karl Moor turned from a perverted pursuit of justice into ruthless hot spurs. The heated speeches and debates of politicians like Franz Josef Strauss and Herbert Wehner were determined by a vehement will to assert themselves based on the conviction of their own correct ideas and knowledge. The sharp-tongued ostrich used swear words such as "rat" or "blowfly". To this day, Wehner is the member of the Bundestag with the most calls to order . Extreme athletes are often driven to ever more daring top performances by their own demands, by the expectations of the public and their sponsors. A. Engeln examined risk motivation in motorcyclists and identified elements of building up in group dynamic processes. Stuntmen and stuntwomen have to have the disposition and interests of a daredevil in order to survive in their dangerous job.

Animal behavior

In cynology , one speaks of a particularly aggressive dog that suddenly and unrestrainedly storms at anything that moves, sometimes with a bit of owner or trainer pride, of a daredevil. In hippology , the expression “daredevil” or “walker” for short is used for particularly lively horses that show spirited gaits when riding and frolicking or that show themselves to be noticeably eager to run as racehorses.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Scientific advice of the Duden editorial team, Annette Klosa u. a. (Ed.): Duden, German Universal Dictionary , 4th edition, Dudenverlag, Mannheim-Leipzig-Vienna-Zurich 2001, keyword “Draufgänger”, page 395
  2. ^ Marvin Zuckerman: Sensation Seeking. Beyond the optimal level of arousal . Hillsdale 1979
  3. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings . 2., ext. Ed., Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1
  4. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: Risk must want the essential . In: Ders .: Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings . 2., ext. Ed., Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 , pp. 296-311
  5. ↑ DWDS | Keyword "Daredevil"
  6. ^ Ernst Jünger: In Stahlgewittern, Ein Kriegstagebuch , Berlin 1919, 14th edition 1934, page 19
  7. ↑ The risk must be worth it (PDF file; 622 kB). Interview in bergundstieg.at. October 2011
  8. ↑ R. Scholzen: KSK- The special forces command of the Bundeswehr . Stuttgart 2004
  9. ↑ Georg Bertram: Philosophy of Storm and Drang. A Constitution of Modernism , Munich 2000
  10. ↑ AW Boardman: Hotspur. Henry Percy: Medieval Rebel . Sutton Publishing, Stroud Gloucestershire 2003
  11. ^ Siegbert A. Warwitz: From the sense of the car. Why people face dangerous challenges . In: DAV (Hrsg.) Berg 2006. Munich-Innsbruck-Bozen. Pp. 96-111
  12. ↑ Stefan Finger: Franz Josef Strauss - A Political Life. Olzog, Munich 2005, p. 416.
  13. ↑ Günter Pursch: Even members of parliament are only human ... A culture of political debate in 50 years of the German Bundestag . In: Blickpunkt Bundestag No. 07/1999 ( version in the web archive of the German Bundestag 2006 ).
  14. ↑ Iris Hadbawnik: To the Limit and Beyond - Fascination Extreme Sports. Publishing house Die Werkstatt, Göttingen 2011
  15. ↑ A. Engeln: Risk Motivation - an educational-psychological study on motorcycling . Marburg 1995
  16. ^ S. Piet: What motivates stuntmen? In: Motivation and Emotion 11 (1987) 195-213

literature

  • Michael Apter: In the intoxication of danger. Why more and more people are looking for the thrill . Munich 1994.
  • Mihály Csíkszentmihályi : The Flow Experience , 6th edition, Stuttgart 1996.
  • David Le Breton: Pleasure in risk . Frankfurt 1995.
  • A. Engeln: Risk motivation - a pedagogical-psychological study on motorcycling . Marburg 1995.
  • S. Piet: What motivates stuntmen? In: Motivation and Emotion 11 (1987) 195-213.
  • Siegbert A. Warwitz : Search for meaning in risk. Life in growing rings . 2., ext. Ed., Verlag Schneider, Baltmannsweiler 2016, ISBN 978-3-8340-1620-1 .
  • Siegbert A. Warwitz: From the sense of the car. Why people face dangerous challenges . In: DAV (Ed.) Berg 2006. Munich-Innsbruck-Bozen 2006, ISBN 3-937530-10-X , pp. 96–111.
  • Marvin Zuckerman : Sensation Seeking. Beyond the optimal level of arousal . Hillsdale 1979.