drinking, drug taking, and sex were all intercorrelated forming a central risk taking factor. Driving and gambling
were more peripheral to the central factor related to drinking. The connection between sex and drinking
and drugs may be the sensation seeking traits of disinhibition and impulsivity. The ImpSS scale correlated
significantly with drinking, smoking, drugs, and sex, but not with driving or gambling. High risk takers
on a composite risk index scored more highly than low risk takers on ImpSS as well as Sociability (Sy) and
Aggressiveness /C0Hostility (Agg-Host).
Substance use and abuse has been associated with sensation seeking (see Zuckerman, 1994, 2007 ). In the
first studies on college students ( Zuckerman, 1994 ), about two-thirds of high sensation seekers (as measured
on the SSS-IV) had used drugs compared with less than a third of low sensation seekers. Twenty years later,
t h er e s u l t sw e r en e a r l yt h es a m e( Kumar, Pekala, & Cummings, 1993 ). Based on the Optimal Level of Arousal
(OLA) theory, we expected higher sensation seeking wi th use of stimulant drugs like cocaine rather than sup-
pressant drugs like heroin. However sensation seekin g was more highly related to the number of drugs used
rather than type of drug. University students and nava l personnel who used illegal drugs, including mari-
juana, were higher on sensation seeking than abstainer s from alcohol or drugs and users of alcohol. High sen-
sation seeking college students in the past had expe rimented with LSD and other hallucinogens. More
recently, sensation seekers have discovered 3,4-methylenedioxy- N-methylamphetamine (MDMA; Ecstasy), an
amphetamine analogue with psychedelic effects and enhanced energy. It is commonly used at dance parties
or ‘raves ’. MDMA users scored more highly on the Experience Seeking subscale of the SSS than either mari-
juana only users or non-drug users ( Daumann, Pelz, Becker, Tuchtenhagen, & Gonzoulis-Mayfrank, 2001 )
and on the ImpSS scale of the ZKPQ ( Benschoip, Rabes, & Korf, 2003 ). SS scales predict future smoking,
drinking, and drug use among adolescents (see Table 4.1, p. 113 in Zuckerman, 2007 ). For example, Ames,
Sussman, and Dent (1999) used the 11-item sensation seeking part of the ZKPQ ImpSS scale to predict
drug use in over 1000 high-school students at baseli ne and after a one-year follow-up. Sensation seeking
predicted drug use even when controlling for beliefs or attitudes. The ImpSS contains no potentially con-
founding content itself.
Firefighters have a generally boring occupation punctuated by periods of high excitement when they actually
rush off to fight fires. It is a risky occupation. Not surprisingly, they score highly on the SSS-V Total and ES and
Dis subscales ( Goma-i-Freixanet, Perez, & Torrubia, 1988 ). Police and soldiers as groups are not high sensation
seekers, although those who volunteer for risky assignments or engage in risky behaviors do tend to be high sen-
sation seekers. Less obvious occupations chosen by high sensation seekers are air-traffic controllers, medical per-
sonnel choosing to work in emergency room settings, and rape crisis counselors ( Zuckerman, 1994 ). These work
settings involve highly stressful situations in which the physical risk is not that of the employees, but that of
air passengers or patients. High sensation seekers seem to enjoy stressful environments, but may suffer from
boredom when the settings are quiet.
Areas of behavior described above in relation to sensation seeking have often involved risk. However the pre-
ferences of sensation seekers in entertainment involve little or no risk but merely reflect their reward values in
stimulation: novelty, intensity, and complexity ( Zuckerman, 2006a, 2006b ). Complexity is a stimulus attribute pre-
ferred by high sensation seekers. This is seen in their preferences among simple designs ( Zuckerman, 1994 ). High
sensation seekers prefer designs that are complex and asymmetrical, whereas low sensation seekers prefer
designs that are simple and symmetrical. The arousal potential of movies affects their attraction for high sensa-
tion seekers and avoidance for low sensation seekers; highs like horror and sexually explicit films and fast-
moving action films ( Zuckerman, 1994 ). Given a choice, high sensation seekers prefer action movies, with high
correlations between number of channel switches and SSS scores. Channel surfing reflects sensation seekers’ need
for change and novelty and their boredom susceptibility ( Perse, 1996 ).
Preferences in music seem to reflect the intensity dimension. High sensation seekers among college students
like all types of rock music, but particularly ‘ hard rock ’o r‘ heavy metal ’ types ( Stratton & Zalanowski, 1997;
Zuckerman, 1994 ). Low sensation seekers prefer bland movie-track type music. However among the older fac-
ulty, the correlation between listening time to rock and sensation seeking was in the opposite direction reflecting
a reduction in sensation seeking into middle and old age. Rawlings, Barrantes, Vidal, and Furnham (2000) found
a common factor in preferences for violent-abstract painting and hard rock music at one pole, and dislike or low
liking for emotionally neutral-realistic paintings and easy-listening type music at the other. Sensation seeking,
particularly the Dis subscale, correlated positively with liking of rock music and emotional-abstract art, and low
liking for neutral-realistic paintings and easy-listening music. The distinctive preferences involved both emotional
content and style. A liking for violent and erotic content in photographs and paintings ( Rawlings, 2003 ) was
found in high sensation seekers in comparison with low sensation seekers who prefer pleasant paintings of354 13. MEASURES OF SENSATION SEEKING
III. EMOTION REGULATION