What is sensation seeking?

Thrill-seeking (or sensation-seekers as I often call them) has four parts:

• Thrill and adventure-seeking: How much you enjoy a quest for risk.

• Experience seeking: The love of new sensations.

• Disinhibition: Your ability/desire to be unrestrained.

• Boredom susceptibility: This is your dislike for repetition.

The sensation-seeking survey reveals five scores: one for each component of sensation-seeking and a total sensation-seeking score. Here is what the different parts mean:

Thrill-and Adventure-Seeking

This component of sensation-seeking emphasizes the enjoyment of sometimes frightening activities. For thrill- and adventure-seekers, risks may be ignored, tolerated, or minimized, and may even be considered to add to the excitement of the activity.

Experience-Seeking

Even if you’re not an extreme thrill- and adventure-seeker, there may be a component of sensation-seeking that applies to you. So while you may not like to skydive, you may still exhibit a sensation-seeking trait associated with people who enjoy new, complex, and intense sensations and experiences. Experience-seeking is the quest for new experiences that challenge the mind and senses. Experience-seekers look for a variety of experiences that are unique, rather than dangerous.

Disinhibition

Disinhibition involves our ability to be spontaneous. It includes searching for opportunities to lose inhibitions. People with strong disinhibition tendencies act regardless of potential consequences, while people with low disinhibition tendencies control their behavior more carefully and think through more of the consequences. They look before they leap. People high in disinhibition? They just leap.

Boredom Susceptibility

The last component of sensation-seeking is boredom susceptibility, which boils down to one’s ability to tolerate the absence of external stimuli. Those with high scores in boredom susceptibility dislike repetition—for example, the same food too many times in a row, or routine tasks at work. They tire easily of predictable or boring people, and they get restless when things are the same.

Now that you've learned about the four components, why not learn more about sensation-seeking!
Check out my book Buzz! Inside the Minds of Thrill-Seekers Daredevils and Adrenaline Junkies available on Amazon, cambridge.org/buzz and pretty much wherever you buy books!