72 female and 72 male subjects in aggression or non-arousal conditions registered preferences between sexual and non-sexual humor. Aggressively aroused subjects rated both types higher than non-aroused subjects, who preferred non-sexual humor while the aroused subjects preferred sexual humor. Exposure to humor led to reduction of aggression for the aroused only when presented the sexual humor. The relevance of the results to Freudian theory and subsequent research dealing with similarities of sex and aggression are discussed.
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