Abstract
Male Ss participated in an experiment designed to investigate the hypothesis that mild levels of sexual arousal would serve to inhibit subsequent physical aggression. Consistent with this suggestion, Ss exposed to two types of erotic stimuli (“cheesecake” or nudes) directed shocks of significantly shorter duration to a confederate of the E than Ss exposed only to neutral pictures of scenery, furniture, and abstract art. An interpretation of these findings based on the suggestion that mild sexual arousal is pleasurable, and serves to induce considerable positive affect among Ss, was proposed.
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The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation to Paul Bell for his aid in performing the statistical analyses, and to Pam Geick, Ed Gurausaks, Julie Nilson, and Pete Shepard for their able assistance in collection of the data.
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Baron, R.A. Sexual arousal and physical aggression: The inhibiting influence of “cheesecake” and nudes. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 3, 337–339 (1974). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333488
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03333488