Effects of subliminal activation of Oedipal fantasies on competitive performance. A replication and extension.

A subliminal psychodynamic activation experiment was conducted in which the effects of five subliminal stimuli were sought on the dart-throwing performance of male subjects. The stimuli consisted of the following messages, each accompanied by a congruent picture: BEATING DAD IS OK, BEATING DAD IS WRONG, BEATING HIM IS OK, BEATING HIM IS WRONG, and PEOPLE ARE WALKING. The first two stimuli were intended to activate competitive motives within the context of the Oedipus complex; the next two, competitive motives outside that context; and the last was intended as a control stimulus. BEATING DAD IS OK led to greater dart-throwing accuracy than each of the other four conditions, which in turn did not differ from each other. This finding replicated a result reported by Silverman, L. H., Ross, D., Adler, J., and Lustig, D. (J. Abnorm. Psychol., 87: 341-357, 1978) and is in keeping with the formulation that the activation of oedipal motives can affect competitive performance. Neither a subject variable (fear of success) nor the differential effects of two experimenters was found to interact with stimulus conditions in affecting dart scores.