1. Perceptions of Victims and Perpetrators in
Same-sex and Cross-sex Intimate Partner Violence
Kenneth Brock Lamm, Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Verlaque, Deborah South Richardson, & Georgina Hammock
Department of Psychology
Georgia Regents University Augusta
We examined the impact of sex of perpetrator and sex of victim on perceptions of characteristics of combatants in psychological and physical intimate partner violence. Perpetrators of physical aggression were evaluated more negatively than perpetrators of psychological aggression; male perpetrators and male victims were evaluated more negatively than female perpetrators and victims.
ABSTRACT
Romantic partners may harm one another using either physical aggression or psychological aggression (Sorenson & Taylor, 2005)
Physical aggression (e.g., slapping, punching, hitting)
Psychological aggression (e.g., bullying, controlling behavior)
The majority of aggression research has focused on physical aggression rather than psychological aggression because it is believed to cause greater harm and injury (0’Leary, 2001)
However, 72% of female victims reported that psychological aggression is more harmful than physical aggression (Follingstad, Rutledge, Berg, Hause, & Polek, 1990)
Male perpetrators are perceived more negatively than female perpetrators (Capezza & Arriaga, 2008)
Aggression perpetrated by males is perceived as more harmful and more aggressive than aggression perpetrated by females (Harris & Knight-Bohnhoff, 1996)
Scenarios depicting a female aggressing against a male are perceived as less harmful and less deserving of intervention than those depicting a male aggressing against a female (Hammock et al., 2013)
INTRODUCTION
Previous studies have focused on intimate partner violence in heterosexual relationships (e.g., Richardson & Hammock, 2007). Thus, gender of perpetrator and gender of victim are necessarily confounded such that effects that appear to be due to gender of perpetrator may actually reflect effects due to perceptions of gender of victim.
The current study examines the effects of type of aggression (psychological and physical), sex of perpetrator (male and female), and sex of victim (male and female) on perceptions of characteristics of victims and perpetrators in order to eliminate the confound between gender of perpetrator and gender of victim.
Hypotheses:
Male perpetrators will be perceived more negatively than female perpetrators
Female victims will be perceived less negatively than male victims
PRESENT STUDY
Participants
170 females and 69 males (Age: M = 23.9 SD = 6.49)
African American (30.7%), Caucasian (49.8%), Mixed or Bi-racial (10.8%), Hispanic (4.8%), Asian-American (3.2%), and Other (.8%)
Heterosexual (95.2%), Homosexual (2.8%), and Bisexual (1.6%)
Study Design
2 (Sex of Participant) x 2 (Sex of Victim) x 2 (Sex of Perpetrator) x 2 (Type of Aggression: Psychological and Physical) with a repeated measure for Type of Aggression
Behaviors by Type of Aggression
Dependent Variables
After reading scenarios, participants evaluated the characteristics of the victim and perpetrator
Characteristic evaluations of the victim and perpetrator (e.g., friendly/unfriendly, stable/unstable, trustworthy/untrustworthy, good/bad) averaged to create evaluation index
Higher numbers indicate more negative evaluations
Cronbach’s alpha values from .83 to .88
METHOD
RESULTS
Perpetrator Evaluation
Perpetrators of physical aggression were perceived more negatively (M = 5.66, SD = 0.23) than perpetrators of psychological aggression (M = 5.24, SD = 0.77), η2 = .22
Male perpetrators were perceived more negatively (M = 5.57, SD = 0.98) than female perpetrators (M = 5.33, SD = 1.00), η2 = .03
Female participants evaluated the perpetrator more negatively than (M = 5.62, SD = 1.01) male perpetrators did (M = 5.28, SD = 0.95), η2 = .06
Female participants evaluated the perpetrator more negatively (M = 5.61, SD = 0.81) than male participants (M = 5.29, SD = 1.12), η2 = .05
Victim Evaluation
Victims of psychological aggression (M = 3.87, SD = 0.67 ) were perceived more negatively than victims of physical aggression (M = 3.72, SD = 0.88), η2 = .03
Male victims (M = 3.93, SD = 1.07) were perceived more negatively than female victims (M = 3.66, SD = 0.76), η2 = .04
The interactions revealed that:
Male participants evaluated male perpetrators of physical aggression more negatively than they evaluated female perpetrators of physical aggression
Male participants evaluated victims of female perpetrators more negatively than female participants did.
In the case of physical aggression against a male, participants evaluated male perpetrators more negatively than they evaluated female perpetrators
The present study replicated effects revealed in studies of perceptions of intimate partner violence in heterosexual couples in a study in which sex of aggressor and sex of victim were manipulated independently.
Male perpetrators are perceived negatively, regardless of the victim’s sex; female victims are perceived less negatively regardless of the perpetrator’s sex.
These findings may be useful to those who provide services to victims and perpetrators of intimate partner violence (e.g., social workers, psychologists).
DISCUSSION
Please request a handout for a list of references
REFERENCES 1
Perpetrator Evaluation
Type of Aggression by Sex of participant by Sex of perpetrator
Physical
- Throwing objects
- Knocking victim down
- Slapping the victim
- Grabbing the victim’s face
- Pushing the victim’s head into the ground
Psychological
- Screaming
- Calling names
- Yelling
- Threatening
- Financial restriction
- Refusing to communicate
Perpetrator Evaluation
Type of aggression by Sex of victim by Sex of Perpetrator
Victim Evaluation
Sex of participant by Sex of perpetrator