Thrill and Adventure Seeking

What it measures

Fourteen items assess an individual's general desire to engage in physically demanding, risky, or high-speed activities such as skiing, skydiving, and water sports. Klesse et al. (2019) used this as a measure of adventurous self-image by adopting the Thrill and Adventure Seeking subscale from Zuckerman's (1971) Sensation Seeking Scale. In their analyses the items loaded onto a single factor with good internal consistency.

Response format

5-point Likert (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree)

Scale items

• I enjoy many of the rides in amusements parks.
• I often wish I could be a mountain climber.
• I sometimes like to do things that are a little frightening.
• I would like to take up the sport of water-skiing.
• I would like to try surfboard riding.
• I would like to learn to fly an airplane.
• I would like to go scuba diving.
• I like to drive in open convertibles.
• I would like to try parachute jumping.
• Sometimes I like to swim far out from the shore.
• I like to dive off the high board.
• I would like to drive or ride on a motorcycle.
• I would like to sail a long distance in a small but seaworthy sailing craft.
• I think I would enjoy the sensations of skiing very fast down a high mountain slope.

Full scale items shown. Always cite the original source when using this scale in research.

Usage notes & scoring

The original scale was developed by Zuckerman (1971) as a subscale of the broader Sensation Seeking Scale. Alpha was .89 in the preliminary study. The items focus on desire or preference rather than actual behaviour, making them suitable for measuring self-image rather than activity history.

Citation

Klesse, A-K., Cornil, Y., Dahl, D. W., & Gros, N. (2019). The secret ingredient is me: Customization prompts self-image-consistent product perceptions. Journal of Marketing Research, 56(5), 879–893.

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