Marvin Zuckerman (March 21, 1928, in Chicago – November 8, 2018[1]) was Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Delaware.[2] Zuckerman is best known for his research into the psychobiological basis of human personality,[3][4] sensory deprivation,[5][6] mood state measurement,[7][8] and sensation seeking.[9][10][11] His work was particularly inspired by eminent research psychologists, Hans Eysenck (3rd most highly cited psychologist)[12] and Arnold Buss.

Marvin Zuckerman
Born(1928-03-21)March 21, 1928
DiedNovember 8, 2018(2018-11-08) (aged 90)
Philadelphia
NationalityAmerican
Alma materNew York University
Known forSensory Deprivation; Psychobiology of Personality; Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (MAACL); Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ); Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS)
Scientific career
FieldsPersonality, Sensation seeking
InstitutionsUniversity of Delaware
ThesisThe effect of frustration on the perception of neutral and aggressive words (1954)

Academic career

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Zuckerman earned his Ph.D. at New York University in 1954 in clinical psychology.[13] He then took up a position at Norwich State Hospital in Connecticut where subsequently he was hired at the Institute for Psychiatric Research undertaking personality assessments and where he constructed the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (a state-trait self-report measure of anxiety, depression, and hostility).[14] At the Institute, Zuckerman undertook research into anxiety and sensory deprivation (funded by NIMH grants) which ultimately led him to develop his well known Sensation Seeking Scale. Subsequently, in 1969, he accepted an academic position in the Department of Psychology at the University of Delaware, where he spent more than 30 years teaching and undertaking research into sensation seeking and personality.[10] His biochemical, psychophysiological and genetic studies demonstrated that sensation seeking was a major biologically-based trait construct.[15][16] Also, his research into augmenting/reducing of the cortical evoked potential provided a reliable model of brain functioning in high and low sensation seekers. Zuckerman spent sabbaticals with eminent colleagues Hans Eysenck, Jeffrey Gray, and Robert Plomin, in England, where factor analytic studies showed that a combination of impulsivity and sensation seeking formed a reliable personality dimension.

In 1975, Zuckerman commenced a series of presentations at international meetings in Europe. Zuckerman credits Hans Eysenck's work into the biological approach to personality as being inspirational, before spending a year with Hans Eysenck at the Maudsley Hospital in London.[10] He also credits Eysenck for giving him the opportunity to work with David Fulker, and Sybil Eysenck on the genetics of sensation seeking at the Maudsley Institute in London.[10] Zuckerman has written hundreds of highly influential research articles, book chapters, and many prominent books. He also serves on the editorial board of Personality and Individual Differences, which was founded by Hans Eysenck (Editor-in-Chief).[17]

Life

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Zuckerman retired in September 2002, aged 74 years and resided in Philadelphia where he wrote journal articles and invited book chapters for international handbooks until shortly before his death.[11][18][19] as well as having revised his 1991 book the Psychobiology of Personality,[15][20] and writing new books on sensation seeking[21] and personality science, respectively.[3]

Sensation seeking

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Sensation seeking is described as a personality trait construct that is defined by the search for feelings and experiences that are "varied, novel, complex and intense."[22] Zuckerman developed the sensation seeking construct during his tenure at the University of Delaware. His sensation seeking research led him to create a personality instrument called the Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) which purports to measure individual differences in terms of their sensory preferences.[19] The Sensation Seeking Scale was designed to measure how much stimulation a person requires and the excitement that is admitted. Zuckerman hypothesized that people who are high sensation seekers require a lot of stimulation to reach their Optimal Level of Arousal. When the stimulation or sensory input is not met, the person finds the experience unpleasant.[23] Zuckerman argues that sensation seeking is one of many "core traits" that describe human personality, and is independent of other major dimensions of personality (e.g., Extraversion-Introversion, Neuroticism-Stability, and Psychoticism - as measured in the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire or EPQ-R).[24]

Selected bibliography

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  • Zuckerman, M. (1979). Sensation Seeking: Beyond the Optimal Level of Arousal. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
  • Zuckerman, M. (1994). Behavioral Expressions and Biosocial Bases of Sensation Seeking. New York: Cambridge University Press.
  • Zuckerman, M. (1999). Vulnerability to Psychopathology: A Biosocial Model. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  • Zuckerman, M. (2005). Psychobiology of Personality (2nd edn.). New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 052181569X
  • Zuckerman, M. (2007). Sensation Seeking and Risky Behavior. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  • Zuckerman, M. (2011). Personality Science: Three Approaches and their Applications to the Causes and Treatment of Depression. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  • Aluja, A., Kuhlman, M., Aluja, A. (2010).

References

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  1. ^ In Memoriam: Marvin Zuckerman
  2. ^ "Simons, R.F." udel.edu.
  3. ^ a b Zuckerman, M. (2011). Personality Science: Three Approaches and Their Applications to the Causes and Treatment of Depression. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  4. ^ Zuckerman, M. (2002). Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ) An alternative five-factorial model. In B. DeRaad & M. Perugini (Eds.), Big Five Assessment (pp. 377-396). Seattle, WA: Hogrefe & Huber.
  5. ^ Zuckerman, M., & Cohen, N. (1964). Sources of reports of visual and auditory sensations in perceptual isolation experiments. Psychological Bulletin, 62, 1–20.
  6. ^ Zuckerman, M., Persky, H., Miller, L., & Levine, B. (1970). Sensory deprivation versus sensory variation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 76, 76 –82.
  7. ^ Zuckerman. M., Lubin, B., & Rinck, C. M. (1983). Construction of new scales for the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List. Journal of Behavioral Assessment, 5, 119-129.
  8. ^ Zuckerman, M. et al. (1986). Discriminant validity of the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List-Revised. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 8, 119-128.
  9. ^ Zuckerman, M. (1990). The psychophysiology of sensation seeing. Journal of Personality, 58, 313-345.
  10. ^ a b c d Zuckerman, Marvin (2014-10-10). Sensation Seeking (Psychology Revivals): Beyond the Optimal Level of Arousal. Psychology Press. ISBN 9781317627340.
  11. ^ a b Zuckerman, M. (2008). Personality and sensation seeking. In Boyle, G.J., Matthews, G., & Saklofske, D.H. (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Personality Theory and Assessment: Vol. 1 - Personality Theories and Models (pp. 379–398). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. ISBN 9781412946513
  12. ^ Haggbloom, S. J. et al. (2002). The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. Review of General Psychology, 6, 139-152. (see Table 1, p. 142)
  13. ^ [1] Zuckerman, M. (1954). Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.
  14. ^ Zuckerman, M., & Lubin, B. (1985). Manual for the Revised Multiple Affect Adjective Check List. San Diego, CA: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.
  15. ^ a b Zuckerman, M. (2005). The biological basis of personality (2nd edn.). New York: Cambridge. ISBN 0 521 81569-X Online ISBN 9780511813733 [2]
  16. ^ Zuckerman, M. (2002). Genetics of sensation seeking. In J. Benjamin, R.P. Epstein, & R.H. Belmaker (Eds.), Molecular Genetics and the Human Personality (pp. 193-210). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.
  17. ^ "Marvin Zuckerman". Big Think. Retrieved 2016-12-08.
  18. ^ Zuckerman, M. (2008). Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ): An operational definition of the alternative five factorial model of personality. In Boyle, G.J., Matthews, G., & Saklofske, D.H. (Eds.), The SAGE Handbook of Personality Theory and Assessment: Vol. 2 - Personality Measurement and Testing (pp. 219–238). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE. ISBN 9781412946520
  19. ^ a b Zuckerman, M., & Aluja, A. (2015). Measures of sensation seeking. In Boyle, G.J., Saklofske, D.H., & Matthews, G. (Eds.), Measures of Personality and Social Psychological Constructs (pp. 352–380). Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press. ISBN 9780123869159 [3]
  20. ^ Stelmack, R.M. (2004). (Ed.), On the Psychobiology of Personality: Essays in Honor of Marvin Zuckerman. Amsterdam: Elsevier. ISBN 0080442099; ISBN 9780080442099
  21. ^ Zuckerman, M. (2007). Sensation Seeking and Risky Behavior. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
  22. ^ Zuckerman, Marvin (2009). "Chapter 31. Sensation seeking". In Leary, Mark R.; Hoyle, Rick H. (eds.). Handbook of Individual Differences in Social behavior. New York/London: Guildford. pp. 455–465. ISBN 978-1-59385-647-2.
  23. ^ Larsen, Randy J.; David. M. Buss (2008). Personality Psychology; Domains of Knowledge about Human Nature (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. p. 223. ISBN 9780073531908.
  24. ^ Eysenck, H.J., & Eysenck, S.B.G. (1991). Eysenck Personality Questionnaire - Revised. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
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