Lead supervisor:
Dr Andrew Cooke 
Other supervisor(s):
- Prof Tim Woodman
Start date: October 2025 (Full time)
Award: General
Subject Pathway:
Sport and Exercise Science
Thematic Cluster:
Society and Well-Being Cluster
The role of risk-taking activities in interoception, agency, and emotion regulation: The high-risk sport domain
Interoception is the ability to perceive internal bodily states. Atypical interoception (e.g., poor ability to detect internal sensations such as temperature, hunger, and heartbeats) has been associated with various psychological and physiological conditions (e.g., autism, anxiety, eating and substance use disorders) (Murphy et al. 2018; Ritz et al., 2024). Previous research has shown how interoception, sometimes called “gut-feel”, and emotion experience can shape risk-taking behavior: interoception can prove advantageous in gambling decision-making, and cardiac interoceptive accuracy (i.e., stronger perception of heart activity) is associated with greater emotional arousal experience (Crone et al., 2004; Dunn et al., 2010; Sokol-Hessner et al., 2015). Recently, research has demonstrated that participating in high-risk sport (in which the possibility of severe injury or death is an inherent part of the activity) can enhance emotion regulation and agency, especially for individuals high in alexithymia (i.e., a deficit in ability to perceive and describe one’s own emotions) (Hardy & Hutchinson, 2007; Willegers et al., 2023; Woodman et al., 2008). This led to the development of agentic emotional regulation theory (Woodman et al., 2010). The way by which risk-taking promotes psychological benefits is still unclear. This project will evaluate interoception as a mechanism within agentic emotion regulation theory and investigate the relationship between risk-taking and interoception in the context of high-risk sport.
Research Impact
Many psychological and physical disorders are associated with atypical interoception, and improving interoceptive skills can have positive impacts on emotional regulation and serve as a mechanism for improved health. Interventions that target interoceptive pathways and processes may be able to influence the mind-body interaction and have promising impacts for a variety of clinical conditions, including chronic pain, depression, and anxiety (Pinna & Edwards, 2020; Weng et al., 2021). As the first program of research to investigate what mechanisms underlie the relations between risk-taking, emotion regulation, agency, and interoception, this proposed project will significantly advance the literature in this area and contribute to therapeutic real-world application.
Bibliography
Crone, E., A., Somsen, R. J. M., Van Beek, B., & Van der Molen, M. W. (2004). Heart rate and
skin conductance analysis of antecedents and consequences of decision making. Psychophysiology, 41(4), 531-540.
Dunn, B. D., Galton, H. C., Morgan, R., Evans, D., Oliver, C., Meyer, M., Cusack, R., Lawrence,
A. D., & Dalgeish, T. (2010). Listening to your heart: How interoception shapes
emotion experience and intuitive decision making. Psychological Science, 21(12), 1835-1844.
Hardy, L., & Hutchinson, A. (2007). Effects of performance anxiety on effort and performance
in rock climbing: A test of processing efficiency theory. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 20(2), 147-161.
Murphy, J., Catmur, C., & Bird, G. (2018). Alexithymia is associated with a multidomain,
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Pinna, T., & Edwards, D. J. (2020). A systematic review of associations between interoception,
vagal tone, and emotional regulation: Potential applications for mental health,
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Ritz, T., Schulz, A., & Khalsa, S. (2024). The golden age of integrative neuroscience? A call to
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Sokol-Hessner, P., Hartley, C. A., Hamilton, J. R., & Phelps, E. A. (2015). Interoceptive ability
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Weng, H. Y., Feldman, J. L., Leggio, L., Napadow, V., Park, J., & Price, C. J. (2021). Interventions and manipulations of interoception. Trends in Neurosciences, 44(1), 52-62.
Willegers, M., Woodman, T., & Tilley, F. (2023). Agentic emotion regulation in high-risk sport:
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Woodman, T., Cazenave, N., & Le Scanff, C. (2008). Skydiving as emotion regulation: The rise and fall of anxiety is moderated by alexithymia. Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 30(3), 424-433. https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.30.3.424
Woodman, T., Hardy, L., Barlow, M., & Le Scanff, C. (2010). Motives for participation in
prolonged engagement high-risk sports: An agentic emotion regulation perspective. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 11(5), 345-352. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2010.04.002
Biography
My academic background is in Sport and Exercise Psychology (MSc), Experimental Psychology (BA), and Sport and Entertainment Management (BS). Following my undergraduate studies at the University of South Carolina (USC), I deepened my own understanding of my personal research interests while supporting USC's Research Center for Child Well-Being as a Center assistant and research specialist and then further during my master's degree at Bangor University. I am eager to continue learning to inform human performance through a psychophysiological lens, using concepts across the areas of exercise science and sport psychology to satisfy my curiosity in mind-body phenomena in athletes.