These thrill seekers have a characteristic personality trait. And it is she who determines how much we enjoy watching horror movies, climbing steep mountain slopes, driving racing cars, climbing frightening abandoned places or jumping with a parachute.
The sensational-search character trait - this is how psychologist Martin Zuckerman suggested calling it back in the 70s of the last century - is determined by the need for external stimuli, the desire to learn new things, spontaneity and the performance of exciting but risky physical exercises.
To determine this character trait, psychologists conducted special tests, during which it was found that those who earn more points during testing usually have lower levels of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol and higher levels of dopamine in the body than people with more low performance in tests. Therefore, getting into scary situations such as a dark, creepy haunted house, those same thrill seekers who have scored more points have more fun and less stress.
A 2018 study published in the journal Anxiety, Stress & Coping found that thrill seekers tend to be less stressed and perform better in risky sports, making them well-suited to work under stressful conditions such as service in special units. People in this group also thrive in other high-stress activities, such as working as emergency doctors or nurses.
According to a study published in 2019 in the journal BMC Pediatrics, this trait develops in people already in early childhood. Research has shown that children between the ages of 3 and 6 tend to have lower levels of desire for sensations than older children, indicating that the need for thrills may increase over time. The peak of thrill craving is usually in the later teen years, and this may explain why many scary stories and horror films are primarily targeted at people in this age group.
The study also found that boys have stronger thrill-seeking tendencies than girls, which researchers suggest may be the result of cultural influences. However, the boys and girls in the study expressed almost equal desire for new thrills.