NCJ Number
154217
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1995) Pages: 99-120
Date Published
1995
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Three studies explored the presence of characteristics associated with battering personalities in courtship violent college men.
Abstract
In the first study, two questions measured aggression; in the second and third studies, the Conflict Tactics Scale was also used. Attitudes toward women were assessed in the first two studies, while sexual aggression was measured in the third study. Study subjects included 155 male introductory psychology students at a Canadian university and 130 male students from a liberal arts college in the United States. Univariate analysis of variance in all three studies showed that many characteristics of wife battering men were also associated with college men who admitted to engaging in low-level courtship violence. Stepwise discriminant analysis, however, revealed that two variables, threats and verbal abuse, were the most predictive of courtship violence in college men. Additional notable associations were found between the use of playful force during sex and self- reported sudden mood swings and/or a quick temper and courtship violence. The author concludes that several variables thought to be predictive of a battering personality in men are significantly different for courtship violent and nonviolent college men and that future research should explore theoretical links among verbal abuse, threats, and physical abuse in men. 56 references and 3 tables