Sensation Seeking And Risky Behavior

by Marvin Zuckerman

Risky behavior can be an expression of a normal, genetically influenced personality trait, sensation seeking. Its expression in risky behaviors such as extreme and risky sports, vocations, substance abuse, unsafe sex, and crime, among others, is the topic of this fascinating and accessible book. In Sensation Seeking and Risky Behavior, Marvin Zuckerman offers a comprehensive view of the role of sensation seeking in a wide range of behaviors, from risky driving and sports through substance use, sex, and crime or other antisocial behaviors. How the personality trait sensation seeking relates to these risky behaviors is described and explained in terms of genetics, biology, attitudes, and expectancies. Insights into prevention and treatment of maladaptive forms of sensation seeking, like substance abuse and unsafe sexual activity, based on the published research, are offered. The author of this engagingly written book is one of the foremost experts in this important area of behavior.

309 pages, Hardcover

First published December 15, 2006