[13] He then took up a position at Norwich State Hospital in Connecticut where subsequently he was hired at the Institute for Psychiatric Research undertaking personality assessments and where he constructed the Multiple Affect Adjective Check List (a state-trait self-report measure of anxiety, depression, and hostility).
[14] At the Institute, Zuckerman undertook research into anxiety and sensory deprivation (funded by NIMH grants) which ultimately led him to develop his well known Sensation Seeking Scale.
Subsequently, in 1969, he accepted an academic position in the Department of Psychology at the University of Delaware, where he spent more than 30 years teaching and undertaking research into sensation seeking and personality.
Zuckerman spent sabbaticals with eminent colleagues Hans Eysenck, Jeffrey Gray, and Robert Plomin, in England, where factor analytic studies showed that a combination of impulsivity and sensation seeking formed a reliable personality dimension.
[17] Zuckerman retired in September 2002, aged 74 years and resided in Philadelphia where he wrote journal articles and invited book chapters for international handbooks until shortly before his death.