Interpretation of Arousal and its Effects on Motivation

Abstract

Thirty-six male subjects were given a series of electric shocks by a confederate of the experimenter as they read a sexually exciting passage from a novel. One-third were informed via false electronic feedback that they were sexually aroused, one-third that they were aggressively aroused, and one-third that they were aroused through the action of a drug ingested previously. All subjects were then given a choice between shocking the confederate and examining a number of photographs of attractive female nudes. Subjects who had been informed that they were either aggressively aroused or aroused by the drug preferred to shock the confederate. Those who had been told that they were sexually aroused showed a preference for looking at nudes. Subjects who behaved in ways consistent with feedback on their arousal state were more confident of their decisons than subjects who behaved inconsistently. Other data show that demand characteristics do not entirely account for the findings.