ASSESSMENT OF SENSATION SEEKING BEHAVIOUR AMONG NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN FCT, ABUJA.

ABSTRACT

Sensation seeking is a personality trait that motivates individuals to indulge in risky behaviours to achieve novel experiences regardless of the danger involved. The aim of this study was to assess the sensation seeking trait among Nigerian university students in FCT, Abuja. Forty-five students from Baze University, Nile University and The University of Abuja in FCT were sampled for this study with fifteen (15) participants per University. Data was collected with the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS), a test developed by Marvin Zuckerman in 1979. The total mean of scores was reported (M= 18.20) which showed that the average score of the students was below the threshold of (25) of a maximum sensation seeking score of (40). Thus, the null hypothesis was accepted. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference between the scores of the universities and the results showed that there was no significant difference between the scores of the universities F(2)= 0.12, p= 0.988. This study contributed to the knowledge of sensation seeking in a west African setting as most research done on the construct has been in more western settings. For further research, a large-scale study is recommended to determine the predominance of this trait in the Nigerian society.