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Some people seek higher levels of stimulation and activity thanothers. John is a couch potato, content to sit by the TV set allevening. Marsha doesn’t feel right unless she’s out on the tenniscourt or jogging. Cliff isn’t content unless he has ridden hismotorcycle over back trails at breakneck speeds, and Janet feelsexuberant when she’s catching the big wave or free-fall divingfrom an airplane.
What about you? Are you content to read or watch televi-sion all day? Or must you catch the big wave or bounce the bikeacross the dunes of the Mojave Desert? Sensation-seeking scalesmeasure the level of stimulation or arousal a person will seek.
Marvin Zuckerman and his colleagues have identified fourfactors that are involved in sensation seeking: (1) seeking thrilland adventure, (2) disinhibition (that is, tendency to expressimpulses), (3) seeking experience, and (4) susceptibility to bore-dom. People who are high in sensation seeking are also lesstolerant of sensory deprivation. They are more likely to usedrugs and become involved in sexual experiences, to be drunk inpublic, and to volunteer for high-risk activities and unusualexperiments (Pihl & Peterson, 1992).
A shortened version of one of Zuckerman’s scales follows.To gain insight into your own sensation-seeking tendencies,click on the choice, A or B, that best describes you. Then com-pare your answers to those in the Answer Key by clicking on theAnswer Key button.
1. A. I would like a job that requires a lot of traveling.B. I would prefer a job in one location.
2. A. I am invigorated by a brisk, cold day.B. I can’t wait to get indoors on a cold day.
3. A. I get bored seeing the same old faces.B. I like the comfortable familiarity of everyday friends.
4. A. I would prefer living in an ideal society in whicheveryone is safe, secure, and happy.
B. I would have preferred living in the unsettled days ofour history.
5. A. I sometimes like to do things that are a littlefrightening.
B. A sensible person avoids activities that are dangerous.
6. A. I would not like to be hypnotized.B. I would like to have the experience of being
hypnotized.
7. A. The most important goal in life is to live it to thefullest and experience as much as possible.
B. The most important goal in life is to find peace andhappiness.
8. A. I would like to try parachute jumping.B. I would never want to try jumping out of a plane, with
or without a parachute.
9. A. I enter cold water gradually, giving myself time to getused to it.
B. I like to dive or jump right into the ocean or a coldpool.
10. A. When I go on a vacation, I prefer the change ofcamping out.
B. When I go on a vacation, I prefer the comfort of agood room and bed.
11. A. I prefer people who are emotionally expressive even ifthey are a bit unstable.
B. I prefer people who are calm and even tempered.
12. A. A good painting should shock or jolt the senses.B. A good painting should give one a feeling of peace
and security.
13. A. People who ride motorcycles must have some kind ofunconscious need to hurt themselves.
B. I would like to drive or ride a motorcycle.
The Sensation-Seeking Scale
Self Assessment
1. A2. A3. A4. B5. A
6. B7. A8. A9. B
10. A
11. A12. A13. B
SCORING KEY FOR “ARE YOU A SENSATIONSEEKER?” (CHAPTER 9, P. 000)
Because this is a shortened version of a questionnaire, no norms are available. However,answers that have been boxed on this key point in the direction of sensation seeking:
