Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1975, Vol. 43, No. 6, 921
Sex Differences in Emotional Responses to "Erotic Literature" James M. Herrell Montgomery County Health Department, Rockville, Maryland Izard and Caplan (1974), following earlier experimenters, had males and females read chapter 72 of Willingham's (1963) Eternal Fire and concluded that males and females displayed certain differences in responses to erotic literature. However, erotic literature is not all the same and may vary along several dimensions in terms both of quality and content, At issue is whether one chapter can represent th'.s variety. Eternal Fire's chapter 72 is not without its erotic moments. However, Izard and Caplan's (1974) description of its content: "the seduction of a virgin girl by a sexually experienced young man" (p. 468) understates both the naivete of the seduced and the sociopathy of the seducer. It is possible that males and females may have responded to the essentially exploitative nature of the sex in the passage in addition to the eroticism per se. Therefore, the basis for the obtained sex differences is not clear. For the present study, 32 males and 32 females read either the aforementioned chapter 72, slightly modified to heighten the exploitative nature of its content or a collage of sections from Lady Chatterly's Lover (Lawrence, 1968), arranged to appear as a single episode and to portray a clearly positive experience for Lady Chatterly. Thus, half of the subjects of each sex read a passage portraying a sexual episode in which the female was exploited, and half read a passage in which the female grew psychologically. All subjects completed the Differential Emotions Scale and the Sexual Arousal Scale before and after reading the passages. No pretreatment differences appeared. Requests for reprints and for an extended report of this study should be sent to James Herrell, 611 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 208S2.
921
Analysis of posttreatment effects revealed the following differences, all significant beyond the .05 level. Lady Chatterly, compared to Eternal Fire, elicited from females more sexual arousal, joy, and shyness, less anger and distress; and from males, more joy and less anger. Compared to men, women experienced less sexual arousal and more fear and contempt while reading Eternal Fire and more shyness, disgust and contempt, and less interest and distress after reading Lady Chatterly. In summary, the emotional responses of men to erotic literature of the type used in this study are relatively simple. Men are aroused and interested regardless of interpersonal content; they experience joy only when the passage is joyful, and they do become angry when their fellow men abuse innocent young women. Women's responses are more complex. They become more aroused, more joyful, and less distressed when reading nonexploitative passages, but they become shyer as they become aroused and do not abandon their (relatively) high levels of disgust, even as they become more joyful. They become angry when reading of women being exploited sexually. It is clear from the present study that sex differences in response to erotic literature are complex and depend on the interpersonal as well as the erotic content of the passages. REFERENCES Izard, C. E., & Caplan, S. Sex differences in emotional responses to erotic literature. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974, 42, 468. Lawrence, D. H. Lady Chatterly's lover. New York: Bantam Books, 1968. Willingham, C. Eternal Fire. New York: Vanguard Press, 1963. (Received January 13, 1973)
Sex Differences in Emotional Responses to "Erotic Literature" James M. Herrell Montgomery County Health Department, Rockville, Maryland Izard and Caplan (1974), following earlier experimenters, had males and females read chapter 72 of Willingham's (1963) Eternal Fire and concluded that males and females displayed certain differences in responses to erotic literature. However, erotic literature is not all the same and may vary along several dimensions in terms both of quality and content, At issue is whether one chapter can represent th'.s variety. Eternal Fire's chapter 72 is not without its erotic moments. However, Izard and Caplan's (1974) description of its content: "the seduction of a virgin girl by a sexually experienced young man" (p. 468) understates both the naivete of the seduced and the sociopathy of the seducer. It is possible that males and females may have responded to the essentially exploitative nature of the sex in the passage in addition to the eroticism per se. Therefore, the basis for the obtained sex differences is not clear. For the present study, 32 males and 32 females read either the aforementioned chapter 72, slightly modified to heighten the exploitative nature of its content or a collage of sections from Lady Chatterly's Lover (Lawrence, 1968), arranged to appear as a single episode and to portray a clearly positive experience for Lady Chatterly. Thus, half of the subjects of each sex read a passage portraying a sexual episode in which the female was exploited, and half read a passage in which the female grew psychologically. All subjects completed the Differential Emotions Scale and the Sexual Arousal Scale before and after reading the passages. No pretreatment differences appeared. Requests for reprints and for an extended report of this study should be sent to James Herrell, 611 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 208S2.
921
Analysis of posttreatment effects revealed the following differences, all significant beyond the .05 level. Lady Chatterly, compared to Eternal Fire, elicited from females more sexual arousal, joy, and shyness, less anger and distress; and from males, more joy and less anger. Compared to men, women experienced less sexual arousal and more fear and contempt while reading Eternal Fire and more shyness, disgust and contempt, and less interest and distress after reading Lady Chatterly. In summary, the emotional responses of men to erotic literature of the type used in this study are relatively simple. Men are aroused and interested regardless of interpersonal content; they experience joy only when the passage is joyful, and they do become angry when their fellow men abuse innocent young women. Women's responses are more complex. They become more aroused, more joyful, and less distressed when reading nonexploitative passages, but they become shyer as they become aroused and do not abandon their (relatively) high levels of disgust, even as they become more joyful. They become angry when reading of women being exploited sexually. It is clear from the present study that sex differences in response to erotic literature are complex and depend on the interpersonal as well as the erotic content of the passages. REFERENCES Izard, C. E., & Caplan, S. Sex differences in emotional responses to erotic literature. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1974, 42, 468. Lawrence, D. H. Lady Chatterly's lover. New York: Bantam Books, 1968. Willingham, C. Eternal Fire. New York: Vanguard Press, 1963. (Received January 13, 1973)
