Variable Details

Available Studies

MAP, MARS

Scaled? 

Not Scaled

Variable Type 

Cross-Sectional

Variable Name 

impul_reflect

Categories

Affect and Personality

Impulsiveness
Novelty seeking subscale: Impulsiveness - Sum of 10 items (MAP only)

This variable is only available in MAP.

Impulsiveness is measured using the 10-item impulsiveness subscale of the novelty seeking scale. The novelty seeking scale comes from the Temperament and Character Inventory and consists of four subscales: exploratory excitability, impulsiveness, extravagance, disorderliness.

Participants are asked to respond true/mostly true or false/mostly false to each item. The subscale score ranges from 0 to 10 and is the number of item responses indicative of the trait. Higher scores indicate more impulsiveness while lower scores indicate reflection.

Participants are presented the following items:

Item no.ItemCoding
1I often do things based on how I feel at the moment without thinking about how they were done in the past.True = 1
2It is difficult for me to keep the same interests for a long time because my attention often shifts to something else.True = 1
3I like to think about things for a long time before I make a decision.False = 1
4I usually think about all the facts in detail before I make a decision.False = 1
5I hate to make decisions based only on my first impressions.False = 1
6I often follow my instincts, hunches, or intuition without thinking through all the details.True = 1
7I like to pay close attention to details in everything I do.False = 1
8I like to make quick decisions so I can get on with what has to be done.True = 1
9I nearly always think about all the facts in detail before I make a decision, even when other people demand a quick decision.False = 1
10I like to read everything when I am asked to sign any papers.False = 1

Response choices for each item:

CodingResponse
TrueTrue or mostly true
FalseFalse or mostly false

Note: The subscale score is calculated if at least half of the items are non-missing.

Reference (not in PubMed): Cloninger CR, Przybeck TR, Svrakic DM, Wetzel RD. The Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI): A guide to its development and use. St. Louis, MO: Center for Psychobiology of Personality. 1993.