Factorial invariance across sex of the Form V of the Sensation-Seeking Scale.

Abstract

The factorial properties across sex of Zuckerman's (1977) Sensation-Seeking Scale, Form V, were examined in a sample of 335 female and 363 male Australian subjects. A four-factor solution was applied to the data of both sex groups to test the correspondence with Zuckerman's postulated four distinct dimensions of sensation seeking. The results generally support the existence of the four dimensions; however, the percentage of total variance accounted for is only 33% for females and 31% for males. No additional factor accounted for more than 4% of total variance. The factor structures of the male and female samples were compared and were found to be very similar. Attention is drawn to items that do not load significantly on the expected factor, multifactorial items, and items with loadings that suggest sex differences in the connotations of item content.Factorial similarity between British and American samples of males and females was the basis of the construction of Form V of the Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS; Zuckerman, Eysenck, & Eysenck, 1978). The new form snowed generally good cross-national and cross-sex correspondence of its four subscales, although Ridgeway and Russell (1980), with a Canadian sample, have questioned the psychological equivalence of the subscales across sex. Each subscale contains 10 items selected to represent a distinct dimension of sensation seeking. The subscales are Thrill and Adventure Seeking, Experience Seeking, Disinhibition, and Boredom Susceptibility. The replicability of Boredom Susceptibility is weak relative to the other subscales. There is no published examination of the stability of the subscale structure in another English-speaking culture and across the sexes. MethodThe present study examines the degree of factorial invariance across sex of the SSS Form V, using 335 female and 363 male Australian subjects. The subjects represented a wide range of occupational and educational categories Requests for reprints should be sent to

Factorial Structure of the Sensation-Seeking Scale-Form V: Confirmatory Factorial Analyses in Nonclinical and Clinical Samples

“…Sub se quently, the SSS-Form V was con structed so that its 4 subscales each con sisted of 10 items from Form IV, with mini mum load ings of 0.3 on the fac tor to be rep re sented by that subscale. Zuck er man and others (13) and Ball and oth ers (14) dem on strated the fac tor invari ance of the 4 fac tors across cul tures by us ing ex plora tory fac to rial analy sis (EFA).…”

Physiological substrates of a psychological dimension

“…Subsequent factor analyses in Australia (Ball, Farnill & Wangeman 1983) and America (Stewart & MacGriffith 1975) have revealed essentially the same four factors. S. B. G. Eysenck and H. J. Eysenck (1977) have adopted many of the items from the TAS scale in a scale they call "venturesomeness," and Schalling, Edman, and Asberg (1983) have constructed a scale called "monotony avoidance" that resembles the BS scale.…”

Informed consent to genetic research: Student participation and perception of risk

“…The factor structure of the SSS-V subscales has been adequately replicated across a variety of western cultures, with more examination needed in other cultures (Ball, Farnill, & Wangeman, 1983;Birenbaum, 1986;Carton, Jouvent, & Widlocher, 1992).…”