title: Sensation seeking and the aversive motivational system.
abstract: Sensation seeking (SS) has traditionally been viewed as a phenomenon of the appetitive motivational system. The limited SS research exploring contributions from the aversive motivational system reveals greater anxious reactivity to dangerous activities among low sensation seekers. The present study extends this line of work by comparing levels of fear and anxiety during anticipation of predictable and unpredictable aversive stimuli across high- and low-SS groups. Low sensation seekers displayed greater fear-potentiated startle (FPS) to predictable aversive stimuli, and only those low on SS showed FPS and skin conductance response effects during experimental contexts in which aversive stimuli were delivered unpredictably. Findings implicate enhanced apprehensive anticipation among those low on SS as a potential deterrent for their participation in intense and threatening stimulus events.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health, Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program, Bethesda, MD 20892-2670, USA. lisseks@intra.nimh.nih.gov
authors.forename: Shmuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lissek
authors.forename: Johanna M P
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Baas
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Pine
authors.forename: Kaebah
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Orme
authors.forename: Sharone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dvir
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Rosenberger
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grillon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D004924:Escape Reaction; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D005712:Galvanic Skin Response; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D013216:Reflex, Startle