Variable Details
Available Studies
MAP, MARS
Categories
Affect and Personality
Exploratory excitability
Novelty seeking subscale: Exploratory excitability - Sum of 11 items (MAP only)
This variable is only available in MAP.
Exploratory excitability is measured using the 11-item exploratory excitability 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, and disorderliness.
Participants are asked to respond true/mostly true or false/mostly false to each item. The subscale score ranges from 0 to 11 and is the number of item responses indicative of the trait. Higher scores indicate more exploratory excitability while lower scores indicate stoic rigidity.
Participants are presented the following items:
| Item no. | Item | Coding |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | I often try new things for fun or thrills, even if most people think it is a waste of time. | True = 1 |
| 2 | I like old 'tried but true' ways of doing things much better than trying 'new and improved' ways. | False = 1 |
| 3 | In conversations, I am much better as a listener than a talker. | False = 1 |
| 4 | I like to stay at home better than to travel or explore new places. | False = 1 |
| 5 | I have a reputation as someone who is very practical and does not act on emotion. | False = 1 |
| 6 | I usually demand very good practical reasons before I am willing to change my old ways of doing things. | False = 1 |
| 7 | I hate to change the way I do things, even if many people tell me there is a new and better way to do it. | False = 1 |
| 8 | I prefer to start conversations, rather than waiting for others to talk to me. | True = 1 |
| 9 | I like to explore new ways of doing things. | True = 1 |
| 10 | I am slower than most people to get excited about new ideas and activities. | False = 1 |
| 11 | When nothing new is happening, I usually start looking for something that is thrilling or exciting. | True = 1 |
Response choices for each item:
| Coding | Response |
|---|---|
| True | True or mostly true |
| False | False or mostly false |
None: 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.