Excitation-Transfer Theory

Ever heard of overreacting? Such as when lovers, after yelling their heads off arguing, make up and experience unusually strong sexual pleasures? Or when a disagreement escalates from silly to serious, prompts an exchange of insults, and ends with bloody noses? Or when the girl who went along to a horror movie is so terrified that she snuggles up on her companion and finds him irresistibly attractive? It seems that even the most rational people are not immune to such overreacting. The famous philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell, for instance, let the world know that his sexual experience was never more intense than during extreme fear, when his bedroom was lit up by exploding grenades during the Nazis' bombardment of London. There is ample research ...