Exploring the need for external input through the prism of social, material and sensation seeking input

Abstract

External input is any kind of physical stimulation created by an individual's surroundings that can be detected by the senses. The present research established a novel conceptualization of this construct by investigating it in relation to the needs for material, social and sensation seeking input, and by testing whether these needs predict psychological functioning during long- and short-term input deprivation. It was established that the three needs constitute different dimensions of an overarching construct (i.e. need for external input). The research also suggested that the needs for social and sensation seeking input are negatively linked to people's experiences of long-term input deprivation (i.e. COVID-19 restrictions), and that the need for material input may negatively predict the experiences of short-term input deprivation (i.e. sitting in a chair without doing anything else but thinking). Overall, this research indicates that the needs for social, material and sensation seeking input may have fundamental implications for experiences and actions in a range of different contexts.

Keywords: input; materialism; self-sufficiency; social; stimulation.

Figure 1.

Factor structure of the NEIS evaluated using second-order CFAs on Samples 1 (a), 2 (b) and 3 (c). Indices RMSEA and CFI were computed based on recommendations by Savalei [61]. All item and factor loadings are standardized; for the content of each item, table 1. Coefficients α refer to Cronbach's αs. NEIS-S indicates the need for social input; NEIS-M the need for material input; and NEIS-SS the need for sensation seeking input. NEIS-NFI corresponds to the need for input as the higher order factor. In Sample 1, the correlations between NEIS-S and NEIS-M, NEIS-S and NEIS-SS, and NEIS-M and NEIS-SS were r = 0.529, r = 0.644 and r = 0.576, respectively; in Sample 2, they were r = 0.448, r = 0.469 and r = 0.451; and in Sample 3, they were r = 0.338, r = 0.477 and r = 0.398 (all ps < 0.001).