The Interrelation of Sensation Seeking, Self-Attitude, and Approval Motivation: a Gender Aspect

Abstract

The paper studies the interrelation of sensation seeking, self-attitude, and approval motivation in men and women. The authors analyzed various approaches to studying the search for experiences and feelings as a personality trait. Explaining the relevance and novelty of the study the authors note that empirical studies inthis eld are still lacking.
The study sample consisted of 111 respondents (56 women and 55 men) at the age from 19 to 73 living in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Along with the gender aspect the authors also took into account the factor of the presence/absence of children. Theempirical study revealed numerous interrelations of sensation seeking, selfattitude, and approval motivation. The results showed that the men scored high on a measure of sensation seeking; this parameter did not depend on the presence/absence of children. The interrelation between sensation seeking and self-attitude was obvious in the men. There was no
evident relationship between sensation seeking and self-attitude in the women group. The men with a low level of self-management, self-acceptance, self-aection, selfesteem, and self-liking were predisposed to seeking new sensations, adventures, and risky behavior. The results of the study also showed that approval motivation had the following relation with self-attitude in the women group: a high level of approval
motivation correlated with a high level of self-attitude, notably with self-assurance, self-management, self-aection, and self-esteem. The authors also called attention to the fact that the respondents with children scored higher on the scale of approval motivation. Parents’ willingness to show themselves to good advantage in society isthe most likely explanation of these ndings.