The mean scores of volley-ball players and female teachers tend to be low. Jack and Ronan (1998) also found that
skydivers and mountain climbers as well as hang-gliders tend to score highly on the SSS-V Total, whereas the
scores of swimmers and auto-racers were average, while golfers and marathon runners scored lower. O’Sullivan,
Zuckerman, and Kraft (1998) compared male football and baseball team players and female equestrians, field
hockey and lacrosse team students with unselected undergraduates using the Zuckerman /C0Kuhlman Personality
Questionnaire (ZKPQ) Impulsive Unsocialized Sensation Seeking Scale (ImpSS). None of the female teams differed
from the undergraduate controls or among themselves on the ImpSS. The male baseball and football teams actually
scored lower on the ImpSS than the general male undergraduates.
If risky sports are more attractive to high sensation seekers, why are auto racers not high in sensation seeking?
And why are non-risky sports like pool, target shooting and modern dancing associated with high sensation
seeking? Chess is a game (or sport) associated with cerebral competition, but surprisingly, players of the game
score more highly than non-players on the SSS Total, and more experienced players score even more highly
(Joireman, Fick, & Anderson, 2002 ). Novelty and intensity of the activity, whether physical or cerebral, are impor-
tant but not the whole story.
Driving for high sensation seekers is a chance to expre ss their need for thrills and excitement at the risk of
physical or legal harm. Risky driving is shown in ina ppropriate speeding, following too closely at high
speeds (‘ tail-gating ’), driving while intoxicated (DWI), freque nt and abrupt lane changes, and aggressive,
inconsiderate driving in general. From a review of 40 studies of sensation seeking and risky driving, Jonah
(1997) reported positive correlations bet ween sensation seeking and risky driving. Correlations were higher
among men and in studies where the full SSS was administered. In another study, high sensation seekers
were found to drive faster than low sensation seekers ( Heino, 1996 ). Highs and lows did not differ in their
perceptions of risk but high sensation seekers were more willing to accept risk. High sensation seekers fol-
lowed the car ahead of them at a closer distance (tailga ting) than did the low sensation seekers. High sensa-
tion seekers did not perceive their following distances as risky. Burns and Wilde (1995) also reported that
sensation seeking correlated directly with observed fast and reckless driving and with records of past viola-
tions. These and other behavioral stu dies confirm that risk judgments of sensation seekers are biased toward
t h el o we n de n a b l i n gt h e mt ot a k eg r e a t e rr i s k st han more risk-aversive low sensation seekers ( Rosenbloom &
Wolf, 2002 ).
Studies of university students showed that experience in heterosexual activities and number of partners was
positively associated with SSS General scores on the SSS-IV ( Hoyle, Fejfar, & Miller, 2000; Zuckerman, 1994 ).
Some items, particularly in the Disinhibition subscale (Dis), were confounded with sexual content (attitudes not
experience), but for males, sexual activities and partners correlated with all of the subscales not just the Dis scale.
Homosexual risky activities in gay men showed similar positive correlations with sensation seeking ( Kalichman
et al., 1994 ).Hoyle et al. (2000) reported that sexual risk taking was defined by number of partners, unprotected
sex, and high-risk sexual encounters such as sex with a stranger. Sensation seeking was related to all three cate-
gories. Correlations with the SSS were higher than those for nearly all other personality traits. Cohen and
Fromme (2002) found that the ZKPQ ImpSS predicted risky sex behavior in a university sample at two points in
time one year apart. ImpSS predicted risky sex behavior through its effects on outcome expectancies, particularly
positive ones.
Beginning in the mid-1990s there has been increasing study of sensation seeking and sex in gay populations.
The AIDS epidemic and the high risk status of Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) increased the urgency of
this research. Kalichman et al. (1994) devised two types of sensation seeking scales for MSM related research. The
Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale (SSSS) items pertain to seeking sensation through sex but the items are not spe-
cific to sexual orientation. The Nonsexual Experience Seeking Scale (NSES) is a general sensation or experience
seeking scale with no reference to sex in the items. A series of studies of MSMs using both scales and the SSS
were carried out by Kalichman et al. (1994) /C0(see Zuckerman, 2007 , Table 5.2, p. 161). Three high risk behaviors
were predicted: many sexual partners, anal sex without condoms, and use of alcohol and drugs just prior to or
during sex. Kalichman et al. (1994) found that both the SSSS and the NSES correlated positively with the three
risk factors. In the largest study, using 509 gay men, those having multiple sexual partners and anal sex without
condoms scored more highly on the Dis and BS subscales of the SSS-V than did less risk-taking MSMs ( Bancroft
et al. 2003 ). Another study, using the SSS-IV, found that the General scale correlated with all high risk behaviors
(Dolezal, Meyer-Bahlburg-Heino, Remien, & Petkova, 1997 ), whereas Schroth (1996) found that only the number
of sexual partners was related to the SSS-V Total score.
Zuckerman and Kuhlman (2000) conducted a study of risky behaviors among college students using the
ZKPQ. The first question asked about different types of risky behavior, i.e. Is there a general risk-taker? Smoking,353 13. MEASURES OF SENSATION SEEKING
III. EMOTION REGULATION