Sensation Seeking

Abstract

Many personality traits are popular sources of research for a short time, and then, like the constructs on which they are based, they gradually fade away. In contrast, Sensation Seeking (otherwise known as Novelty Seeking, Arousal Seeking, Excitement Seeking, and other “seeking” labels) has had a steady increase in citations over the half century since the first published paper. The construct of Sensation Seeking, as developed by Marvin Zuckerman, derived from his prior research in the field of sensory or perceptual deprivation (this area of research is now referred to as “restricted environmental stimulation”). The first scale designed to predict results in these experiments on sensory deprivation was based on postulated differences in an “optimal level of stimulation,” with reference to the intensity of the stimulation. However, both these experiments and the content of the early scales showed that novelty and complexity of stimuli were also sources of motivation for the sensation seeker, and they predicted a wide range of behavioral phenomena, including volunteering, sexual behavior, relationships, smoking, drinking, drug use and abuse, risky driving, sports and other activities, vocational choices, and media, entertainment, art, and music preferences. Interest in the optimal level of stimulation and the related “optimal level of arousal” led to the first studies using psychophysiology. These studies showed a stronger reaction to novel stimuli and a greater cortical response to high-intensity stimuli in high sensation seekers, and more cortical inhibition in response to high-intensity stimuli in low sensation seekers. This latter relationship was confirmed in other species, particularly cats and rats, in which the relationship was with behavioral differences, suggestive of sensation seeking in humans. The fact that the psychophysiological marker for sensation seeking could be found in other species suggests an evolutionary origin for the trait extending back before the evolution of the human species. It also suggests a strong genetic component in the trait, confirmed in biometric twin studies. More recently, a specific dopamine receptor gene has been associated with novelty seeking in some but not all studies. In the 1970s, psychopharmacological studies showed a relationship between the enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO) and sensation seeking. This finding shifted the focus of the biological theory of the trait to the monoamine neurotransmitters in the brain that are involved in approach, inhibition, and arousal—dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine, respectively. Sensation seeking was postulated as being characterized by strong approach and weak inhibition (impulsivity) and arousal in approach-avoidance conflict situations. The balance between monoamine reactivities and such conflict is hypothesized to be the biological predisposition encoded in the genes.