Sex and age differences in sensation seeking: Some national comparisons

Abstract

Zuckerman et al. (1978) reported national comparisons and sex and age differences on the total score and the four subscales of the recently constructed Sensation Seeking Scale, Form V (SSS). The samples showed clear sex differences and a strong decline with age. Sex differences were seen to reflect different kinds of socialization and the age decline was thought to be associated with biological processes. Australian data were collected from 335 females and 363 males, distributed over the age range 17–60 years. Overall, males showed higher SSS scores than females, replicating Canadian, American and English data. Thrill and adventure seeking scores showed this difference most clearly. However, the total SSS scores displayed a significant sex by age interaction, a result differing most markedly from previously published findings, with females in the 30–39 age group recording higher scores than males. The experience seeking (ES) results were particularly different from English data, displaying a significant sex by age interaction. Whereas males showed a decline over age on ES, females reported increasing ES behaviours until the fall towards male levels in the 40–49 age group. The elevation in ES by the younger female groups, accompanied by dips in the linear trends for disinhibition and boredom susceptibility scores for males at the 30–39‐year level, contributed to the major sex by age interaction in total SSS scores. Scale reliabilities were generally higher than those reported by Ridgeway & Russell (1980). The evidence strongly indicated the wisdom of control for age in research on sensation seeking.

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