Roth, Marcus; Schumacher, Jörg; Brähler, Elmar:
Sensation seeking in the community: Sex, age and sociodemographic comparisons on a representative German population sample.
In: Personality and Individual Differences., Vol. 39 (2005), No. 7, pp. 1261 - 1271
2005article/chapter in journal
PsychologyFaculty of Educational Sciences » Institut für Psychologie
Title:
Sensation seeking in the community: Sex, age and sociodemographic comparisons on a representative German population sample.
Author:
Roth, MarcusUDE
LSF ID
52324
ORCID
0000-0002-5676-8137ORCID iD
Other
connected with university
;
Schumacher, Jörg;Brähler, Elmar
Year of publication:
2005

Abstract:

Studied age- and sex-related differences, and sociodemographic determinants of sensation seeking amongst Germans. Relevant data were collected per telephone interviews for 1,049 randomly selected German citizens (aged 16-79 years). Sensation seeking was assessed using the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking (AISS), which is comprised of 2 subscales: Novelty and Intensity. Demographic characteristics included partnership and marital status, educational level, occupational status, and monthly income. Data analyses revealed an overall decline in sensation seeking scores with increasing age. Male respondents obtained higher sensation seeking scores across all age groups. The observed age- and sex-related variance in sensation seeking could not be substantially explained by the measured sociodemographic factors. The findings corroborate and extend previous findings, by pointing out the continued decline in sensation seeking beyond age 60 years. Future longitudinal studies will focus on the relative effects of socialization versus developmental processes on age-related differences in sensation seeking