-
The Association Between Sensation Seeking and Well-Being Among College-Attending Emerging Adults
- Journal of College Student Development
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 54, Number 1, January/February 2013
- pp. 17-28
- 10.1353/csd.2013.0004
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
Sensation seeking is a known risk factor for unsafe and reckless behavior among college students, but its association with well-being is unknown. Given that exploration plays an important psychosocial role during the transition to adulthood, we examined the possibility that sensation seeking is also associated with psychological well-being. In a large multisite US college sample (N = 8,020), scores on the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking were positively associated with risk behavior, psychological well-being, and eudaimonic well-being. When sensation seeking dimensions were examined separately, well-being was found to be associated with high novelty seeking but with low intensity seeking.