NCJ Number
137023
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1992) Pages: 1-8
Date Published
1992
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study compared battered and nonbattered women on their sex role types, control needs, and inclusion needs.
Abstract
The subjects were 33 battered, married women matched with 33 unbattered married women on education, employment, status, and age. The instruments used were the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) and the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientation-Behavior Inventory (FIRO-B). The BSRI is a self-report inventory that measures the extent of a person's identification with masculine and feminine traits. The FIRO-B measures a person's characteristic behaviors toward others and what a person wants from others. It measures control and inclusion. Control refers to the desire to make decisions and take charge as well as the desire to have others make decisions and take charge. Inclusion refers to the need to belong and to be included with people. Study results indicate significant differences between battered and nonbattered women. The battered women were more likely to be feminine in their sex role type than nonbattered women, who were more often masculine or androgynous (balance of male and female traits). There were no significant differences between the two groups on their inclusion scores. Although the two groups did not differ significantly on the expressed-control measures, they were different in the area of wanting to be controlled; the battered group was significantly more tolerant of being controlled than was the nonbattered group. 2 tables and 27 references