5" .. ._.;_..;. SEX, SELF- ESTEEM. AN D;- PSYCHOLOGICAL MOTIVATION FOR SEXUAL BEHAVIOR i DissArtation for the Degree of Ph. D. MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY JEAN APPERSON 1973 ‘__,. «— IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIII " ' I253: U :ziversz-‘ty “I? ‘ .\\\ ' _- are.- c .*,., This is to certify that the thesis entitled SEX, SELF- ESTEEM, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MOTIVATION FOR SEXUAL BEHAVIOR presented by Jean’flpparson has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for _E_I1..D_.___degree in Wsychol ogy ‘7 Major professor Da'te /0‘<30 ‘78 0-7639 y amomc av ‘5' HUAG & sons I mmewmwwm nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn PLACE IN RETURN BOX to roman this chockout from your record. TO AVOID F INEB return on or befor- dato due. I DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE MSU Is An Affirmative ActiorVEqual Opportunlty Irltltubn ABSTRACT SEX, SELF-ESTEEM, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MOTIVATION FOR SEXUAL BEHAVIOR By Jean Apperson This study explores some relationships between sex, self-esteem, basic personality needs, and conscious and pre-conscious sexual motives. Two hundred psychology student volunteer subjects, one hundred women and one hundred men, were administered a test battery which included the Tennessee Self Concept Scale, the Adjective Check List, the Sexual Motive Inventory, the Sexual Motive Projective Test, and a personal information questionnaire. Hypotheses were made concerning (l) the relation of sexual motives to cultural sex-role characteristics; (2) sex differences in conscious/pre—conscious congruence in sexual motives; (3) the relation of level of self- esteem to the relative strength of various sexual motives; and (4) the relation of basic personality needs to sexual motives. Jean Apperson The results supported conclusions that (l) the conscious and pre-conscious measures of sexual motives introduced in this study differentiate men and women along lines consistent with social sex-role patterns; (2) there is more congruence between conscious and pre-conscious sexual motives among women than among men; (3) self-esteem is negatively related to the conscious sexual motives of Deference in women and of Dominance in men; (4) self-esteem is positively related to the conscious sexual motive of Affiliation in men but not in women; (5) there was no sup- port for the predicted negative relationship between self- esteem and the pre-conscious sexual motive of Aggression; and (6) the prediction of congruence between conscious sexual motives and corresponding personality needs (as assessed by the ACL) was not supported. Qualifications and implications of the findings were discussed, and future research directions were sug- gested. SEX, SELF-ESTEEM AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MOTIVATION FOR SEXUAL BEHAVIOR By Jean Apperson A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Psychology I973 Dedicated to Theodore H. Blau ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my warm appreciation to my Dissertation Committee chairperson, Dr. Elaine Donelson, for her scholarly perSpective, her astute and constructive criticisms, and her generous contribution of time and effort during all phases of this project. I would like to thank Dr. Bertram P. Karon for encouraging me to carry through with the anxiety-provoking process of formulating the initial ideas for this research project. Also, I appreciate very much the support and cooperation of the other members of my committee, Dr. John R. Hurley, Dr. Bill L. Kell, and Dr. Cecil L. Williams. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES INTRODUCTION THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND RELEVANT RESEARCH Psychodynamic Contributions Contributions from Ethology From brood- tending to pair- bonding From mating to dominance- -appeasement Sex-Role and Sexual Motives . . . Self-Esteem and Sexual Motives Hypotheses METHOD Subjects Procedure . The Instruments RESULTS Tennessee Self Concept Scale Scores Personal Information and Sexual Experience Major Findings DISCUSSION Sample Characteristics Sex Differences in Sexual Motives Self— Esteem and Sexual Motives . . Personality Needs and Sexual Motives The Sexual Motive Measures Directions for Future Research Summary REFERENCES iv Page vi APPENDIX Page A. TABLES A—I THROUGH A-9 . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 B. SAMPLE TEST BOOKLET . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 C. SCALE ITEMS FOR SEXUAL MOTIVE INVENTORY AND SEXUAL MOTIVE PROJECTIVE TEST . . . . . 120 D. DEFINITIONS OF MOTIVE CATEGORIES . . . . . . . I36 TABLE IO. ll. LIST OF TABLES Age of SS Educational Level of SS Comparison of the Present Sample with the Original Normative Sample on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale Distribution of SS in Regard to Sexual Orientation and Relationship Status Incidence of Types of Sexual Experience: Present Sample and Previous Reports for People of Comparable Age and Education . . . . . . . . Sexual Experience for SS Who Have Engaged in Sexual Relations . . . . . . . Comparisons of Women and Men S5 on Sub- scales of the Sexual Motive Inventory (SM-I) and the Sexual Motive Pro- jective Test (SM-PT) . . . Correlations Between SM-I and SM-PT on Each Sexual Motive Correlations Between Conscious/Pre-conscious Sexual Motive Congruence and Self- Esteem . . Correlations Between Self-Esteem (TSCS Tot P) and SM-I Deference and Dominance . . . . . . . Correlations Between Self-Esteem (TSCS Tot P) and Conscious and Pre- conscious (SM-PT) Sexual Motive Measures of Affiliation vi Page 35 36 48 49 50 53 56 57 59 60 6I TABLE Page l2. Correlations Between Self-Esteem (TSCS Tot P) and SM-PT Aggression . . . . . . . 62 A-l. Sexual Motive Inventory; Basic Statistics . . 90' A-2. Internal Reliability Coefficients for Scales of the Sexual Motive Inventory . . 9l A-3. Sexual Motive Inventory; Scale Inter- correlations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92 A-4. Correlations Between the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS) and the Sexual Motive Inventory (SM-I) . . . . . . . . . 93 A-5° Sexual Motive Projective Test; Basic Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94 A-6. Internal Reliability Coefficients for Scales of the Sexual Motive Pro- jective Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 A-7. Scale Intercorrelations on the Sexual Motive Projective Test; Women SS . . . . 96 A-8. Scale Intercorrelations on the Sexual Motive Projective Test; Men S5 . . . . . 97 A-9. Correlations Between the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS) and the Sexual Motive Projective Test (SM-PT) . . . . . 98 vii INTRODUCTION Why do human beings engage in sexual behaviors?* What is the inter-personal transaction that takes place between the individuals involved, and what psychological meaning does the act have to them? Despite our cultural preoccupation with sex, few people ask these questions, and still fewer writers or researchers have attempted to formulate answers. Most of the scientific investigation, beyond the cataloguing and counting of sexual acts, has been the exploration of sexual physiology. Most of the theorizing about sexual motivation has dealt primarily with physiological mechanisms. This is not to disparage the value of research into the physiology of sexual functioning. The work of Masters and Johnson (1966), in all its exquisite physio- logical detail, has contributed greatly to our understand- ing of sexuality by elucidating many aSpects that were previously shrouded in myth and misconception. Nor is it my intention to deny the validity of physiological *Throughout this paper, “sexual behavior" will mean the act of sexual intercourse and/or behaviors which function to attract or sexually aroUse the participants and possibly eventuate in some form of sexual release. contributions to sexual motivation. It seems entirely warranted to assume that sexual stimulation, arousal, and orgasm are intrinsically reinforcing to human beings--if and when they choose to engage in such activities, and if their psychological constitution allows them to experience this kind of physical pleasure. What I am contending is that physiological mechanisms are far from sufficient for the understanding of human sexual behavior. As richly elaborated as the symbolic and affective associations of a human being are, it is not credible to assume that one can come together with another in one of the most intense and physically intimate of adult interactions and have the act to have meaning only in its value as a "release of sexual tensions," a simple physiological discharge function. Nor do physio- logical research findings offer much to oppose this con- tention. After reviewing the relevant physiological evidence, Hardy concludes that ". . . the overwhelming proportion of the variance in human sexual motivation and behavior is not explicable in terms of some biological need or tension, however conceived” (l964, p. 4). The existence of individual sexual preferences of many kinds also speaks against a simplistic biological view. Infrequently do people voluntarily settle for spontaneous orgasm or masturbation as their sole source of sexual gratification. More often a partner is desired, a specific kind of person, with a specific range of accept- able characteristics. Certain situational contexts and certain sexual actions are preferred, while others are avoided. And many emotional reactions and colorings exist that are peculiar to each individual. Even during mastur- bation, fantasy usually supplies a preferred psychological and interpersonal context for the act. These particulars form the basis for inferring the meaning of a sexual exchange to the individual involved and the contribution of the motives which brought him to the situation. In this regard, Auerback quotes an unnamed "writer of 30 years ago": Cynics have said that only ingenious modifications can make tolerable the constant repetition of an act as simple as intercourse. In point of fact, however, these variations have a value far beyond mere spiciness. They provide . . . outlet for all the unacknowledged impulses of human nature. (Auer- back, l97l, p. 72) It is the "unacknowledged impulses," whether clearly conscious or not, and the motives which may be inferred from them that are of interest in the present study. While acknowledging a constitutional substrate of sexual anatomy and physiology, the focus of this research will be on the psychological motives which may direct, release, or inhibit sexual expression, or which may be channeled through sexual activities per se. In the absence of clear guidlines from prior research, this is basically an exploratory study, even though some Specific hypotheses will be tested. Psycho- logical motives for sexual behavior, as dependent variables, will be assessed within a framework based on Murray's (1938) need system. The major independent vari- ables will be sex and level of self-esteem. In the context of this study, the terms “sexual motive" and "sexual motivation" will refer to psycholog;- cal motives for sexual behavior. By definition, if a motive leads to, or finds expression in, sexual behavior, it is a sexual motive. It is hoped that this study will contribute to a more differentiated way of conceptualizing the enormously varied and complex behavioral inclinations which have traditionally been obscured by the common label of “sex. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND RELEVANT RESEARCH Psychodynamic Contributions Psychoanalytic theory offers one of the few comprehensive frameworks within which sexual motivation has been examined. Despite the biological-instinctual basis of much of Freud's theory, Freud did lay the groundwork for a conception of psychological motives for sexual behavior which are integrated as part of basic personality structure. Freud (1962) concluded that the sexual impulse is far from simple, that it is energized by many component motives, many of which originate in the early stages of an individual's life. These stages are the familiar oral, anal, and phallic stages of psychosexual development in which the various erogenous zones of the body sequentially become the focus of stimulation, gratification, or functional control. The influence of these stages on personality development and sexual motives is determined partly by the degree of frus- tration or overindulgence the individual may experience as he progresses through the developmental sequence. Thus the normal individual arrives at adulthood with remnants of his "infantile sexuality," i.e., residuals of all his early needs and cravings, fused to his urge for genital sexual expression. The early components usually show themselves in the form of sexual foreplay. When there has been a strong fixation at one of the early stages, an individual's adult sexual expression will be unusually colored by the mode of erotic gratification peculiar to that stage, the extremes being considered perversions. Freud is referring here primarily to preferences and cravings for actual physical stimulation of bodily zones, but also relevant are the more psychological aspects of the early developmental stages. For example, sexual activities may be motivated by the desire for emotional dependency and suc- corance if fixation occurred at the early oral stage; sexual activities may be motivated by a wish to aggressively attack, if the influence stems from the oral-sadistic stage or if the individual experienced extreme frustration of early needs, etc. Theodore Reik (I945) takes issue with Freud's formu- lations, contending that ". . . there are no such things as components of the sex-urge“ (p. l57). Instead, Reik postu- lates that the sexual impulse is a function of the mixture of sex drive, which he describes as a primitive, biological need for discharge of physical tension, and ego drives, mainly drives toward conquest, domination, and possessive- ness. In comparison with sex drive, ego drives are described as ". . . older urges in the individual . . . the desire to remain alive, to protect himself against destruction" (p. l0). According to Reik's view, the biological sex drive meets and mixes with the ego drives during the Oedipal stage of development, the ego drives being predominant. Psychological complications occur as the sex drive is com- bined with or contradicted by ego drives, as illustrated in the apparent difference between men and women in strength of the sexual impulse: That women have a weaker sex-urge than men is very doubtful. This impression is given by the behavior patterns, which are different for both sexes in our culture, but also, and more definitely, by the fact that aggressiveness and the drive toward conquest are more strongly developed in men. The mixture is different because there is a greater portion of the old conquering ego-drives in masculine than in femi- nine sexuality. It should also be considered that inhibiting and retarding factors operate within the woman, but that they do not hinder the full develop- ment of man's sexuality. (Reik, l945, p. 240) Though Freud and Reik differ substantially in what they consider to be the nature of sexuality, they both present a dynamic framework within which sexual motives are conceptualized--at least in part--as stemming from an individual's psychological needs and his mode of relating to the environment and to other people in general. Also implicit in this dynamic view of sexual behavior is the very important distinction between the form and the func- tio of behavior; i.e., behaviors may be very similar in 3 form (e.g., the act of coitus) and yet may function in the service of diverse needs not usually considered sexual in nature (e.g., dependency, dominance, etc.). Another branch of behavioral observation, ethology, has made explicit use of the form/function distinction, in an effort to better understand various behavioral systems. Although ethologists draw conclusions from a quite differ- ent data base than that of most analytic theorists, many of the findings are compatible with dynamic theory and pro- vide some elucidating implications for understanding human sexual behavior. Contributions from Ethology Most ethological observations have been made of non- human species, which in this context raises the issue of inferential validity in regard to human behavior. The two main groups of animals, birds and primates, which will be included in the discussion below, each involve different principles in support of their relevance for understanding human behavior. In the case of birds, the principle is simi- larity in mating patterns, i.e., relative monogamy, which may imply the existence of similar evolutionary pressures in the service of pair-bonding. Of course, any insights about behavioral processes involved with monogamy in birds would apply only to humans whose mating pattern is monogamous. In the case of primates, the primary principle is their physiological and behavioral similarity to humans. In our western culture, we have tended to view sexual behavior as a thing apart, a kind of instinctive "wildness" which has to be controlled in order to preserve civilization. Seldom have behaviors designated "sexual“ been systematically observed and interpreted in terms of the social and/or survival function they may serve. In his book, The Sexual Code (I972), Wolfgang Wickler brings together many observations and conclusions regarding the evolution of sexual behavior among many species of animals, including human beings, and outlines some developments which furnish bases for inferences about human sexual motives. The two major evolutionary developments described by Wickler which appear to have contributed to the existence of diverse motives operating in sexual behavior are (l) behavior sequencies assumed to have originated in brood- tending behavior, which now serve a function in mating and pair-bonding; (2) behavior sequencies which apparently originated in mating, retained the original form, but changed in function to dominance or appeasement behaviors. From brood-tending to pair-bonding.--Wickler comments, ". . . if we want to know what is essential to pair-bonding, then we will have to compare animals that are as different as possible, that have 'invented' monogamy independently from one another" (l972, p. 19). Hence, the comparison between birds and humans is relevant to understanding monogamy in each. In monogamous Species of birds and monogamous soci- eties of humans, behaviors apparently derived from 10 parental feeding and care—taking of the young serve a prominent function in strengthening the social-bond-between mates and form an important part of courtship and pre- copulatory behavior. In many bird species, the adult male of a pair feeds the female in a manner closely resembling a parent bird, while the adult female.9begsU.and.responds with.many of the other behavioral gestures characteristic of an infant bird. This transaction occurs.not.only when the female is brooding and needs food, but also during courtship, in foreplay to copulation, and in other situations in which it.is clearly -a contact gesture which.primarily serves pair-bonding, though the form of the behavior.is parental feeding.. Billing, beak contact between bird partners, in which the.birds often make sounds and movements.similar.to those of.nestlings, is thought to serve a bonding function also. Similarly.among.humans,.kissing and foodepassing between lovers may be seen as evolutionary derivations of infant sucking behavior.and of mouth—feeding of infants, which was.customary.in-our own culture until recent times and exists still in more."primitive" cultures. In our culture, the kiss is used for greetings, partings, appease- ment, in foreplay to copulation, and as a bonding ritual between partners. .Particularly, the "deep.kiss”, so rich in "feeding form",.is.a very frequent accompaniment of hetero- sexual intercourse in our society (Kinsey, 1948). 11 In this connection, an interesting.phenomenon is the importance that.our culture places on the female.breast as a sexual signal, although the biological function.of the breast is obviously.to feed the young, and its most basic derived function seems most.likely to be providing.security and comfort to.the.offspring.. A connection between sexual preoccupation with female breasts and the experience.of early deprivation, often.postulated by psychoanalytic theorists,.is supported by.wickler's observation that ". it is striking that a short.lactation period, covered breasts, and.the.attribution.of an excessively erotic, almost fetishistic significance to the breasts tend to go together" (1972, p..249).- Other.behaviors-between sexual partners, all of which strongly suggest an origin in form in parent-child.inter- actions, are the frequently occurring "baby talk",.lap- sitting, hand holding,.fondling, and carressing as foreplay to coitus and.at other.times during an affectionate exchange between partners. Often in.these behavior.sequences, both partners will.be.child-like in their play with each other, similar to the.bird nestlings described above. More frequently.however,.men take a parental role while women take a child role, are.called.”baby" etc. Men.are taught from an early age that they should-"take.care9.of women, I2 and women have traditionally expected protection and nurturance from men. An important, possibly mediating factor in the association between human brood-tending and sexual behavior is the existence of what lorenz called the "infant schema." This term refers to the set of infantile characteristics which typically elicits a warm emotional, protective reac- tion from most humans. This set of qualities is often conveyed by the words "sweet," "cute," etc , used in describing the organism-~human or not, infant or not-- which exhibits the "infant schema." Lorenz Specified the following specific characteristics which together elicit this reSponse: a comparatively thick head; a prominent cranium with a domed brow out of pro- portion to the face; 3. a large correspondingly disproportionate eye situated as low as or below the middle of the entire skull; 4. comparatively short, thick limbs with pudgy hands and feet; 5. rounded body forms in general; 6. a very specific, soft, and elastic surface texture; 7. round, prominent, "chubby” cheeks. (Wickler, I972, p. 255) Nd The protective response to this stimulus configuration is characteristic of adults and children of both sexes (Huckstedt, T965). It has clear survival value in being an important instigator of a general tendency to watch over children. 13 The importance of the.infant schema.reaction for human sexuality is that the human female (as well as-females of many other.species) has evolved to look more child-like than the human male.. Women are shorter, plumper,.rounder-, cheeked, softer-skinned,-and.have less body hair. .Body adornment traditions have most often served to.emphasize -these characteristics:..removal of body hair, reddening of lips and cheeks, and painting the eyes to make them appear larger. In addition to looking somewhat childelike, women frequently behave in a.chiId-like manner, particularly when interacting with men.. Much of what is often referred to as the "seductive” behavior of women is coy and childelike. The link between a man's feeling of protectiveness.toward a "cute" woman and his sexual attraction toward her is quite common and recognizable. ,The ideal in our country of the young, baby-faced blond as the most sexually.attractive female may well reflect this child-female association. Another.potentially.important implication of the proposed link.between.broodetending.and.sexual.behaviors involves sexual-interactions between adults-and.children. An overlapping andblurring of distinctions between the care-taking and sexual.responses of men may.account for the fact that the incidence of adult male/female child inter- actions are much more common than adult female/male child sexual interactions (Freedman, t al , 1972). Since a 14 woman's traditional role in sex.is more analogous-to-that 'of the child, she is less.likely to confuse her own parental Sand sexual responses.. The malefs need to feel sexually dominant may also be involved, especially if he feels unable -to dominate-adult.women.(Storr,.1964). The dominance motive will be discussed further below. Thus, in fostering.mating.patterns which contribute to species survival, evolution has apparently "capitalized" on-innate.behavior.patterns;.e. 9., the sucking response in humans (Nash,.1970) and nestling begging behavior.in birds, and on elements of the.strong.original bond between.parent and child. Particularly when brooding renders.the female vulnerable, it is easy.to-see the survival value of a-strong social bond.between parenting mates and an increased inclination of the male.to.act as protecting parent to both infants and female adults.. Presumably, the motives derived.from the original parent-child bond would include those which.emanate from the child's own needs to be protected and cared for at that time, and those which.would result from identification with the behavior of.a parent.. From this early.experience, then, would come.motives to be with another individual in a close, intimate way.(affiliation), to feel secure and taken care.of-(succorance),-and to take care of another's needs (nurturance). I5 From mating.to.dominanceeappeasement.eeAmong many -diverse.species.of animals, behavioral segments closely -associated with courtship.and-copulationhave become-partially "emancipated” from.the mating.context.and.can-also serve an additional-function as a social signal in a dominance- appeasement context.. The evolutionary pressure.in the direction of such a development lies in the survival value of a behavioral signal which can inhibit attack by eliciting an incompatible response.... Sexual signals have the effect of inhibiting attack as well as.eliciting further.mating behavior, which greatly increases their behavioral.ambiguity to observers.- "For the behavior researcher-this means that behavior.sequences as a whole must.be-kept.in-sight.if he wants to.decide-whether the~same movement means courtship or appeasement" (Wickler, 1972, p. 201). One of.the most clear and dramatic instances of this development may be observed among many species of non-human primates.. A.sub~dominant animal of either sex will "present", i. e., assume the female mating posture, to.a-dominant animal, also of either sex,.who.is.threatening to attack;-the dominant animal may mount and.make pelvic.thrusting movements, with or without actual penetration, or may simply cease making threatening gestures (Maslow. g; al~. 1963). While the form of this presentationrmounting.behavior sequence.is.taken from the mating.pattern, its.function is clearly that of 16 establishing.rank-dominance.relations and preventing poten- tially destructive.combat. .In some species (e..g.,.the red Colombus monkey), the physical characteristics of male genitalia,.especially when the.male is young, have.evolved -to closely resemble those of the female, apparently enhancing their signal value in presentation and thus their effectiveness in deflecting attack (Wickler,.1967). Some direct.and.some.figurative.parallels-of.presentation as appeasement.can be found among human behavioral customs. Figures Showing the naked posterior, apparently designed to appease gods or-powerful evil spirits,.are.found on many ancient buildings such as.castles, city gates, churches, and monasteries. "0n very stormy nights, the men and women of ancient Germany would stick their bared bottom outside the front door to appease.Wotan".(Wickler, 1972, p. 272).. The old custom of punishing children.by.requiring them to bend over, often lowering.their.trousers.also, for a caning.on.the. buttocks.may be a residual.of this gesture of submission which was originally.the.female.invitation to mating...The.bared youngster-is "put.in.his place?.by the dominant adult. 4“-The.strong.association of female.sexuality and social submission.in.our culture.is-demonstrated quite clearly in the still prevalent.sexual double-standard (Reiss,.1968) in which the woman is looked-upon with disrespect and contempt by the man to whom-she-has.isubmitted”.outside of marriage. Such a woman is seen as "had," "low", "fallen", etc. (Reiss, 1971). I7 -Even within the marriage.bond, the sexual role of the woman is "one down“, since social injunctions—-often.in.the form of civil and.religious.laws—eurge.women to submit.to the will of their husbands, to dutifully.iserve" them sexually.. Among some homosexuals, both male and female, the passive, receptive, female.role is associated with.defeat and/or lower.status.(Maslow,.gt.al., 1963). Some men.whose sexual activity with other men is limited to being the active partner in anal intercourse or allowing the partner-to.perform fellatio do.not consider themselves as homosexuals; theyalso feel great contempt for their homosexual partners.. Inter- estingly, too, much of what has been interpreted as homosexual behavior among animals is most frequently a demonstration of dominance-submission.(Wickler,.1972). Just.as.the.female.genitalia and mating position function as signals-of.submission, the male genitalia.frequently.function as a Sign of rank or of threat,.independent of.mating behavior patterns.. For the South American squirrel monkey (Ploog, _t _l., 1963), Doguera baboon,-and other species,.the display of the erect-penis serves to.demonstrate.rank within the group and to threaten individuals foreign to the group. Among. nomadic troups of primates, the guarding males will often sit at the boundaries.of.the.group, with their backs.to.the other animals-and.with.their erect.penises prominently displayed. The brilliant genital coloration of some species enhances this signal function (Wickler, 1972). I8 Wickler cites numerous historical examples of human use of the male genital as a sign of rank or threat. Among ancient cultures, and even in more recent times among some tribes in southern Ethiopia, men practiced the custom of cutting off the penis of a slain enemy. For the most part, however, the use of the penis as a victory trophy has been replaced by the use of images or symbols of a penis. Even today almost all the tribes of southern Ethiopia wear a simple phallic ornament made of light shining metal on their brow; it is called "Kalatsha" and is thought the most important of ritual objects. Origi- nally it was a sign that the wearer had killed an adult male opponent and was now allowed to start a family. Most of the Galla tribes adopted it as an insignia of rank that only high priests and holders of special honors were allowed to wear (Wickler, I972, p. 54). The use of a scepter by rulers and priests of many cultures as a symbol of authority and sovereignty may also have a similar phallic origin. The threat function of the penis is demonstrated colorfully in the example of Indonesian islanders ". . . who believe that wind and waterspouts are provoked by evil Spirits take their bared phallus in their hand and point it in the relevant direction to drive away the evil spirit" (Wickler, I972, p. 58). In many ancient cultures and some still in existence, ithyphallic (with erect phallus) figures have been used to guard houses, temples, fields, graves, etc. against earthly and supernatural enemies. 19 The closest counterpart.in our culture.of.clearly "phallic threat" signaling is the use of the "high-sign" (also called.Vshooting-the.bird9, "giving someone.the.finger", etc.). the middle finger.thrust upward from a clenched fist. this sign is customarily used to communicate.anger,-threat, and contempt toward the person.to whom it is displayed.. Any doubt about the phallic meaning of this gesture or the -symbolic anatomical destination-of its thrust is removed.by the verbal-comments which often accompany it: ."Up-yours!"; "Sit on it and rotate19;.9Fuck-youIP; etc.. The use of sexual terms-in nonesexual.situations to express aggression or defeat provides further evidence of.our.cultural.connection between ~sex-and dominance;-e.-g., "He got fucked-over" (or "screwed", "shafted", "raped", etc.)... Maslow.draws strong parallels between the.dominance- submission interactions of non-human.primates and.some.human sexual behavior. .For the-most.part, he associates the dominance function-of sexual behavior of men and women with immaturity or insecurity. .If-a.healthy integration of sexuality.with the total.personality.isn't achieved during maturation, “...masculine sexual activity may.be identified -with dominance, control,.manipulation,.aggression-and even sadistic behavior....as in the dominance struggle of.the. t.al.,.1963,.p..158). .The.insecure person, primates".(Maslow,, man or woman, may use sex as a power weapon in the (early) 20 Adlerian sense, to "collect scalps” in an effort to gain reassurance of his own strength, attractiveness, and impor- tance. Promiscuity may be due to one's need to engage in these "dominance affairs" or "security affairs" (Maslow, l942). The general association of male sexuality with domi- nance in sex is more pervasive and "normative" than Maslow's explanations may imply. According to the sexual double standard, to engage in sexual intercourse is a victory for the man and a loss for the woman. If a woman "succumbs" to the man's advances, she is often viewed with contempt. The expressions often used for coitus reflect a competitive and aggressive view of the act from the male perspective, e.g., "to make" someone, "to score," "to screw,“ "to get a piece of ass,“ etc. Beginning in adolescence and continuing through- out adult life for many men, masculine status is achieved through the sexual conquest of women (Udrey, I968). The frequent boasting of young men of their sexual "exploits" highlight both the dominance and masculine status functions of their sexual behavior. While a woman may also define coitus as a conquest on her part, this is as yet an infre- quent female interpretation. Women will sometimes exhibit a different kind of sexual dominance behavior by behaving seductively with a man until he becomes aroused and makes sexual advances, then abruptly refusing his attentions. From the standpoint of sexual motives, there are several psychological motives which appear likely to be 2I clustered around the social dominance function of sexual behavior. An inclination to submit (deference) would be likely in a person who may feel weak and in need of pro- tection by (or from) the sexual partner; the complementary role would stem from a need for power and control (dominance) and for status (achievement). In some instances the domi— nance struggle may involve an active wish to cause injury to the other person (aggression). Sex Role and Sexual Motives The two evolutionary developments just described con- stitute what may be two domains of motives for sexual behavior: (1) those motives stemming from early needs and the parent-child bond, and (2) motives growing out of needs for social dominance. Perhaps by the nature of the specific evolutionary processes which fostered their development, different aspects of these two domains have been associated with male and female sex roles, as described above. To complicate the matter, individual personality dynamics influence the motives a person brings to sexual interactions. However current conceptions of sex differences in sexual motivation do not reflect this complexity. They tend to reflect narrow, sex-role dichotomies. A fairly represen- tative description is given by Wilson: women regard sex primarily as a means of feeling loved and wanted; for men, sex is "an end in itself . . . a keen pleasure which includes 22 the pleasure of conquest and subjugation . . . not associated so closely with feelings of personal dependence or loyalty" (l965, p. 2l2; italics added). Curiously, there is an explicit acceptance in this statement--evident in the writ- ings of others as well--of the man's wish to dominate and subjugate as intrinsic to sexual behavior while the wish to feel loved (presumably on the part of women or men) is regarded as relatively non-sexual. With the exception of Maslow (cited above), most researchers who have dealt with sexual motives at all have interpreted their data in even more narrowly stereotyped ways. Ehrmann (1959) found a direct relationship among women between frequency of premarital sexual behavior and going steady and being in love, and he concludes that their primary motive was ”love." Among men in his study, there was an inverse relationship between these two variables, from which Ehrmann concluded that the primary motive for men was an "erotic" one. Reiss (l960) came to similar conclu- sions. Reiss reports a trend toward an increasing "person- centered" sex standard (as opposed to "body-centered") among men, but he concludes that at present, "perhaps the majority of cases of male coitus are still lacking in affection" (1968, p. 3l2). This familiar sex-for-sex's-sake explanation of the sexual motivation of men is essentially a denial of psychological motives for men; we are just told what motives are not present. 23 It seems likely that the motives omitted, or not considered, by Ehrmann and Reiss.are conquest-dominance motives; if men are significantly more likely to engage in sexual activities with women with whom they have no emotional involvement, one might infer some degree of antipathy. between emotional involvement and.whatever psychological sexual motives are present.. Probably because of the social-sanctions against aggressively.dominant.behavior by men toward women, many writers avoid what might seem a negative evaluation of men's motives by (1).including aggressive or dominant. qualities.as.inseparably.inherent in male "sex drive", as Wilson does above, or (2) asserting that if a love motive is ~not present, the motive must.be simply physical pleasure, as do-Ehrmann and Reiss. vThe.primary.factor.involved in the lack of clarity in considerations of the psychological motives involved.in men's sexual.behavior.may.be.the conflicting social.mores regarding appropriate sexual behavior for men. .On the one hand, men.are taught to take care of and respect women; at the same time,.men.are-indoctrinated in many ways with the idea that sexual conquest is the sine gga.non of masculine identity. One apparent result (or at least an accompaniment) of this cultural double message is the existence of a "virgin-whore" or~9princess-prostitute"schism.in some men's attitudes toward women; conflict is avoided by respecting and protecting 24 "good" women and reserving sexual conquest for "bad" or "loose” women. Typically, the conflict in our culture's socially sanctioned sexual mores.for.males.has.been obscured by (1) general taboos against examining sexual behavior and (2) the continued.acceptance of the.assumption that sexual-attitudes and behavioral qualities.exhibited_by men exemplify.sex 333 sex and are vicissitudes of-a natural biological drive, even though a strictly.biological.basis for.human sexual behavior is without.substantial scientific support.... Some elaboration of.the male-female sexual motive dichotomy.is.offered by a few writers: women are said to be motivated by deference to men, needs for acceptance and. approval (Bardwick,.1970;-Douvan,.197D), and desire to express love and affection (Udry, 1968); men's motives.are said to be associated with needs.for dominance.and.control (Brenton,- 1966) and.achievement of masculine status via sexual prowess or conquest.(Frank,.1961;.Udry,-1968; Schimel,.1971). Not surprisingly, these attributed motives are.consistent.with our cultural sterotypes of.the.submissive, dependent, nurturant female and the dominant, aggressive, achieving male. In terms of the two domains of sexual motives described above, the.sex9role stereotypes.ascribe primarily Domain 1 motives (affiliation,.succorance, nurturance) to women and Domain 2 motives (achievement, dominance, aggression) to men, with no overlap. However, men and women apparently do have 25 motives from both_domains:..men do form emotional bonds with women which lead to mutual.dependency.as well.as.coital activity; within an established relationship, women approxi- mate men's assertiveness in initiating sex, desired-frequency of sex, and.attitudes toward sexual expression (Ehrmann, 1963). However, sex—linked.proscriptions remain obvious. For men, tenderness and sensuality.are taboo; for women, overt ~dominance, particularly in sex, is the kind of behavior most vlikely to.render her Vunfeminine" in the eyes of others. And social learning appears to play.the major role.in.deter- mining the nature of adult sexual-identity and expression '(Hampson, 1965; Money, 1969).. As.Simon and Gagnon report, N"...sexual.behavior is socially Scripted behavior”-(1971, «p. 70). Each sex.is.subject-to.social pressures.which. influence the way they define and use their sexuality: ”... the boy has-been taught to.press for whatever degree of physical intimacy the girl will allow, and the girl has been taught to press for.whatever emotional and social commitment she can obtain from the boy" (Broderick, 1969, p. 32). For-both men and women, much of self-valuation depends on how well one approximates the Social ideal.of.sexual ”manliness" and "womanliness" as defined in stereotypes (Beigel, -1963); as.well-as-—or more.than~~how satisfactorily one's personal needs are fulfilled. .Others.state.this.idea more bluntly: "People talk a great deal about sex, but self-esteem is really the name of the game" (Schimel, l97l, p. 3). Many 26 of the sexual motives discussed above can be seen in this light. Whether an individual engages in sexual behavior in order to feel reassured and accepted, to meet peer standards of what an adequate person should do, or to feel strong and powerful via sexual conquest, self-esteem needs may underlie the surface motives of wanting approval or wanting to dominate. Self-Esteem and Sexual Motives Since evidence relating level of self-esteem to dif— ferences in sexual motives is lacking, one way of drawing inferences about possible relationships between these variables is to examine the sexual motives attributed to persons con- sidered to be either psychologically disturbed or of unusual psychological health or maturity. Psychological disturbance is frequently associated with low self-esteem (Congdon, l958; Piety, l958; Havener, l96l; and Wayne, 1963), while persons considered to be at the other extreme of the psychological health continuum, e.g., those high in personality integration, are assumed to be high in self-esteem (Fitts, I965). The sexual motives of emotionally disturbed individuals seem to be related to the nature of their disturbances and to the ways they have learned to protect themselves against their strong anxiety. Horney (l937) describes four principal ways people in our culture try to defend against anxiety: through affection-seeking, submissiveness, power, or with- drawal. Accordingly, sexual behavior may often be an 27 expression of a neurotic desire for reassurance and approval, or of efforts.to conquer.or.subdue-others. For-individuals who are convinced.that they are so unlovable that obtaining affection-is practically out of the question, ”...sexual »relations mean to them not only release.of specifically sexual 'tensions,.but also the only way of getting human contact. v...Physical.contact.may serve as a substitute for emotional relationships" (p. 153).. In.terms of the.two.domains of sexual motives described above, it appears that.the.neurotic individual's Domain 1 motives are "blocked". He does have motives which stem from early needs (or, perhaps more.accurately, the needs-exist unmodified), but these cannot.be satisfied directly in relation to another person because all of his efforts are-directed . toward controlling the anxiety which resulted from his.dis- rupted or frustrating early parent-child relationship. If the original bond was.not.a.rewarding one, it cannotzprovide - a-basis for close bonds with other people in adulthood. Thus, the individual must settle primarily.for.the.relative.safety and satisfaction.of.Domain 2 motives involved in some form of -cjominancersubordination.relationship.to maintain some feeling ()f well-being.and selfvesteem.. Because of the frustration ¢:aused by.early deprivation, there is likely to be an aggression "native also, though.this.may.not.be consciously experienced. In my own clinical.experience, very disturbed.individuals heave sometimes described sexual motives which paired a need 28 forea primitive kind of existenceeconfirming physical contact vwith an equally strong need to dominate and punish their partner...More.frequently, the primary motives reported have -been some.form of dominanceesubmission,.at least.until.the person has.learned to.feel.safe.enough to make more affil- iative contact with his partner. Until that time, safety requires that one or the other be "in control". .This is consistent with Maslow's (1942) association of insecurity with dominance-subordination sexual motives. In the absence of clear personal identity, immature or neurotic individuals need repeated reassurance of masculine or feminine identity. Sexual conquests offer temporary ‘ reassurance of a man's masculinity, and a woman may easily - become sexually involved out of a.need for reassurance that she - is desirable as a female.. In sexual motives, at-least.on a conscious level, there frequently appears to be an exaggeration of the social stereotypes of male and female sex-role char- acteristics;.i.e., dominance, aggression, and achievement in men, and deference, succorance, and nurturance-in women. By approximating the social norms of expected behavior for his sex, a person is able to enhance his feeling of self-esteem to-some degree.. In regard to the other extreme of psychological health or~ maturity, many theorists give a definition of sexual - ffilnctioning similar to that stated by Storr, "AS displayed in tflie sexual sphere, maturity may be defined as the ability ‘I 'l 29 to form a stable relationship with the opposite sex which is -bothphysically and emotionally satisfying, and in which sexual intercourse forms the main, though not the.only.mode of expression of love“ (1964, p. 12). Maslow (1963) gives more information about actual.sexual.expression among people who are assumed to possess high.selfresteem in his descriptions of sexuality.among.selfeactualizing people: (1)-they-tend to fuse sex with love;.(2) they tend not to seek out or be satis- fied with.sex for its own sake; (3).they have a happy, playful attitude in sex and tend to enjoy.sex more than average, often reporting intense sensations approaching "mystical.experience"; (4) they are more likely to acknowledge attraction for many people, but are less likely to feel a need to act on it; (5) they are more likely to.be happy in a relatively monogamous sexual relationship.and feel that sexual pleasure increases with increased familiarity and intimacy with a sexual partner; (6) they Show less differentiation of sex-roles, that is, they seem to feel.secure enough.in their sexual identity to be comfortable.taking on some.of_the cultural aspects of the opposity sex, to feel free to be active or passive in sex as well as in other Spheres of their lives. -From these descriptions, it.seems that the sexual 'rnotives-of.high self-esteem people are based primarily on - afWWliative.rather than dominance needs. There seems to be -Iiothing to be proved but much to be enjoyed through sex by 'these people. Au. 2? ext L 30 In brief summary, psychological motivation for sexual behavior appears to be influenced by many factors, including early infantile needs, the quality of the original parent- -child bond and other early experiences which affect person- ality dynamics, by social.learning related to sex-role identification, and by an individual's psychological health andvmaturity. In light of the foregoing discussion, six Specific hypotheses are proposed in regard to relationships.between the independent variables of sex, self-esteem, and basic -pgrsonality.needs and the dependent variables of conscious sexual motives and Ere-conscious sexual motives. Hypotheses Hypothesis 1: The measures of both conscious and pre-conscious sexual motives differ- entiate men and women alon tradi- tional cultural lines: (a? women score higher than men on Deference, Nurturance, and Succorance; (b) men score higher than women on Achieve- ment, Aggression, and Dominance. The first hypothesis is consistent with the culturally ascribed sex-role characteristics, which one would expect to be eSpe- cially salient in regard to sexual interactions. Hypothesis II: There is more congruence between conscious and pre-conscious sexual motives among women than among men. 3l Hypothesis II is based on the recognition of basic cultural inconsistencies in regard to the sexual motives associated with male and female sex-roles. Motives attributed to women (deference, nurturance, and succorance) are all socially approved in an interpersonal context, while the sexual motives strongly associated with male sexual identity (achievement, aggression, and dominance) are not socially acceptable in the context of intimate interpersonal relations between the sexes. In the presence of this cultural double message, men are more likely than women to be conflicted about their motives and to obscure the relative importance of these motives to themselves and to others. Hypothesis III: Self-esteem is negatively related to the conscious sexual motives of Deference in women and of Dominance in men. This hypothesis is based on the conjunction of two assump- tions: (l) that dominance-submission motives are more frequent and/or more intense among people with low self- esteem, and (2) that low self-esteem people tend to adhere more closely to cultural sex-role stereotypes. This predic- tion is restricted to conscious motives on the further assumption that this kind of defensiveness, i.e , adhering to stereotyped role behaviors, may be in the service of maintaining a consciously acceptable self-image. Dr P‘- «\i A... . Al. 32 Hypothesis IV: Self-esteem is positively related to conscious and pre-conscious sexual motive measures of Affiliation for both men and women. Hypothesis IV is based on the assumptions that persons with high self-esteem will (l) have less need to use sexual interactions for self-esteem enhancement, via either conquest or approval-seeking; (2) be more capable of establishing and maintaining close emotional relationships; and (3) possess a sufficiently high degree of personality integration that sexual expression can safely be associated with intimacy and sharing of pleasure. Hypothesis V: Self-esteem is negatively related to the pre-conscious sexual motive of Aggression in both men and women. This hypothesis is based on the assumptions that (l) aggres- sion is related to previous experience of frustration or injury, especially that which occurred during an individual's early development; and (2) both early deprivation and guilt about one's angry reaction to the resulting frustration con- tribute to low self-esteem. Hypothesis VI: Conscious sexual motives are con- gruent with corresponding conscious personality needs. The final hypothesis is based on the assumption that there will be at least some degree of order and integration within 33 a given personality system. Although cultural taboos may produce some isolation of sexuality from other aSpects of an individual's life, one might reasonably expect a general tendency for sexual motives to be consistent with basic personality needs. In addition to the above hypotheses, all variables will be examined separately for each sex. METHOD Subjects Subjects (S5) for the present study were taken from a college student population. The sample consisted of 200 students (100 women and 100 men) enrolled in undergraduate psychology courses at Michigan State University. Of these 200 SS, 39 (15 women and 24 men) signed up for this study in order to get extra credit in an Introductory Psychology course; 71 (41 women and 30 men) were enrolled in an inter- mediate level Psychology of Personality course; and 90 (44 women and 30 men) were enrolled in an upper level class in Abnormal Psychology. The latter two groups of §S volunteered after having been asked by the experimenter to participate; they received no payment or course credit. All SS were informed that this was a study of "Personality and Sexuality." There were originally 104 men SS and 116 women S5; 4 men and 13 women were eliminated from the sample because they did not give complete data on the major variables; an additional 3 women Ss were randomly chosen and eliminated in order to have equal male and female 34 35 samples. Included among the men SS are 5 who omitted age information and 2 who omitted two of the personal infor- Ination items. No formal analysis was done for differences be- tnveen S5 drawn from the 3 different courses. Although bc>th age and education level tended to be higher, the trigher the level of the course, there was wide variety Wi thin each course. The average age and education of al 1 women and all men of the sample were not significantly di fferent. The average age was 20 13 for women and 20.78 'f01~ men; the mean number of years of college completed was 2.36 for women and 2.56 for men (see Table 2). The greater variance of age among men, shown in Taible 1, was due largely to the presence of three SS who Weare considerably older than the rest of the sample (ages: 28. 30, and 50). TABLE 1.--Age of SS. \ . N Range Mean Variance women 100 18-33 20.13 4.76 Men 95a 17-50 20.78 14.05 a . . . . Five men SS omitted age information t = -1.47; df = 193; p < .20. 36 TABLE 2.--Educational Level of SS. Class Status Women N = 100 Men N = 100 Freshman 3O 22 Sophomore 27 22 Junior 21 35 Senior 21 20 Graduate 1 1 Mean Years of a CCITlege Completed 2.36 2.56 a t = -1.27 df = 198; p >.20 PV‘ocedure The measures used in this study were administered Tr! separate groups for men and women SS; there was a man e>ry items were adapted (to reflect a specifically sexual cc>ntext) from items on the Edwards Personal Preference Iriventory (Edwards, 1959), which is also based on Murray's neaed system. To assure content validity, an item was PEEtained in a given scale only if at least 4 of 6 indepen- deent judges (M.S.U. Counseling Center staff members and C1 inical interms) agreed on its classification. 0f the 565 items retained, 45 had perfect inter-judge agreement, 5 had the agreement of 5 judges, and 6 had the agreement 01’ 4 judges. Internal reliability coefficients (Hoyt, l94l) for the total sample ranged from .45 to .78 (Y = .66) oVer the 8 scales. Men and women did not differ signifi- <2antly in average reliability for the scales (see Table A-2 in Appendix A). 39 Scale intercorrelations are given in Table A-3 in Appendix A. Lists of individual scale items for the SM-I are given in Appendix C. Sexual Motive Projective Test (SM-PI).--This test, also developed by the author, is composed of two parts: Part I instructs S to "Write a brief story about the occurrence of sexual relations between 19m and Ann. Tell how they got together, how each felt before sexual relations, how the interaction progressed, and how each partner felt afterward"; Part 2 instructs S to rate 64 statements about the story characters in Part 1 on a five-point Likert scale from "completely false" (+l) to "completely true" (+5). The statements in Part 2 are adapted from SM-I items and are designated to assess the same 8 motive cate- gories: Agh, ng, A11, £99, Som, Mug, Agg, and Exh. Selection of these statements was based on an effort to combine the highest content validity ratings among the items of each subscale. 0f the 32 statements, 29 had perfect agreement among the 6 judges of content validity, 2 had the agreement of 5 judges, and 1 had the agreement of 4 judges. There are 32 different statements, 4 for each motive scale; each statement is given 2 forms, one which applies to the female character (Ann) and one which 40 applies to the male character (Tom). See Appendix C for lists of items for each scale. For each motive scale, S has a "female character score" and a "male character score," each being the sum of S's ratings of the sex-appropriate (i.e., referring to Tom or Ann) items. S's score for the character of the same sex as S is taken as a measure of S's own motive strength on a given scale; S's score for the opposite sex char- acter is taken to be S's expectation of the strength of a given motive in persons of the opposite sex. The assumption underlying this scoring system is that each subject will exhibit major identification with the same- sex character in her/his story. Only the scores from Part 2 will be used in testing the specific hypotheses stated above. This part of the test was designed to provide information about an indi- vidual's motives which is less conscious, therefore less susceptible to censorship in.the direction of social desirability than the self-descriptive SM-I items. This format also has the advantage of being easily scorable. Pilot work showed that Part 1 story protocols typically do not give enough information to allow them to be rated on all the motive categories which are of interest. 41 The most basic assumption involved here is that S will "project" onto a story character those of his/her own motives which may be less available to awareness, or which are felt to be socially unacceptable. If one conceptualizes various "levels" of awareness, the level tapped by the SM-PT is probably equivalent to what is sometimes called the "pre-conscious" level, rather than the "deeper" or "unconscious"-levels. This is because the sexual context is clear and the content of the response item is relatively direct, hence, S is likely to have a more guarded response set than might be the case with the more ambiguous stimuli used in projective techniques such as the Rorschach, which purport to give what Abt (1950) calls an "x-ray" picture of S's personality. Internal reliability coefficients (Hoyt, 1941) for the total sample ranged from .41 to .85 (Y = .65) for the 16 subscales (8 male.character, 8 female character). Average reliability coefficients over the 16 subscales were not significantly different for men and women (see Table A-6 in Appendix A). Scale intercorrelations are given in Tables A-7 and A-8 in Appendix A. Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS).--The Clinical and Research Form of the TSCS (Fitts, 1965) is a 100-item 9‘ 42 inventory of self-descriptive statements designed to portray an individual's self-concept and level of self- esteem. Statements such as "I am a friendly person" (Item 73), “I wish I could be more trustworthy" (Item 28), and "I feel good most of the time" (Item 14) are rated by S on a five-point Likert scale from "completely false" (+1) to "completely true" (+5). To attempt to control for the effects of response set, half the statements are worded positively and half are worded negatively. The most important index of overall level of self-esteem on the scale is the Total Positive (Total P) Score, which will be used for hypothesis testing. In addition, two "defensiveness" scales, the Self Criticism Score (SC) and the Defense Positive Scale (DP) will be used as indices of Total P Score validity. The SC scale is composed of 10 items from the L—Scale of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory and provides a measure of an individual's tendency to make a deliberate effort to present a favorable picture of.himself. The DP scale is an empirically-derived measure of defensiveness, which is described as a more subtle measure than the SC scale; a high DP score (above 72) is interpreted as indicating that one's positive self description stems from defensive distortion, while a low DP score (below 33) is 43 interpreted to mean that the person is lacking in usual defenses. In the present study, SC will be used as a criterion for elimination of subjects only if there are extremely discrepant scores. Since DP is highly corre- lated with Tot P, this score will be used as a statis- tical control in correlation of Tot P with other variables in testing hypotheses. Test-retest reliability coefficients for a two- week testing interval (in a general population sample) were .92 for Total P, .75 for SC, and .90 for DP (Fitts, l965). Using a shortened version of the Scale, Congdon (l958) still obtained an r of .88 for Total P. Fitts also reports that "The distinctive features of individual profiles are still present for most persons a year or more later" (l965, p. l5). Four kinds of validation procedures are reported by Fitts (1965) which support the TSCS as a valid measure of self-esteem. These include (1) content validity, (2) discrimination between groups, (3) correlation with other personality measures, and (4) personality changes under particular conditions. Content validity was achieved by requiring that each scale item have the unani- mous agreement of 7 independent judges that it was classi- fied correctly. 44 Specifically the TSCS has been shown to success- fully differentiate in the expected direction such groups as patient and non-patient (Fitts, 1965; Congdon, 1958; Piety, 1958; havener, 1961; and Wayne, 1963); different types of psychiatric disorders within a patient group (Huffman, 1964); and delinquents and non-delinquents (Atchison, 1958). Predicted differences have been found in studies of other groups, such as unwed mothers (Boston and Kew, 1964) and alcoholics (Wells and Bueno, 1957). Scale scores correlated in expected ways with MMPI scores (McGee, 1960) and in a’clear, though non- linear way with Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (Sundby, 1962). Hall (1964) reports significant correla- tions between many TSCS scores and a number of other personality measures, including Taylor Anxiety Scale, California F-Scale, Cornell Medical Index, Inventory of Feelings, Locus of Control, Extraversion, Neuroticism, and Maladjustment. Expected changes in TSCS scores were found among paratroop trainees subject to stress and failure (Gividen, 1959); and patients after undergoing psychotherapy (Fitts, 1965; Ashcraft and Fitts, 1964). On the other hand, chemical intervention did not alter TSCS scores; the 45 administration of a tranquilizing drug produced no change in self-concept in psychiatric patients, even though they did show symptomatic and behavioral changes (Congdon, 1958). The Adjective Check List (ACL).--The ACL (Gough and Heilbrun, 1965) consists of 300 adjectives commonly used to describe personal attributes. There are 24 experimental scales, including 15 scales based on Murray's need system. Of interest here are those scales which correspond to the subscales of the SM-I and the SM-PT: Ach, Def, Aff, Suc, Dom, Nur, Agg, and Exh. Scores on these scales will be compared with subscale scores on the two SM measures to examine the relationship between sexual motives and general personality needs. Test-retest reliability.(104week interval) re- ported by the developers for the relevant scores range between .74 and .90, except for Suc, which was .45 for women and .54 for men. Content validity for the Need scales is defined by interjudge agreement of at.1east 9 out of 19 judges that an adjective would be indicative of the presence of a given need as described by Edwards (1954). Although the ACL Need scales share this definitional base with 46 the Edwards Personal Preference Schedule (EPPS), correspon- ding scales on these two measures are not highly correlated and cannot be considered equivalent scores. However, the rank ordering of needs on the ACL and the EPPS correlate +.60 (Heilbrun, 1958). ACL scales relate moderately well in expected directions to non-test indices of the same dimensions (Heilbrun, 1959) and to other established measures such as the California Psychological Inventory and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (Gough and Heilbrun, 1965). RESULTS Before presenting the findings in relation to the hypotheses, it seems appropriate to give a summary of the findings regarding several characteristics of the present sample. This may give additional perspective for interpreting the major results. Tennessee Self Concept Scale Scores Since the present sample differed significantly from Fitts' (1965) original norm group on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale scores used in this study, it was decided to include here comparisons of the mean scale scores for these two groups. Table 3 shows that men and women of the present sample have mean scores that are significantly lower than the norm group on Tot P and DP and that women Ss scored significantly higher than the norm group on SC. 47 48 TABLE 3.-—Comparison of the Present Sample with the Original on the Tennessee Self Concept Scale Normative Samplea t TSC? Sample Mean SD ( with Sca e Norm Group) Tot P Norm Group 345 57 30.70 Present Sample Women 336 41 35.05 2 17* Men 323.59 39.01 4.82** 93_ Norm Group 54.40 12.38 Present Sample Women 37.72 12.40 12.49*** Men 37.20 13.40 12.04*** SS Norm Group 35 54 6.70 Present Sample Women 37-09 5-11 -2.69** Men 36 13 5.50 -0.96 aFitts, 1965. *p‘<.05 *::p <.Ol p <.001 49 Personal Information and Sexual Experience Personal information and sexual experience variables for women and men Ss are summarized in Tables 4, 5, and 6. Table 4 shows a significant difference between men and women in regard to sexual orientation but not in regard to relationship status. TABLE 4.--Distribution of Ss in Regard to Sexual Orientation and Relationship Status Women Men (N = 100) (N = 100) . . 3* Sexual Orientation 2:2,02 Heterosexual 100 96 Bisexual 0 04 Homosexual 0 00 Relationship Status t=.,94b Single (no steady partner) 42 44 Steady relationship 48 38 Living with partner (not married) 07 10 Married 03 08 a Test for difference between proportions (Walker and Lev, 1953). b Status categories were given scale scores of 1 (single) through 4 (married); t represents test of difference between the mean scale scores for men and women. * p <_05 50 Table 5 shows that in comparison to the previously researched samples, the present sample is more active in coitus and in oral-genital contacts. This difference is especially pronounced among women Ss. TABLE 5.--Incidence of Types of Sexual Experience: Present Sample and Previous Reports for People of Com- parable Age and Education . _ Percentages Reported by Present Sample Previous Studies Women Men 2e Women Men N = 100 N = 100 Masturbationa’d 63 95 76 94 -3.55* Heavy Pettingc 91 92 95 94 0.31 Oral-Genital b c Stimulation ’ 17-48 22-44 72 74 -0.32 Anal Penetration ’C too few to determine 22 25 -O.50 incidence Coitusc’d 35 68 72 77 -0.81 aJohnson, 1969 bKinsey gt 11., 1949 cKinsey gt iL-i 1953 dReevy, 1961 eTest for differences between proportions (Walker and Lev, 1953), comparing men and women S5 of this sample. (*p <.001 51 In Table 6, information about sexual experience is given for those Ss who have participated in sexual relations. In this case, "sexual.relations" is not limited to coitus, but is defined somewhat more broadly: "sexual activity with another person in which one or both partners may reach orgasm." Thus heavy petting may be considered to be sexual relations. Under this definition, 89 men and 83 women indicated that they had engaged in sexua1.relations. Examination of roughly comparable data from other studies reveals that the present sample is somewhat higher in frequency of sexual relations: Kinsey et a1. (1953) report a mean weekly coital frequency of .7 for women and .8 for men who are sexually.active. The number of partners reported by Kinsey et a1. (1953) is lower for women and higher for men in relation to the present sample. Kinsey reported that 87% of women and 60% of men had had sexual experience with 5 or fewer partners; Table 5 shows that for this sample, 80% of women and 75% of men had 6 or fewer partners. The author is not aware of data from previous research presented in sufficiently comparable form to allow comparisons about orgasm frequency and physical enjoyment. The sex differences shown in Tables 5 and 6, i.e., that men Ss report higher incidence of masturbation, number of partners, orgasm frequency, and physical enjoyment than 52 women, are in agreement with those studies cited above. An exception of this sample with others is that incidence of coitus among.women is of men; men typically are reported higher incidence than women. commonly reported in the to the comparability in this sample the almost equal to that as having a clearly 53 TABLE 6.--Sexual Experience for Ss Who Have Engaged in Sexual Relationsa (Percent of Ss in Each Category) Variable Women Men TotN = 83 Tot N = 89 t Frequency of Sexual Relations N - 82b N = 89 -O.35 Only once or a few times ever 17 17 Once or twice a month 27 25 Once or twice a week 33 31 Three to five times a week 21 25 Once a day or more 02 02 Number of Partners N = 83 N = 89 -2.02* One 31 25 Two or three 38 30 Four to six 11 20 Seven to twelve 16 09 Thirteen or more 04 16 Orgasm Frequency N = 83 N = 87C -5.94** Never“ 22 05 25% of time or less 31 O3 50% to 75% of time 22 ”11 Almost every time 17 145) Once or more on each occasion 08 '36 54 TABLE 6.--(Continued) Physical Enjoyment of Sexual Relations N = 83 N = 87c -3.36** Extremely unpleasant 00 OO Unpleasant. O7 00 Neutral 00 01 P1easan¢ 13 01 Very pleasant 30 35 Extremely pleasurable 50 63 a"Sexual Relations" was defined as "sexual activity with another person in which one or both partners may reach orgasm." bOne 5 reported that she no longer engages.in sexual relations, so she omitted frequency information. cTwo Ss omitted this information. ' * p<:.05 ** p < .001 55 Major Findings Hypothesis 1: The measures of both conscious and pre-conscious sexual motives differ- entiate men and women along tradi- tional cultural lines: (a) women score higher than men on Deference, Nurturance, and Succorance; (b) men score higher than women on Achievement, Aggression, and Dominance. As seen in Table 7, men and women differ in the predicted direction on all 6 motive categories named.in Hypothesis I, on.both.the conscious measure (SM-I).and the pre-conscious measure (SM-PT). Of these differences, only SM-I Nurturance failed to reach a satisfactory level of significance. Thus, Hypothesis I is clearly supported. In addition to the predicted differences,.both conscious and pre-conscious Affiliation scales signifi- cantly differentiate women and men, women scoring higher on both kinds of Aff scales (p <.001). Hypothesis II: There is more congruence between conscious and pre-conscious sexual motives among women than among men. Pearson productemoment.correlation coefficients were calculated for.each S, between SM-I scales and the female scales of SM-PT.for women and between SM-I scales and the male scales of SM9PT.for.men. The average.corre- lation for women (r = .78, SD = .32) was higher than the 56 .mummu Fo:o_uumgmo Loo was m~m>mp mucouwmwcmwm gmsuo Ppo mummy Focomuumgoococ m go; a m¢.ep mooo. mm.m _o.m mp.m mm.o_ oom moo. mm.~ mm.m No.m_ No.m om.op toz mz FN.- m~.m om.~_ o~.m mm.~F oxm Pooo. _P.o- No.m om.__ Po.N am.“ soo moo. _o.N N~.m mm.o_ _o.m mm.mp too mooo. mo.m- oN.m mm.o mm.~ mo.m oo< ._oo. om.o oo.o mm.m_ mo.~ Fo.o_ too mooo. mm.m- ma.m mo.o_ mm.m oN.N_ goo Ammpoom oposv Ammpoom m—oemmv HQIZW _ooo. No.m mm.m om.oN oo.m oo..m oom o_. Nm.F oo.o N_.m~ oN.o No.om toz mz om. mo.m om.mm No.m mo.m~ oxm Fooo. NN.m- NN.o om.m_ oo.m mo.m_ goo moo. No.m m_.m Po.m_ om.m mN._N too Po. mo.~- mN.o mm.m_ mm.o mo.o_ oo< “Foo. om.m mo.m No.oN mo.m No.~m too moo. o_.m- oP.o No.mN mo.o No.mN oo< H-2m om cum: om cam: a v o oop u z oo_ n z mopoom cm: cmEoz “hauzmv ammo m>wuumhmga w>muoz pozxmm mgu van Amuzmv xgopcw>cm m>opoz Pooxmm on» we mmpoum :0 mm cm: uco cmsoz oo mmgoum cow: msp to mcommgonsoouu.n m4mmpumwogo m>mooz Pooxmm mop :o mcowpopmccoucmch monom--.ou< m4mcpuonoco cocpo>cpoz Fooxom on» :o mgocuopoccoocopgm opoum--.mu< m4m