Perceptualand Motor Skills, 2003,97,965-970 O I'erce~tual and Motor Skills 2003 GENERATION AND SEX DIFFERENCES IN SENSATION SEEKING: RESULTS OF THE FAMILY STUDY' ANA BUTKOWC AND DENIS BRATKO Utzivenitj of Zagreb Summary.-Previous research regarding sex and .~gc differences for sensation seeking in English, American, Canadian, and Australian s~mples showed clear sex dil- ferences and a decline of sensation seeking across ages. The 1978 Form V of the Sen- sation Seeking Scale was administered to a Croatian sample of 151 high school stu- dents and their 226 parents. Analysis showed that parents had lower mean scores than their children, consistent with the hypothesis that sensation seeking declines with age. Male subjects scored higher on the total Sensation Seeking, and Thrill and Adventure Seelung, Disinhibition, and Boredom Susceptibility subscales than female subjects, while there was no daerence between male and female subjects on the Experience Seeking scale. Also, several sex-by-generation interactions were significant. The construct of sensation seeking was based on the idea that there are consistent individual differences in optimal stimulation and arousal. Zucker- man (1994) described sensation seeking as a trait defined by the seeking of varied, novel, complex, and intense sensations and experiences and the d- ingness to take physical, social, legal, and financial risks for the sake of such experience. Sensation seekmg has been widely researched since the construc- tion of the first sensation-seelung scale in the early 1960s. Continuous re- search has led to the development of different forms of the Sensation Seek- ing Scale. These forms vary in item content, length, response format, e.g., forced-choice format, true-false format, etc., and targeted population (forms for adults and forms for children. Various forms have also been translated into many languages, sometimes with changes in original items. Form V of the Sensation Seeking Scale (Zuckerman, Eysenck, & Ey- senck, 1978) is its most widely used form, although some researchers have reported certain limitations. The problems could have come from the forced-choice format because respondents could find it frustrating and per- plexing if they feel that neither or both of the choices apply to them (Arnett, 1994). Several items concern strenuous physical activities (sluing, mountain climbing, etc.) which means that age differences in the responses could be the indication of the age differences in physical strength and endu- rance and not the indication of the age ddferences in sensation seeking (Ar- nett, 1994). Jackson and Maraun (1996) discuss whether the scale measures 'Address correspondence to Ana Butkovit, De artment of Psychology, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Zagreb, LutiCeva 3, 100 000 zagre!, Croatia or e-mail (ana.butkovic@ffig.hr).