Boredom Susceptibility
People who are susceptible to boredom have a difficult time tolerat-
ing repetition and non-reward. For them, doing things once is
enough, and if nothing is going on, they find it difficult to remain
satisfied. For them a state of non-arousal is hard to tolerate. They
seek out sensations to make up for it. This might explain Nick’s
frustration when he doesn’t jump for a while. In contrast, low
sensation-seekers experiencing the same low level of norepinephr-
ine are more content and happy.Disinhibition
Disinhibition is related to the inability to hold back. What typically
holds us back from doing something is the potential for punish-
ment, or even the anxiety around imagined punishment. I recently
had lunch with a friend at a sandwich shop, just the two of us. We
shared a booth. Between us was a sign that said “Booths Reserved
for Parties of Three or More.” Having low disinhibition made it
difficult for me to sit there. It was as if the words on the sign got
larger every time I looked at it. I imagined a confrontation with the
server about my inability to read, or my disregard for parties of
three or more, or my contribution to the demise of civilization. My
inhibition system dumped massive quantities of cortisol in prepara-
tion for an event that never occurred. In contrast, as you might
expect, low levels of cortisol are associated with disinhibition. With
a low inhibition system and relatively low levels of stress hor-
mones, there is less holding back the disinhibited sensation-
seeker from the actions they wish to take.Enough with Nature, What about Nurture?
Although genes carry a genetic code, people are not computers.
Genetic codes do not unlock specific behaviors, but they do make
some behaviors more likely to develop than others. Biology isn’t
your destiny; it is an influence. If up to 58 percent of sensation-
seeking is biological, then this leaves a fair bit of room for variation
based on nurture, or experience. After all, just because something
runs in families doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s biological. Last
names tend to run in families, but last names aren’t genetic.
Families also transmit traits environmentally too.
Experience does shape sensation-seeking. It appears that
a great deal of stimulation, especially early stimulating activities44 / Buzz!Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Access paid by the UCSF Library, on 11 Nov 2019 at 14:20:40, subject to the Cambridge