Unacceptable Impulses, Anxiety and the Appreciation of Cartoons

Summary Sexual adjustment measures were used to predict “funniness” ratings of overtly sexual (OS), mildly sexual (MS) and non-sexual (NS) cartoons. Male college students were more anxious, more admitting of unacceptabe impulses, more sexually frustrated and more disturbed about sexual expression than female students and gave higher funniness ratings to both OS and MS cartoons. In both sexes a strong positive association was found between anxiety level and admission of unacceptable impulses. In females, perceived funniness of MS cartoons was positively associated with sexual frustration and sexual disturbance. In males, funniness of OS cartoons was positively associated with acceptance of sexual impulses.