Reliability and validity of the Sensation-Seeking Scale: Psychometric problems in Form V.

Abstract

Psychometric properties of Zuckerman's Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS; Form V) were examined in a sample of 336 Canadians (181 females and 155 males). The SSS total score was moderately reliable (a = .75), but the subscales were only marginally so (between .48 and .69) and only moderately intercorrelated. For the females, the subscales were even less reliable (between .44 and .67) and less intercorrelated (rs between .02 and .27); even the total score was only marginally reliable (.68). Significant but small correlations of the SSS were obtained for both males (r = .19) and females (r = .28) with volunteering for an experiment on what sensation seekers are denned as seeking: emotionally arousing stimuli. Early versions of Zuckerman's (1978) Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS) suffered from problems of low reliability and inconsistent evidence regarding validity (see Mehrabian & Russell, 1973). However, Zuckerman, Eysenck, and Eysenck (1978) recently reported that the latest version, Form V, showed good psychometric properties. Males and females from both England and America yielded high estimates of reliability and the same reliable factor structure of four moderately intercorrelated factors: Thrill and Adventure Seeking (TAS), Experience Seeking (ES), Disinhibition (DIS), and Boredom Susceptibility (BS). In the course of investigating the relationships among affect, psychophysiological responses, and arousal seeking, we have come across psychometric difficulties with even this latest version of the SSS.