An attempt was made to compare the emotional tendencies in criminals with those of normal individuals by means of the Pressey X-O tests given to 100 inmates of the Nebraska State Reformatory for Men. From the results it was concluded that prison inmates are as much affected by unpleasant word stimuli as are normal people and perhaps more so, especially by those carrying a meaning of fear or reference to self that is menacing or disparaging. There is some evidence for a lack of association of ideas as compared with the normal, and some tendency to give peculiar associative responses. Criminals differ from the normal in the particular acts which they consider blameworthy, while putting roughly the same number of acts in that category. They are slightly less subject to worries, or at least to confess them. Some of these traits may have resulted from prison and court experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)