The relationship between sex and aggression has been investigated even outside the frame of the Freudian theory.
Basically the question that has been raised is that since sexual stimulation produces a general arousal, particularly of the sympathetic nervous system, including respiratory, etc., can this arousal lead to a display of aggression?
In an interesting experiment, Zillderman had three groups of subjects-one group watching an ‘explicit’ sex movie, the second group watching films full of aggression, and the third group watching a neutral ‘travel story’ type of movie. The degree of arousal while watching the films was measured through changes in heart rate and blood pressure.
Later these subjects were put as experimenters in a ‘learning experiment’ where they served as ‘teachers or observers’, who were required to deliver different degrees of shocks to batches of learners whenever they made a mistake in learning the task. They were free to vary the degree of shock, they chose to offer.
It was found that the subjects who watched the ‘sex movie’ were the most aroused, and the intensity of shocks they were found to administer when the subjects made mistakes was much higher and also varied positively with the degree of arousal. But there have also been other studies which question the finding of a direct relationship between sexual arousal and aggression.
A series of studies carried out by Donmestean found no correlation and direct relationship between watching an ordinary erotic film and aggression. Another set of studies carried out investigating the relationship between exposure to aggressive pornography, films depicting violent scenes against women and aggression.
Dommestean has attempted a general summarisation of the conclusions from these studies as follows:
(a) Aggressive pornography seems to affect men’s attitude to rape, especially if the rape victim is depicted as being aroused. In such cases men tend to show less sympathy towards the rape victim and less opposed to aggressive acts towards women.
(b) Exposure to aggressive pornography has been found to result in a tendency to administer stronger shocks to women subjects, under laboratory experimental conditions, in learning experiments.
(c) Repeated exposure to aggressive pornography tends to make men more callous to women.
It may therefore, be seen that while there does not appear to be any inevitable relationships between sexual arousal and aggression, under normal conditions, aggressive pornography does appear to make a difference.
One may see, therefore, that the relationship between sexual arousal and aggression depends on the nature of the arousal, which is perhaps why one is not in a position to arrive at any broad conclusion on the basis of laboratory findings involving induced sexual arousal, through exposure to films on the one hand and verbally expressed aggression on the other.
The real question is what happens under natural sexual arousal experienced by a person. A further broad and more crucial question would be, what are the contributions of factors like personality factors, the degree of satisfaction of the sex urge of the individual and also the relationship between the partners, whether they are married couples or otherwise.
The issue of relationship between sexual arousal and aggression is too deep and complex to be answered by a few simulated laboratory experiments. Another similarity between sex and aggression is that both undergo a lot of modifications through socialisation. But both are socially valued because sex is connected to reproduction and aggression to power.
In this section on sex motivation, an attempt has been made to examine some of the basic characteristics of the sex motive, its biological, social and psychological dimension. In this context, a comprehensive account of the view of Sigmund Freud on the sex urge, its development, and manifestations has also been executed.
Towards the end, an attempt was made to discuss the relationship between “sexual arousal” and “aggressive behaviour.” Perhaps, one could have discussed different forms of deviant and abnormal sex behaviour. But this issue has not been examined, as it is felt.
Among such deviant patterns are homosexuality and other forms of sexual inadequacy, low arousal or excess of arousal. In general, it may be said that such deviant behaviour and sex developments are influenced by a number of factors including (physical and psychological development) social attitudes, past personal experiences, physical health problems, personality factors, guilt feelings, anxiety, etc.
In summary, today it is realised that sex motivation and sex behaviour, are complex and complicated with wild ramifications. In comparison with other forms it presents a much more complex and complicated form of motivation, with biological, physiological, social, cultural, and psychological attempts and implications.
This is much more true of contemporary society where old inhibitions, prescriptions and proscriptions have broken down and sex power of individuals has become highly valued. Contemporary society has almost become sex-centred and aggression-centred.
Whether this is a healthy sign or an unhealthy sign is a matter of one’s values. Today, one can rarely think of a movie particularly in India, without sex and violence and sometimes violence in sex like rape scenes. Whether this is modernisation or primitivisation is a moot question.