involves the “need for varied, novel and complex sensations and experiences and the
willingness to take physical and social risks for the sake of such experiences” (p. 10).
Originally, Zuckerman speculated that people who participated in risky sports were high
sensation seekers who displayed a tendency to underestimate the dangers posed by these
sports. More recently, however, he revised this view by suggesting instead that sensation
seekers are actually accurate in their risk assessment—even though they apparently
believe that the rewards of arousal outweigh the degree of risk involved by the activity in
question (Zuckerman, 1994). This trait of sensation seeking can be measured using the
“Sensation Seeking Scale” (Zuckerman, 1984) which assesses such dimensions of the
construct as “thrill and adventure seeking” (the desire to engage in adventurous
activities), “experience seeking” (the tendency to seek arousal through mental and
sensory means), “disinhibition” (seeking a release through such activities as drinking and
gambling) and “boredom susceptibility” (an aversion to monotony). For a critical
perspective on this test, see Box 2.8.
Box 2.8 Thinking critically about...sensation seeking in sport
What factors are associated with people’s involvement in risky
sporting activities? Schrader and Wann (1999) investigated the role of
variables such as gender, “death anxiety” (i.e., the degree to which one
feels that one can cheat death by participating in high-risk activities) and
sensation seeking (Zuckerman, 1979) in people’s involvement in
dangerous sports. Results showed that only two variables accounted for
significant amounts of variance in thrill-seeking behaviour. These
variables were gender and sensation seeking. More precisely, the authors
found that a much higher proportion of males (about 62 per cent) than
females (approximately 37 per cent) participated in high-risk recreation
activities. In addition, sensation seeking (as measured by Zuckerman’s,
1979, Sensation Seeking Scale) was significantly associated with
involvement in high-risk activities,Critical thinking questions
Do you think that correlations between risk-taking behaviour and
personality variables really explain anything? After all, to say that
someone chooses dangerous sports because s/he enjoys the thrill of danger
seems rather circular. Furthermore, how can we be sure that participants
regard their chosen athletic behaviour as “risky” unless we assess their
perceptions of it? What other implicit assumptions do researchers in this
field make? Why do you think that proportionately more males than
females tend to participate in risky sporting activities? If thrill-seeking
behaviour is as addictive as is often claimed (Vidal, 2001), then why do
people tend to choose only one outlet for their risky behaviour? For
example, why do rock-climbers rarely become interested in other
dangerous sports like motor-racing or bungee-jumping?Motivation and goal-setting in sport 61