Understanding Human Ambivalence About
Sex:
The Effects of Stripping Sex of Meaning
continued from
Appeal of physical sex. To measure the appeal of physical aspects of sex,
we used the same scales used by Goldenberg et al. (1999) that were also
employed to manipulate the salience of different aspects of sex in Study 1.
However, in contrast to Study 1, participants responded to the entire
20-item measure. The instructions were identical to those in Study 1;
however, rather than describe the behaviors as "having sex" or "making
love," the more general phrase "sexual experience" was employed. An appeal
of the physical aspects of sex score was calculated as the mean response on
the physical sex items, with 1 representing the least appealing and 7 the
most appealing response to each item. The romantic subscale served as an
anchor for the physical items and also as a comparison to show that the
effects of MS and the essay were specific to the physical aspects of sex. In
the present study, the inter-item reliability was satisfactorily high (Cronbach's
alpha = .92 for the physical sex subscale, and Cronbach's alpha = .93 for
the romantic sex subscale).
Essay evaluation. As in Study 1, we used six questions to assess
reactions to the essay (Cronbach's Alpha = .89).
Results
Essay Evaluation
As in Study 1, a one-tailed t test on reactions to the essays confirmed
that participants who read the essay suggesting that humans were similar to
animals reacted more negatively to the essay than did participants who were
reminded that they were unique compared to animals, t (123) = 3.06, p <
.001. Means were 5.69 (SD = 1.63) compared to 6.47 (SD = 1.21),
respectively, with higher numbers reflecting more positive evaluations. (2)
Appeal of Physical Sex
Once again, we conducted a preliminary analysis with gender in the model.
Although there was a main effect revealing that males found the physical
aspects of sex more appealing than females, F (1,110) = 23.86, p < .0005 (M
= 5.11, SD = 1.39 vs. M = 3.78, SD = 1.51, respectively), there was no hint
of an interaction with the other independent variables, nor did including
gender in our analyses change any of the other effects. Gender was therefore
dropped from the analysis.
We next proceeded with a 2 (creatureliness prime) X 2 (MS) X 2
(neuroticism) ANOVA on the appeal of physical sex scale. Once again we
performed a median split on neuroticism scores, yielding a high-neuroticism
group with scores above 9 and a low-neuroticism group with scores of 9 and
below. Although the median was 10 in Study 1 and 9 in Study 2, the groups
were split at the same point in the distribution, because in Study 1
participants scoring on the median were put in the high-neuroticism group
and in Study 2 they were put in the low-neuroticism group. The results of
the ANOVA and hierarchical regression revealed no effects involving
neuroticism (all ps > .42).
The analysis did, however, reveal the predicted creatureliness prime x MS
interaction on the appeal of physical sex, F (1,121) = 7.19, p = .008. Means
and standard deviations are reported in Table 3. Tests for simple main
effects within the humans are animals condition revealed that participants
found physical sex less appealing after reminders of death compared to the
control condition, F (1, 121) = 4.67, p = .033, whereas in the humans are
unique condition this difference did not approach statistical significance
(p > .10). Also, within the mortality-salience condition, participants in
the humans are animals condition reported finding physical sex less
appealing than did those in the humans are unique condition, F (1,121) =
5.83, p = .017; there was no difference in the control condition (p >. 17).
As expected, a parallel 2 x 2 x 2 ANOVA on the appeal of romantic sex
scores revealed no effects approaching significance; there was no indication
that when participants were reminded of their creatureliness (humans are
animals essay condition), mortality salience reduced the appeal of romantic
sex (p = .64). We also ran the analyses with physical versus romantic
aspects of sex as a repeated-measures variable. The repeated-measures ANOVA
produced the same pattern of results with the additional 3-way interaction
between mortality salience, essay condition, and physical versus romantic
sex. The results confirmed that the effects are specific to the physical
aspects of sex; there were no significant effects within the romantic sex
condition (ps > .31). Not unexpectedly, there was also a main effect of the
repeated-measures variable; there was a clear preference for the romantic
compared to the physical aspects of sex, F (1, 121) = 162.96, p < .0005.
We did consider the possibility that such a threat might actually
increase the appeal of romantic sex. However, as with prior research
(Goldenberg, McCoy, Pyszczynski, Greenberg, & Solomon, 2000; Goldenberg et
al., 1999), these data revealed a strong ceiling effect for responses on the
romantic items (mode = 7, M = 6.02, SD = 1.08), attesting to the tremendous
value that nearly all of our participants placed on romantic aspects of the
sexual experience.
Negative Affect
A 2 (creatureliness prime) X 2 (MS) X 2 (neuroticism) ANOVA performed on
the negative affect scale of the PANAS revealed only a main effect for
neuroticism, F (1, 121) = 5.67, p = .019. High neuroticism participants (M =
1.90, SD = .74) reported more negative affect than low neuroticism
participants (M = 1.61, SD = .69). To assess the possibility that negative
affect was mediating the interaction of creatureliness and MS on appeal of
physical sex, we used the Baron and Kenny (1986) multiple regression
technique and found that there was no mediation or partial mediation.
Additionally, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) on appeal of sex scores
with negative affect as covariate did not alter the significant
creatureliness X MS interaction, F (1, 120) = 7.25, p = .008, or any of the
simple effects.
Discussion
Study 2 provided additional support for the role of creatureliness in the
sex-death link, and demonstrated that people's attitudes toward the physical
aspects of sex could be influenced by theoretically relevant variables.
Specifically, when human creatureliness was salient, MS reduced the appeal
of physical aspects of sex. However, when human uniqueness was salient, MS
had no such effect; within the uniqueness condition, mortality-salient
participants reported nonsignificantly higher appeal of physical sex than
their exam-salient counterparts. Consistent with our reasoning, romantic
aspects of sex--aspects imbedded in a meaningful view of sexual
behavior--were not affected by the creatureliness and MS manipulations.
GENERAL DISCUSSION
The present findings support the view that the awareness of one's self as
a mere physical creature plays a role in the threat associated with the
physical aspects of sex, and further, that this threat is rooted in
mortality concerns. The data reveal that MS reduces the appeal of physical
sex and that thoughts of physical sex increase the accessibility of
death-related thoughts when sex is stripped of its symbolic cultural meaning
by activating concerns about human creatureliness. In both studies, when
concerns about creatureliness were assuaged by reading an essay that
elevated humans above other animals, MS and thoughts of physical sex had no
such effects.
We view the dichotomous manipulation--creatureliness reminder or
creaturely buffer--as two ends of a continuum. People highly focused on the
similarities between humans and animals should be especially threatened by
physical aspects of sex, whereas people focused on human distinctiveness
should not. Most likely because of the directness and strength of the
conditions we created, neuroticism did not moderate these effects as it did
in the prior studies in which we did not direct participants to focus on or
away from their creatureliness. In fact, we designed this study as we did to
manipulate a critical factor that we believe may have distinguished the high
and low neurotics in our previous research. Although this work was not
designed to test this assumption directly, we did find that in the control
condition (in Study 2, when mortality was not salient), neuroticism was
associated with a tendency to perceive the humans are animals essay as
accurate, r (32) = .29, p = .097, whereas it was not similarly associated
with acceptance of the humans are unique essay, r (32) = -.05. (3) Of
course, further research examining this assumption is needed.
Because we didn't include a no essay or neutral essay condition, we
cannot be sure we would have replicated the prior evidence of moderation by
neuroticism. This is an unfortunate limitation of the present studies.
However, the prior effects regarding neuroticism were highly significant in
three studies, and so there is good reason to believe they are replicable.
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