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The Art of Manliness

Are You a Thrill Seeker or a Chill Seeker?

The Art of Manliness

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 β€’ 14.5K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 30 October 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This episode starts off a little differently than others β€” with a short quiz, something called the Brief Sensation-Seeking Scale, which will tell you whether you're what psychologists call a high sensation-seeker or a low sensation-seeker. Read the following eight statements, and then pick a number from 1 to 5 that corresponds to your level of agreement, where 1 is "Not at all like me," 2 is "Not like me," 3 is "Unsure or both like and not like me," 4 is "Like me," and 5 is "Very much like me." I would like to explore strange places. I would like to take off on a trip with no pre-planned routes or timetables. I get restless when I spend too much time alone. I prefer friends who are excitingly unpredictable. I like wild parties. I would love to have new and exciting experiences, even if they are illegal. I would like to try bungee jumping. I would like to do frightening things. Now add up all the numbers together. If you scored between 8 and 16, you are a low sensation-seeker. If you scored between 16 and 28, you're about average for sensation-seeking. If you scored over 28, you're a high sensation-seeker. Today on the show, I unpack what these categories of personality mean with Dr. Kenneth Carter, a clinical psychologist, a professor, and the author of Buzz!: Inside the Minds of Thrill-Seekers, Daredevils, and Adrenaline Junkies. Ken explains how sensation-seeking exists on a spectrum between chill seekers, who like safety and calm routine, and thrill seekers, who enjoy chaos, risk, and novelty. He shares how there are actually four components to high sensation-seeking, and which two tend to get people in trouble. And we talk about whether being high or low sensation-seeking is a matter of nature or nurture, how high sensation-seekers fare in romantic relationships and what they should consider in choosing a career, and what the world's chill seekers can learn from its thrill seekers.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness Podcast.

0:03.7

So I'm going to start this episode out a bit differently today than others by giving you a little

0:07.7

quiz. It's something called the brief sensation-seeking scale which will tell you whether you're what psychologists call a high

0:14.5

sensation seeker or a low sensation seeker. So I'm going to read you eight

0:18.8

statements and then you're going to pick a number from one to five, where one is

0:22.3

not at all like me, two is not like me three is

0:26.0

unsure or both like and not like me four is like me and five is very much

0:31.0

like me all right got that are you ready got your pen and paper

0:33.7

all right so here we go here's the first statement I would like to explore

0:37.6

strange places so remember assigned the statement a number one through five where one is not at all like me and five is very much

0:45.1

like me. So again statement number one I would like to explore strange places.

0:50.5

All right number two I would like to take off on a trip with no pre-planned routes or

0:55.4

time tables. Number three, I get restless when I spend too much time alone.

1:01.2

Number four, I prefer friends who are excitingly unpredictable.

1:08.1

Number five, I like wild parties. Number six, I would love to have new and exciting experiences,

1:16.0

even if they are illegal.

1:19.0

Number seven, I would like to try bungee jumping.

1:23.0

Number eight, I would like to try bungee jumping. Number 8, I would like to do frightening things.

1:27.0

Okay, now what I want you to do is add up all those numbers together.

1:31.0

If you score between 8 and 16, you are a low sensation seeker. If you

1:35.9

score between 16 and 28, you're about average for sensation seeking. And if you

1:40.6

scored over 28, you are a high sensation seeker. Today on the show I'll impact what these categories of personality mean with Dr. Kenneth Carter, a clinical psychologist, professor and the author of Buzz, inside the minds of thrill seekers, daredevils, and adrenaline junkies.

...

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