Social norms for the desirability of sensation seeking

The level of sensation seeking most socially desirable was determined by informing undergraduate students that they were to respond to Zuckerman’s (1979) Sensation Seeking Scale (Form V) twice, once under the usual instructions and once under instructions to create the best possible image for someone they found attractive. Scores under the best image instructions (M = 23.85, SD = 6.52) were higher than scores under the usual instructions (M = 18.00, SD = 5.40). The scores produced under the best image instructions were independent of scores produced under the usual instructions. These data are interpreted as evidence of norms for the social desirability of sensation seeking. Scores from the present study were compared to baseline data for this population. Under the usual instructions, males scored lower than baseline, a difference not observed for females. Under the best image instructions, females scored higher than baseline, a difference not observed for males. This evidence regarding the susceptibility of the scale scores to instructional manipulations was discussed.