This article reports the development of a Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS) designed to quantify the construct: "optimal stimulation level." Items were written, using the construct as a guide, and given to undergraduates. The items were factor analyzed. A general factor was found and the item-factor correlation pattern was similar in males and females. In another sample, satisfactory reliability for the SSS was obtained and it was found to be positively correlated with field independence as measured by the Embedded Figures Test. In a third sample, nonsignificant correlations between SSS and Howard's Stimulus Seeking Maze tests were found. A significant negative correlation between SSS and anxiety, as measured by the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List was obtained.

No abstract