Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale (SSSS)

What Is the Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale (SSSS)?

The SSSS is a 10-item measure of how much you are drawn to novel, intense, and varied sexual experiences -- including a willingness to take physical and social risks for them.

Kalichman and Rompa published it in 1995, alongside the Sexual Compulsivity Scale (SCS), and the two are often used together. The SSSS asks about appetite for novelty; the SCS asks about loss of control. Different things.

Where it comes from

The scale is rooted in Zuckerman's sensation seeking theory -- the idea that some people need more stimulation to feel "enough." Kalichman adapted it specifically for sexual behavior because the general sensation seeking scale had outdated items and didn't predict sexual risk-taking well enough on its own.

It is not a diagnostic tool and doesn't label anything as "bad." People high in sexual sensation seeking tend to get bored with routine and seek variety. People on the low end prefer what is familiar. Both are normal.

Scale Structure

• 10 items, single-factor structure
• Time: About 3 minutes

Sample items

• "I like wild 'uninhibited' sexual encounters."
• "My sexual partners probably think I am a 'risk taker.'"
• "I enjoy the sensations of intercourse without a condom."

Item 10 directly assesses risk tolerance and is central to the construct.

Psychometrics

Internal consistency: Good across samples. Item-total correlations range from .25 to .79. Test-retest: r = .69 at 2 weeks, r = .78 at 3 months.

Validity: Higher SSSS scores predict more sexual partners, lower condom use, and more one-night stands. Berg (2008) found it was the single strongest predictor distinguishing men who have unprotected sex without concern from those who simply don't engage in the behavior.

Notes

• The original paper is paywalled, but the scale items themselves are public domain and freely usable.
• This measures a personality trait, not a disorder. High scores don't mean something is wrong -- but in HIV prevention contexts, they do suggest a need for targeted intervention.
• A Spanish version (Gutierrez-Martinez et al., 2007) showed acceptable reliability and validity.

References

• Kalichman, S. C., & Rompa, D. (1995). Sexual sensation seeking and sexual compulsivity scales: Reliability, validity, and predicting HIV risk behavior. Journal of Personality Assessment, 65(3), 586-601.
• Berg, R. C. (2008). The Sexual Sensation Seeking Scale: Psychometric properties and relationships with risky sexual behavior among men who have sex with men. Journal of Homosexuality, 55(4), 642-658.