A Critique of the Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale:

Issues of Reliability and Validity

Philip Osteen
R! "#$%: Psycho&etric 'heory
(r) *athy +reen
,inter -$$"
0
Introduction
This article is a critique of the Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale (SSSS; Kalichman
et al., 199!, "ith an em#hasis on relia$ilit% and &alidit%. 'lthough there ha&e $een
multi#le studies in&estigating a &ariet% of mediating factors associated "ith failure to
ado#t safe(sex #ractices, there has $een relati&el% little research into #ersonalit% traits
related to )I*(risk $eha&ior (Kalichman et al., 199!. +ased on #rior research linking
sensation seeking to high(risk sexual $eha&ior (,isher - .iso&ich, 1990; as cited in
Kalichman et al., 199!, and dra"ing hea&il% on the /uckerman Sensation Seeking Scale
(/uckerman et al., 1901; as cited in Kalichman et al., 199!, the authors designed the
SSSS to s#ecificall% address sensation seeking in reference to sexual $eha&ior. In
addition to items measuring sexual sensation seeking, t"o su$scales "ere also included
to measure non(sexual ex#erience seeking and sexual com#ulsi&it% (Kalichman et al.,
199!.
.ethod
The SSSS "as de&elo#ed &ia a three ste# #rocess. ,irst, the authors re&ie"ed the
original /uckerman Scale and selected items "ith high factor loadings from each of the
four factors identified. These items "ere then #resented to a #anel of fi&e, culturall%
di&erse ga% men "ho refined item terminolog% and de&elo#ed sexuall% related items.
The final set of items "as then #ilot(tested "ith a small grou# of sexuall% di&erse men
and "omen. The same #rocess "as follo"ed "ith the non(sexual ex#erience seeking
su$scale and the sexual com#ulsi&it% su$scale. Items for all three su$scales "here #laced
on a four(#oint res#onse scale ranging from 2not at all like me3 to 2&er% much like me.3
Items com#rising the three su$scales are listed in the article (see '##endix '!.
1
In addition to the SSSS, res#ondents also com#leted a num$er of measures
selected to test con&ergent and di&ergent &alidit%. These added measures included the
4osen$erg Self(5steem Scale, the 678' 8oneliness Scale, and the 9ercei&ed Sexual
7ontrol Scale. 'll three measures #roduced acce#ta$le al#ha coefficients (0.0: to 0.1;!
"ith the target #o#ulation of the SSSS stud% (Kalichman et al., 199!. 9artici#ants "ere
also asked to com#lete o$<ecti&e self(re#ort measures of su$stance use and sexual
$eha&ior for the #re&ious three months. ,inall%, #artici#ants rated a series of sexual
$eha&iors re#resenting &ar%ing le&els of )I*(related risk in terms of #ercei&ed #leasure.
' total of 10: self(identified ga% men #artici#ated in the #ro<ect. Su$<ects "ere recruited
through a &ariet% of communit% outreach acti&ities.
4esults= 4elia$ilit%
>efined as 2the #ro#ortion of &ariance attri$uta$le to the true score of the latent
&aria$le (>e*ellis, ?00@, #. ?0!,3 relia$ilit% is the a$ilit% of an instrument to consistentl%
measure &ariance in the true score "hile minimiAing error. 'cce#ta$le le&els of internal
consistenc% "ere demonstrated for each su$scale of the SSSS= sexual sensation seeking
(B0.0;!, non(sexual ex#erience seeking (B0.09!, and sexual com#ulsi&it% (B0.19;
Kalichman et al., 199!. The authors #ro&ide 2item(to(total3 correlation ta$les for each
su$scale (Kalichman et al., 199, ##. @19(@90!, "hich also sho" that items com#rising
each su$scale "ere consistent "ith the total scale content. Tem#oral sta$ilit% "as
demonstrated $% ha&ing a su$set of #artici#ants (N=36) com#lete the scale a second time,
t"o "eeks after the first administration, %ielding acce#ta$le test(retest al#ha coefficients=
sexual sensation seeking (B0.09!, non(sexual ex#erience seeking (B0.19!, and sexual
com#ulsi&it% (B0.9;; Kalichman et al., 199!.
?
4esults= *alidit%
The de&elo#ers of the SSSS re#ort multi#le methods for estimating the &alidit% of
the scale, and in #articular, focus on con&ergent, di&ergent, and discriminant &alidit%.
Through a fairl% concise literature re&ie", the authors esta$lish em#irical su##ort for the
theoretical frame"ork underl%ing sexual sensation seeking and its relationshi# to high(
risk sexual acti&it%, there$% #ro&iding su##ort for the construct &alidit% of the SSSS.
'dditionall%, the% #ro&ide em#irical su##ort for their choice of measures to indicate $oth
con&ergent and di&ergent &alidit%. 's identified a$o&e, the authors included a num$er of
additional measures along "ith the SSSS and demonstrated strong correlations among a
num$er of items (see correlation matrix, #. @91; Kalichman et al., 199!. The strongest
correlation "as $et"een sexual sensation seeking and num$er of high(risk sexual
encounters. .oderate()igh #ositi&e correlations "ere also demonstrated $et"een sexual
sensation seeking, alcohol use, sexual self(control, sexual com#ulsi&it%, and non(sexual
ex#erience seeking (Kalichman et al., 199!. Con(sexual ex#erience seeking and sexual
com#ulsi&it% "ere in&ersel% correlated "ith sexual self(control (Kalichman et al., 199!.
Sexual com#ulsi&it% demonstrated a significant #ositi&e correlation "ith loneliness and a
negati&e correlation "ith self(esteem (Kalichman et al., 199!.
The authors also attem#ted to su##ort the discriminant, or #redicti&e, &alidit% of
the SSSS in reference to high(risk sexual $eha&ior. The authors di&ided res#ondents into
t"o grou#s, 2high(risk3 and 2lo"(risk,3 as determined $% self(re#orted sexual $eha&ior in
the #re&ious three months. The% then #erformed a ste#"ise discriminant function
anal%sis $et"een the t"o grou#s using multi#le su$scale scores as de#endent &aria$les.
>e#endent &aria$les "ere scores on sexual sensation seeking, sexual self(control, self(
@
esteem, loneliness, and su$stance use. .en in the high(risk grou# "ere more likel% to
ha&e used alcohol and drugs in the #re&ious three months and to score higher on sexual
sensation seeking (Kalichman et al., 199!. +ased on e&idence that sexual sensation
seeking, su$stance use, and age co&ar%, the authors conducted further anal%sis on sexual
sensation seeking "hile controlling for the other t"o &aria$les. The% determined that
sexual sensation seeking ex#lains a significant #ro#ortion of unique &ariance in risk%
sexual $eha&ior (Kalichman et al., 199!.
7onclusion
In general, the authors do an adequate <o$ of adhering to esta$lished guidelines
for scale de&elo#ment (>e*ellis, ?00@; +enson - 7lark, 191?!. The most o$&ious
"eakness in this #articular #rocess is the relati&el% small sam#le siAe (N=106), although
this ma% re#resent an initial #ilot #hase; a fact that is not s#ecified $% the authors.
,urther testing of the SSSS "ith a larger sam#le siAe "ould $e recommended. There are,
ho"e&er, se&eral strong elements #resent in the de&elo#ment of the SSSS as "ell. In
#articular, the authors #lace significant em#hasis and im#ortance on esta$lishing some
assessment of &alidit% for the SSSS, and attem#t to do so in a &ariet% of "a%s. Their
e&idence su##orts a claim of &alidit% as assessed through measures of construct,
di&ergent, con&ergent, and discriminant &alidit%. 8ike"ise, their e&idence su##orts the
claim of an acce#ta$le le&el of relia$ilit% among su$scales and the scale as a "hole. The
authors also make a strong case for the scientific im#ortance and &alue of the SSSS as a
means of further assessing and understanding factors contri$uting to high(risk sexual
$eha&iors and the continued risk of )I* infection among ga% men.

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