Ego defense and aesthetic distortion: experimenter effects

The “arousal-control” hypothesis of aesthetic representation states that the greater the arousal value of an object, the greater the degree of disguise required before a representation of the object can be called aesthetic Four studies were conducted to find the personality correlates of subjects who by their behavior support the hypothesis A strong experimenter effect was discovered in two male-run studies, supporters of the hypothesis were sensitizers, while in the two female-run studies, supporters were repressors Evidence suggests that the differences may be attributed to the degree of homosexual anxiety evoked in the subjects