to playing a strategic game of chess, but perhaps also reflect a different goal
the player wishes to achieve. These results could be taken in line with
Csikszentmihalyi’s (1982) research, revealing that the best players were moti-
vated to meet challenges in a competitive fashion and enhance status, where-
as intermediate players generally played for the problem-solving element of
the game and the experience it offered. Clearly, the personality profiles asso-
ciated with each group seem to assist in achieving intended goals, and are
closely tied to how motivated one would be to advance task skills.
Joireman, Fick, and Anderson (2002) hypothesized that sensation seeking
is a personality characteristic correlated with participation, persistence, and
skill in chess due to the fact that the game requires intense concentration, of-
fers opportunity to demonstrate dominance, and includes an element of risk
which adds thrill and excitement. Taking measurements from the previously
validated Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS; Zuckerman, 1979), this study utilized
undergraduate chess players of varying self-reported skill. Results supported
the hypotheses that sensation seekers (high scorers on Total SSS) were more
likely to have tried chess and to have had more experience with the game than
those who were not (low scorers on Total SSS). This finding was primarily
determined by the degree to which the individual sought out exciting and per-
haps risky activities, providing support to the claim that chess is an engaging
and thrilling activity, and therefore attracts people whose personalities com-
plement those feelings. It would be a fruitful endeavor to replicate this study
with rated chess players to see whether this dimension of personality is associ-
ated with elite levels of performance.
MOTIVATION IN MUSIC
Drives, Traits, and the Musical Temperament
As noted in the introduction, while there is a strong relationship between the
quantity of high-quality training and the level of attained skill in music,
chess, and other domains, those activities that are known to be most relevant
to improvements in performance are also generally viewed as the most aver-
sive. In spite of this conflict, a small number of individuals seem willing and
able to persist on the path to excellence. One historically significant interpre-
tation of the previous scenario, put forth by Galton (1869/1978), is that the
motivation to pursue and persist in challenging activities is part of a cluster of
innate qualities or capacities that allow for the emergence of exceptional abil-
ity. Though much of the research that followed did not specifically focus on
the motivational component of talent, this area has recently been revived.
Based on evidence from prodigies and savants, Winner (1996, 2000) argued
that the characteristic drive or rage to master among gifted and precocious
306 CHARNESS, TUFFIASH, JASTRZEMBSKI