FEMALES AFFECTIVE RESPONSES TO READING EROTIC LITERATURE

The affective states of sexual arousal, guilt, anxiety, and 11 Nowlis mood factors were studied in 72 college females before and after reading either an erotic or an academically oriented literary passage, with a female E either present or absent, and as a function of the personality disposition of sex guilt. Ss who read the erotic passage showed a significant increase in sexual arousal. High sex guilt Ss significantly increased their affective state of guilt when they read the erotic passage in comparison to the Ss in all of the other cells. Anxiety increased as a function of reading the erotic passage in the presence of E. Conceptual distinctions between sexual behavior and sexual arousal, between guilt as personality disposition and as state, and between affective states of fear and guilt are discussed. (16 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved). © 1969 American Psychological Association.