Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a prevalent public health issue in the United States that affects millions of individuals each year (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2019). Throughout their lifetime, 43 million women will experience psychological aggression (CDC, 2019). However, a gap in the literature on traditional gender role beliefs (TGRB) and IPV poses potential expansion on our understanding of individuals who perpetrate violence and adhere to traditional gender roles. The present study investigated whether emotion dysregulation moderated the relationship between TGRB and IPV perpetration among 132 undergraduate men. We hypothesized that TGRB would positively associate with psychological and physical IPV perpetration among men with high, but not low, emotion dysregulation. TGRB positively associated with psychological IPV among men with high and average, but not low, emotion dysregulation. Emotion dysregulation, but not TGRB, positively related to physical IPV perpetration. Results suggest that emotion dysregulation may be an important target for college IPV interventions, particularly for men who endorse TGRB.
The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to measure the degree to which men perceive sex as a commodity. Using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) as a guide, the Sex as a Commodity Scale (SACS) was created to provide a multidimensional measure to best predict whether men perceive sex as a commodity, and to differentiate between men who do and do not buy sex. In Study 1, we conducted an exploratory factor analysis on a sample of 200 men (107 sex buyers), revealing interrelated factors associated with the TPB framework: (a) attitudes, (b) norms, and (c) perceived control toward buying sex. In Study 2, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted on a distinct sample of 244 men (113 sex buyers), providing further support for the bifactor structure of the SACS. Significant bivariate correlations with attitudes toward prostitution, sexual economics, and sex buyers provided support for the SACS' criterion validity. Furthermore, the SACS was able to significantly differentiate between men who did and did not buy sex. Our findings imply that the SACS is a beneficial scale that can be used to further inform intervention programs, preventative sex education, and future research on the behavior of men who purchase sex.
Public Significance StatementThis study outlines the development of an instrument that can be used to measure whether men perceive sex as a commodity, which is a significant predictor of whether they would buy sex. The findings indicate the scale can reliably differentiate between men who do and do not buy sex, and may help in evaluating the effectiveness of intervention programs to prevent reoffense of men who buy sex, aiding in the development and evaluation of preventative sex education curriculums, and aiding practitioners and researchers working with men who buy sex.
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