Stimulus intensity control and personality: A research note

Previous research has suggested that variations in augmenting-reducing, extraversion, and sensation seeking might be explained in terms of a common stimulus intensity control mechanism. However, empirical tests of this hypothesized relationship have produced equivocal findings. The present study attempts to clarify the issue by analyzing scores for extraversion, sensation seeking, and both cortical and questionnaire measures of augmenting-reducing obtained from the same sample of subjects. Apart from a significant positive correlation between the questionnaire index of reducing and sensation seeking, which have not previously been investigated, the results show no evidence of a systematic relationship among the variables.