Young men 'less adventurous than their fathers' They examined 72 previous sets of data collected between 1978 and 2012 on "sensation seeking" traits including seeking thrills or lower-risk new experiences, enjoying "disinhibited" situations like public speaking, and susceptibility to boredom. Men were also more likely than women to be disinhibited and become easily bored, but the differences between the sexes did not change over the 35-year period except in the case of adventure seeking. Writing in the Scientific Reports journal, the researchers said the results could be down to extreme sports becoming less "male-typed" in recent years, but emphasised that the decline in male interest was the key factor. "Women could be showing a greater willingness to engage in thrill and adventure seeking relative to men over time, while changes in absolute scores are being influenced by other factors such as average fitness levels," they said. The researchers added that the change could equally become to assessment questionnaires becoming outdated, with activities like skiing no longer considered as exciting or intense as they used to be.