An endurance game is a game where the object is to last as long as possible under some sort of stress. The stress might be physical pain, fear, social embarrassment or any other negative sensation.
The important distinguishing feature of endurance games is that the object is to outlast one's opponents, rather than outdo them in any test of skill. Endurance games are common in schoolyards, as they provide a way for children to establish a pecking-order based on toughness. They are also a feature of hazing rituals in institutions where hazing is common.
One playing an endurance game grants consent to other players' possible harm to oneself. One child justified hurting others during games which require one to do so, saying, "If they know the game then they know what's going to happen."[1]
Among the Inuit, endurance games, "stress the body and test the limits of the individual's psychological and physical endurance," thereby helping, along with other games, to, "prepare children for the rigors of the arctic environment by stressing hand-eye coordination, problem solving, and physical strength and endurance."[2]
- ^ Frankel, Sam (2017). Negotiating Childhoods: Applying a Moral Filter to Children’s Everyday Lives, p.221. Springer. ISBN 9781137323491.
- ^ Nanda, Serena and Warms, Richard L. (2013). Cultural Anthropology, p.55-6. 11th edition. Cengage Learning. ISBN 9781285632858.