Digital contents as a tool to address research reproducibility crisis in psychology: A case study on sexual attraction under conditions of high arousal

Abstract

In the field of behavioral sciences, a crisis of the replicability of data took place. Among the reasons of the crisis, there is the difficulty of replicating some classical experimental settings and the lack of reproduced studies. Nowadays, digital contents might provide valuable opportunities to re-create specific environmental situations and manipulations in a safe and cost-saving way. The present study is a preliminary attempt to replicate the relationship between arousal manipulation and sexual attraction as it was assessed in the classical study by Dutton and Aron in 1974. Here, 30 male subjects will be randomly assigned to high or low arousal condition (induced with digital contents) and then asked to rate attractiveness of a female brief video. The objective of this preliminary study is to assess whether the same pattern of results from the classical study of Dutton and Aron will be confirmed with a virtual reprise of the experiment. Theoretical and practical implications will be discussed.