NCJ Number
218376
Journal
Violence and Victims Volume: 22 Issue: 2 Dated: 2007 Pages: 243-256
Date Published
2007
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study examined the effects of the level of a person's desire to present a positive image of oneself ("social desirability") and his/her self-reporting on being a perpetrator or victim of partner abuse.
Abstract
Although only weak to moderate correlations were found, social desirability apparently had a greater influence on female reports of partner abuse than male reports; however, gender and social desirability accounted for less than 10 percent of total variance in self-reported partner abuse rates. Findings on self-reported partner abuse perpetration and victimization suggest approximately equal victimization and perpetration rates for men and women, regardless of the type of abuse. Equal rates of perpetration and victimization for both men and women remained relatively constant even when aggressive acts were broken down into different severity levels. This suggests that men and women are equally likely to engage in severe acts of violence against partners, which contradicts other research findings. A number of men and women reported being both victims and perpetrators of both physical and psychological aggression. The extent to which these study findings can be applied to the general population, however, is limited, because the study did not address the context in which the abuse occurred. The study sample of 204 students from a large midwestern public university consisted of 155 females and 49 males. Participants were required to have been in an intimate relationship within the past year. Participants were administered the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale and the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale. 6 tables and 36 references