Friends, porn, and punk: sensation seeking in personal relationships, Internet activities, and music preference among college students

Adolescence,  Summer, 2004  by Robert S. Weisskirch,  Laurel C. Murphy

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Strong emotional responses to music are associated with an increase in risky behaviors (Roberts et al., 1998). Past studies have focused on rock and heavy metal music preference (or have combined the two into one category) for purposes of assessing sensation seeking and risky behavior (Roberts et al., 1998). Currently, rock and heavy metal are not as extreme as they once were (Flick, 1999), and other genres (such as the resurgence of punk) may now attract high sensation seekers.

In the present study, we examined the relationship between sensation seeking and personal relationships. High sensation seekers were expected have a larger pool of casual and close friends in order to meet the need for arousal, stimulation, and novelty. We were also interested in relationships between sensation seeking and Internet activities. In addition, we investigated whether sensation seeking continues to be associated with heavy metal and rock music or has shifted to a different genre.

Sample

One hundred thirty-eight students (75 females, 62 males, 1 did not state) from a small, suburban California state university participated in this study; 4.4% were African American, 2.2% Asian American, 54.0% Caucasian, 30.1% Hispanic, 1.5% Native American and 7.4% multiracial. The age of the participants ranged from 18 to 30 years, with a mean of 20.04 years (SD = 2.36).

Procedure

Over a two-day period, the second author approached students, who were eating in the campus dining facilities during lunchtime, about participating in the study. The research project was explained, and those who agreed to participate were given a questionnaire to complete. They received a candy bar for their participation.

Measures

Demographics. The demographic portion of the questionnaire included items asking about sex, ethnicity, year in school (freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior), residency (on campus or off campus), how many years at the particular campus, grade point average (GPA), and academic major.

Sensation seeking. We used Arnett's (1992) Inventory of Sensation Seeking (/AISS) to measure sensation seeking. Arnett's measure is more contemporary than Zuckerman's version. This scale consists of 20 descriptive statements to which participants respond on a four-point Likert scale (4 = describes me very well to 1 = does not describe me at all). Scores can range from 20 to 80. There are two 10-item subscales (Novelty and Intensity), with scores for each ranging from 10 to 40. Arnett (1992) reports a reliability of .70 for the total scale and similar reliabilities for the subscales. For this sample, Cronbach's alpha was .58.

Internet use. We created items to assess use of the Internet. Participants self-reported their Internet use in the past 24 hours, in the past week, and in the past 30 days (from common tasks such as sending email to more "arousing" activities such as gambling and viewing sex-oriented material).

Music preference. We created a list of 15 common genres of music (e.g., alternative, jazz, ska) that participants rated on a four-point Likert scale (1 = do not like to 4 = like a lot). Participants also indicated the one category of music that they listened to most.