Knowing the Abuser Inside and Out: The Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Identification With the Aggressor Scale

Abstract

Identifying with the aggressor is a process wherein victims of abuse, particularly during childhood, take on their perpetrator’s experience. The victim defers to the perpetrator and adopts the perpetrator’s experience, learns the perpetrator’s desires and needs, and gratifies them. Although the clinical and theoretical literature suggests that identification with the aggressor occurs in the aftermath of abuse and has negative long-term implications, to date this concept has not been empirically investigated. To facilitate an exploration of this subject, the current study evaluated the psychometric properties of a new measure: the Identification With the Aggressor Scale (IAS). The study was conducted among convenience samples of students using online surveys. In Study 1, the IAS was administered to 318 students. In Study 2, the IAS, and a battery of questionnaires assessing features of abuse, dissociation, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and posttraumatic guilt were administered to a convenience sample of 368 students. Four reliable IAS factors emerged from Study 1: Adopting the perpetrator’s experience concerning the abuse, identifying with the perpetrator’s aggression, replacing one’s agency with that of the perpetrator, and becoming hypersensitive to the perpetrator. In Study 2, a confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the scale’s underlying factor structure. A history of childhood abuse, recurrence and severity of abuse, and the perpetrator being a parental figure were all associated with higher IAS scores. In addition, IAS scores were correlated with dissociation, PTSD symptoms, and posttraumatic guilt. The present findings indicate that the IAS has good psychometric properties, making it useful as an assessment tool in future research.

Identification With the Aggressor and Inward and Outward Aggression in Abuse Survivors

“…Thus, it might not be related to survivors’ aggression. Recent findings indicating associations between hypersensitivity to the perpetrator and lower levels of sexual revictimization among survivors of childhood sexual abuse support this line of thought (Lahav, Talmon, & Ginzburg, & Spiegel, 2019). Nevertheless, more studies investigating the implications of hypersensitivity to the perpetrator in the aftermath of abuse for various outcomes are needed to further illuminate its function.…”

“…Identification with the aggressor was assessed via the IAS, a 23-item self-report questionnaire (Lahav, Talmon, & Ginzburg, 2019). The items were presented to the respondents as reflecting “possible reactions that people may experience as a result of abuse or offense.” Participants were asked to rate on an 11-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 0% ( never ) to 100% ( all the time ), the frequency with which they experienced each manifestation of identification with the aggressor in regard to their perpetrator.…”

“…The scale comprises four subscales: adopting the perpetrator’s experience concerning the abuse (nine items; e.g., “Some people feel that the point of view of their perpetrator is the right one”), identifying with the perpetrator’s aggression (five items; e.g., “Some people feel that they behave as aggressively as their perpetrator”), replacing one’s agency with that of the perpetrator (five items; e.g., “Some people do not know what they want in the presence of their perpetrator”), and becoming hypersensitive to the perpetrator (four items; e.g., “Some people ‘read the thoughts’ of their perpetrator”). The IAS has been shown to have good psychometric properties, including high construct and criterion validity, as well as high internal reliability (Lahav, Talmon, & Ginzburg, 2019). In this study, the internal consistency ranged from acceptable to high: .88 for adopting the perpetrator’s experience; .93 for identifying with the perpetrator’s aggression; .73 for replacing one’s agency with that of the perpetrator; and .76 for becoming hypersensitive to the perpetrator.…”

“…It is a wide, multifaceted process which reflects an extensive change in the inner world of the abused child, who may merge with the attacker (Frankel, 2002, 2018). Identification with the aggressor consists of four components which are highly interactive: losing one’s agency and replacing it with that of the perpetrator; becoming hypersensitive to the perpetrator; adopting the perpetrator’s experience concerning the abuse; and identifying with the perpetrator’s aggression (Frankel, 2018; Lahav, Talmon, & Ginzburg, 2019).…”

We Don't Choose Whom We Love: Predictors for Romantic Attraction to Villains

“…Individuals exposed to trauma in childhood are more likely to be hypervigilant to potential danger and develop disruptive cognitive schemas and beliefs about the self and others ( 9 ). During the traumatic experiences, victims often engage in “identification with the aggressor” ( 10 ), adopting the perpetrator's desires and needs for protective purposes, which can be internalized over time ( 11 ). At the same time, these disruptive cognitive schemas can influence the interpretation of others' social (ambiguous) intentions as more hostile, which is referred to as Hostile Attribution Bias [HAB; ( 12 )].…”