Are Female Stalkers More Violent Than Male Stalkers? Understanding Gender Differences in Stalking Violence Using Contemporary Sociocultural Beliefs

Abstract

This study investigated gender differences in the perpetration of stalking violence and how sociocultural beliefs may account for these differences/similarities. A sample of 293 Australian undergraduate and postgraduate students classified as relational stalkers completed a selfreport questionnaire assessing violence perpetration (no/ moderate/severe violence) and sociocultural beliefs (justifications for relational violence; assessments of target fear). Female relational stalkers perpetrated elevated rates of moderate violence; however, there were no gender differences for severe violence. Both male and female relational stalkers were more supportive of justifications for femaleperpetrated relational violence than male-perpetrated relational violence. Violent male relational stalkers were more likely to believe they caused fear/harm than their female counterparts. These findings are interpreted in the context of sociocultural beliefs that view male-to-female violence as more unacceptable and harmful than female-to-male violence.

Unwanted Pursuit Behavior After Breakup: Occurrence, Risk Factors, and Gender Differences

“…Possibly, our hypothesized gender difference only comes into play in severe pursuit cases. For example, only in the violent stalking cases in Thompson et al's (2012) study, male perpetrators more likely believed they frightened, intimidated, or harmed their target whereas no such gender difference was observed in non-violent cases.…”

“…Genderspecific sociocultural beliefs that promote men to initiate courtship behaviors and requests for intimacy and women as the weaker sex may make it more normative or justifiable for men to display affectionate approaches and for women to engage in aggressive behaviors (Langhinrichsen-Rohling, 2012). Indeed, Thompson, Dennison, and Stewart (2012) found evidence for the sociocultural attitude that a woman's use of violence against her partner is more acceptable, and that women who endorse this attitude self-report higher levels of stalking and associated violence. Although the literature (Sinclair & Frieze, 2000;Spitzberg et al, 2010) suggests that male perpetrators are more conscious of the negative impact of their behaviors, we found no differences in men's and women's appraised impact of their UPBs upon their ex-partner-at least, not at the low levels of annoyance, fear, and threat that we mainly registered in our sample.…”

Gender and Stalking: Current Intersections and Future Directions

“…Instead, using methodologies that include: self-report (Thompson et al 2010), mock juror (Dunlap et al 2011), manipulated vignettes (Sinclair 2010;Cass and Rosay 2011), and generation of stalking scripts by laypeople (Yanowitz and Yanowitz 2010), has elucidated the complex interplay between gender and stalking. Important theory development (Duntley and Buss 2010) and theory integration articles (Davis et al 2010) are also included in this issue; these articles further tackle how to understand stalking in the context of gender socialization and evolutionary necessity.…”

“…Important theory development (Duntley and Buss 2010) and theory integration articles (Davis et al 2010) are also included in this issue; these articles further tackle how to understand stalking in the context of gender socialization and evolutionary necessity. Stalking studies conducted outside of the U.S. (Thompson et al 2010) or cross-nationally (Sheridan and Lyndon 2010) are incorporated into this collection as are studies conducted with U.S. samples; these nationally diverse studies add important information because gender roles can differ cross-culturally (e.g., Gibbons et al 1991). In summary, the array of approaches taken by the stalking researchers featured in this special issue demonstrates that gender and stalking intersect in myriad ways -many of which require additional consideration if we are to determine the full nature of the stalking phenomenon and the degree to which various types of stalking-behaviors are primarily perpetrated by men or by women.…”

“…For example, the inclusion or exclusion of certain behaviors on stalking inventories may change the degree to which women as well as men meet criteria for stalking perpetration (Davis, et al 2010). Specifically, incorporating mild to moderate physical violence items into stalking inventories elevates the rate at which women are identified as stalking perpetrators (Thompson, et al 2010) and can increase the degree to which stalking is perceived as a variant of intimate partner violence (Basile and Hall 2011;Melton 2007). Certain unwanted pursuit or stalking-like activities might be particularly gender-specific.…”