Sensation Seeking and Self-esteem Differences among Illegal Street Racers in Malaysia

Authors

  • Noh Amit
  • Rozmi Ismail
  • Norhayati Ibrahim
  • Zaini Said
  • Shazli Ezzat Ghazali

Abstract

Although illegal (motorcycle) street racing is alarming, little is known about the age, educational and psychological characteristics of these illegal (motorcycle) street racers (mat rempit). Therefore, the aim of this research is to examine the age, educational and selected psychological characteristics of mat rempit in Malaysia. This cross-sectional research was carried out with 197 mat rempit who participated in the Centre for Empowering Youth (Pusat Pemerkasaan Remaja—PERKASA) intervention program. A set of survey questionnaire which comprises of demographic information and measure of sensation seeking and self-esteem were administered. The correlation analysis and a series of one-way ANOVAs were carried out. The correlation analyses showed that there was a strong positive correlation between sensation seeking and global sensation. While impulsivity was strongly correlated with global sensation, impulsivity was having low positive correlation with mild offence. The ANOVA analysis showed that there was no significant difference on sensation seeking, impulsivity, global sensation, self-esteem based on different age groups. However, the only significant difference was reported on impulsivity based on education level differences. Further analysis with Tukey post hoc test showed that the significant difference on impulsivity was found between primary education group and upper secondary education group. The strong correlation between sensation seeking and global sensation has the potential to guide researchers in treating these constructs for future research. Knowledge on educational differences has the potential to facilitate understanding of impulsivity among mat rempit in Malaysia context.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n1s1p96

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Published

2016-01-07

How to Cite

Sensation Seeking and Self-esteem Differences among Illegal Street Racers in Malaysia. (2016). Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 7(1 S1), 96. https://www.richtmann.org/journal/index.php/mjss/article/view/8724