Learning Styles 2 – Sensation Seeking. The basic novelty drive – for good or bad.

This is the second short article on the Learning Styles Profile (LSP), a new system for understanding and improving your ability to learn. In this section, I will discuss the first of the five elements of this model – sensation seeking.

Have you noticed that some people seem to be adrenaline junkies – seeking out interesting experiences just for the sake of it? Other people seem quite happy to go through the same old routine day after day and would be horrified by the prospect of a high-adrenaline activity like bungee jumping, parachuting, or even turning up to work without a tie!

Why is this? Why are people different in this respect? The answer appears to come from research into another area altogether into people with what are sometimes referred to as ‘addictive personalities’ , people who tend to repeated get into trouble with such activities as illicit drug taking, promiscuous sex, and thrill-seeking criminal activity. Research suggests that people like this tend to have unusually high levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase (MAO), which breaks down dopamine and other neurotransmitters associated with the arousal and reward systems. The proposal is that people with low levels of MAO (and probably other neurological changes too) tend to require much greater levels of external stimulation to maintain their levels of dopamine (reward neurotransmitter) than people with normal levels of MAO. People with this variant will therefore tend to seek out novel stimulating situations more than other people.

The sensation seeking trait is just a biological drive, which of itself is neither good nor bad – the key is in how this drive is channelled. People who have difficulty channelling a high sensation seeking drive may well end up seeking quick thrills, which are not only unsatisfying in the long run, but may also be down-right destructive. Those high sensation seekers who are able to channel their drive will tend to be the high energy driven individuals who will rise to the top in whatever they do. The remaining four elements of the LSP describe the main channels through which this basic drive can be utilised.

So what does it mean if you have a low sensation seeking drive? Well, since it is thought to be a biologically (probably largely genetic) determined trait; there are limited prospects for changing your sensation seeking drive, without the use of drugs. (I will discuss so-called ‘cogs’ or cognitive enhancement drugs in another blog) So if you are the sort of person who isn’t highly driven to find new experiences for their own sake, then that’s probably just the kind of person you are. You may be able to develop a more curious approach, but it’s unlikely that this will ever be a strong part of your personality. However, there are lots of other drivers, which you may have. Perhaps you have a strong need for prestige or social status? Or perhaps working for your family is what really matters? If you aren’t driven by the need to know new things, you need to find what does motivate you and use that instead.

The key is self-knowledge – knowing what drives you, and channelling those drives to achieve desirable outcomes.