Footage of Dr William Marston measuring women’s emotions

A strange clip from the 1930s in which Dr William Marston claims to have invented a machine that can compare the emotions of women has resurfaced.

The leading name in his field and creator of the Wonder Woman comics, can be seen conducting a series of experiments on three women with different colour hair.

His machine, dubbed a ‘stinograph’, measured their emotional response to certain stimuli, including gambling, watching a romantic film and hearing a gunshot.

Dr Marston, has since had a Hollywood film made about his life, discovered gambling stirs the greatest emotions in the red-headed woman.

The blonde was the easiest to scare and the brunette most enjoyed the romantic film. The test is believed to work in a similar way to that of a lie detector.

Dr William Marston, a leading name in his field at the time, can be seen conducting a series of experiments on three women with different colour hair

The bizarre clip has resurfaced as the string of sexual abuse claims in the entertainment industry continue unabated. 

Dr Marston’s creations 

Dr Marston was the creator of the systolic blood pressure test, a key component featured in the polygraph test that was invented just a few years later.

The idea behind it was that when someone was lying it would cause their blood pressure to rise, whereas it would remain the same when telling the truth.

Dr Marston, educated at Harvard University, took this concept with him into his body of research on the emotions of women with different hair colours.

His  machine, dubbed a 'stinograph', measured their emotional response to certain stimuli, including gambling, watching a romantic film and hearing a gunshot

His machine, dubbed a ‘stinograph’, measured their emotional response to certain stimuli, including gambling, watching a romantic film and hearing a gunshot

Dr Marston discovered that gambling stirs the greatest emotions in the red-headed woman, while the brunette most enjoyed the romantic film. The blonde was the easiest to scare

Dr Marston discovered that gambling stirs the greatest emotions in the red-headed woman, while the brunette most enjoyed the romantic film. The blonde was the easiest to scare

It is presumed that Dr Marston believed all women of the same hair colour would have similar reactions to the same stimuli.

The narrator explains the results from the machine during the video. ‘Here we see how a redhead reacts to gambling’, he says.

‘And as she wins, Marston’s emotion finder indicates that redheads show most emotion when gambling.

‘Now girls are taking reaction tests in matters pertaining to love. 

‘Watching love scenes, all girls show some kind of emotional response to a romantic scene, but not all show a similar reaction.

‘The stinograph shows it’s the brunette who most wants to be loved.’

Who was most frightened? 

The final test involves a man in a film pointing and firing a gun unexpectedly, with the narrator stating: ‘Now here’s a test to show which of the three is most susceptible to shock or fright.

‘Taking a look at the graph, as we go through that again, Dr Marston and science shows that blondes are easiest to scare.’ 

WHO IS DR WILLIAM MARSTON?  

Dr Marston's life was portrayed in the film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, released in October this year

Dr Marston’s life was portrayed in the film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, released in October this year

William Moulton Marston, born in 1893, was the creator of the systolic blood pressure test. 

It went on to be used as part of the polygraph test, or the lie detector. 

His wife, Elizabeth, is believed to have suggested a link between emotion and blood pressure that led to the test being created. 

Dr Marston also happened to be a comic book writer, who went on to achieve fame for creating ‘Wonder Woman’.

He died from cancer in 1947, days before his 54th birthday. Elizabeth died aged 100 in 1993.

Dr Marston’s life was portrayed in the film Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, released in October this year.



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