Different personality patterns in non‐socialized (juvenile delinquents) and socialized (air force pilot recruits) sensation seekers

Young delinquents are known to be sensation seekers. Not all sensation seekers become delinquents: many engage in socially accepted activities, such as mountaineering or parachute jumping. The present study compares 47 juvenile delinquents (mean age 17 years) with 18 Swedish air force pilot recruits (mean age 23 years) and 19 conscripts (mean age 18 years) as a control group. Sensation‐seeking behaviour, impulsiveness, and psychiatric/psychological vulnerability were measured by the Zuckerman Sensation‐Seeking Scales (SSS), the Karolinska Scales of Personality, and the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Two separate multivariate analyses of variance were performed, followed up by stepdown analyses to identify those personality scale scores that contributed uniquely. In order to clarify the relationships, the pooled within‐group correlations among scales were computed. Juvenile delinquents and pilot recruits were both high in sensation seeking, but on different subscales. Delinquents were high in impulsiveness, somatic anxiety, and extraversion–sociability, and low in socialization, suggesting psychiatric/psychological vulnerability. The findings may have implications for the treatment of juvenile delinquents. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.