Friends, porn, and punk: sensation seeking in personal relationships, Internet activities, and music preference among college students

Adolescence, Summer, 2004 by Robert S. Weisskirch, Laurel C. Murphy

Table 1
Correlations Between Sensation Seeking and Friendships

                                                Sensation Seeking
Variable                                 Total     Novelty    Intensity

Close friendships (scaled)              -.22 *       ns        -.17 *
Number of close friends (estimated)       ns       .25 **        ns
Casual friendships (scaled)              -.22*       ns          ns
Number of casual friends (estimated)    .27 **      .25 *        ns

Note. ns = not significant, *p <.05, **p <.01.

Table 2
Means and Standard Deviations for Sensation Seeking and
Internet Activities

                                       Sensation Seeking
                                           Total
                               Yes             No
Internet Activity               M    (SD)      M    (SD)       p

Past 24 hours
  Get sex-oriented            61.33 (7.41)   54.44 (5.89)    <.001
    material
  Download or play music      55.95 (6.18)   53.54 (6.61)     ns
  Play games                  56.74 (6.30)   54.50 (6.36)     ns
  Chat/instant message        55.96 (5.86)   53.73 (7.14)     ns
    with friends
Past week
  Conduct research            56.97 (7.24)   54.40 (5.88)     .05
  Chat/instant message        53.07 (7.04)   55.85 (6.06)     .05
    with friends
  Chat/instant message        51.15 (7.71)   55.68 (6.06)     .02
    with virtual friends
Past 30 days
  Read the news               53.00 (7.16)   56.01 (5.90)     .02
  Surf the Internet           60.00 (6.94)   54.70 (6.17)     .01

                                       Sensation Seeking
                                          Intensity
                               Yes             No
Internet Activity               M    (SD)      M    (SD)       p

Past 24 hours
  Get sex-oriented            31.69 (4.57)   26.60 (3.94)    <.001
    material
  Download or play music      27.89 (4.21)   25.70 (4.07)     .006
  Play games                  28.37 (4.08)   26.60 (4.28)     .03
  Chat/instant message        27.84 (4.00)   25.93 (4.52)     .02
    with friends
Past week
  Conduct research            28.49 (4.27)   26.57 (4.18)     .02
  Chat/instant message        26.03 (4.20)   27.47 (4.27)      ns
    with friends
  Chat/instant message        25.29 (4.34)   27.37 (4.27)      ns
    with virtual friends
Past 30 days
  Read the news               26.11 (3.78)   27.53 (4.42)      ns
  Surf the Internet           29.80 (4.98)   26.90 (4.16)     .04

                                       Sensation Seeking
                                          Novelty
                               Yes             No
Internet Activity               M    (SD)      M    (SD)       p

Past 24 hours
  Get sex-oriented            29.17 (4.97)   27.81 (3.78)      ns
    material
  Download or play music      27.88 (3.91)   28.10 (3.95)      ns
  Play games                  28.26 (4.15)   27.82 (3.82)      ns
  Chat/instant message        28.00 (3.72)   27.86 (4.27)      ns
    with friends
Past week
  Conduct research            28.58 (3.81)   27.68 (3.94)      ns
  Chat/instant message        27.07 (4.14)   28.23 (3.81)      ns
    with friends
  Chat/instant message        26.07 (4.43)   28.20 (3.79)      ns
    with virtual friends
Past 30 days
  Read the news               26.84 (4.29)   28.37 (3.70)      ns
  Surf the Internet           30.09 (3.15)   27.73 (3.92)      ns

Note. ns = not significant.

Table 3
Mean Scores on the Liking Scale and Correlations
Between Sensation Seeking and Music Preferences

                   Liking Scale                Sensation Seeking
Music Style             M           Total     Intensity    Novelty

Alternative            2.94          ns          ns          ns
Country                2.17          ns          ns          ns
Electronic/dance       2.28          ns          ns         .22 *
Heavy metal            2.44        .34 **      .28 **       .22 *
Hip hop                2.81          ns          ns          ns
Jazz                   2.44          ns          ns          ns
Latin                  2.40          ns        -.23 *       .19 *
Oldies                 3.00          ns        -.18 *        ns
Pop/rock               2.36          ns        -.23 *        ns
Punk                   2.51        .33 **      .29 **        ns
R & B                  2.74          ns        -.21 *        ns
Rap                    2.71          ns          ns          ns
Reggae                 3.04         .22 *        ns        .28 **
Ska                    2.26         .23 *        ns         .20 *
World                  2.47          ns          ns        .36 **

Note. Liking scale: 1 = do not like, 2 = somewhat dislike, 3 = like,
4 = like a lot.

ns = not significant, *p < .05, **p <.01.