Perceptions of Psychological and Physical Aggression Between Heterosexual Partners

Which Tactics of Sexual Violence Predict Leaving the Relationship? The Role of Dependence towards Partner

“…These findings therefore support the Hypotheses 1 and 2. Thus, as suggested in previous studies, individuals are more likely to tolerate this type of transgression when the tactic used is subtle (Hammock et al, 2015), hence attributing more responsibility to the victim, less responsibility to the aggressor, and perceiving the action as less severe (Capezza & Arriaga, 2008;Katz et al, 2007), thus decreasing the probability of leaving the abusive relationship (Edwards et al, 2012).…”

“…Thus, for instance, people differ in their perception of the severity of the action depending on whether or not the tactic to obtain sex involves physical force (Capezza & Arriaga, 2008). In this sense, when sexual violence includes the use of verbal aggression is perceived less negatively than when sexual violence includes the use of physical aggression (Capezza & Arriaga, 2008;Hammock et al, 2015). Furthermore, the probability of continuing in an abusive relationship is higher for women who have suffered subtle forms of sexual coercion than for women with experiences of physical sexual coercion (Edwards, Kearns, et al, 2012).…”

“…Although this research provides relevant contributions to understanding how sexual coercion is perceived, several limitations should be noted. Regarding hypothetical scenarios, although they have been used extensively because of their usefulness to vary specific features while holding other features constant (e.g., Hammock et al, 2015;Katz et al, 2007;Tamborra et al, 2014) and afforded this advantage in making sexual claims, participants' responses in these situations could differ from real-life responses. Furthermore, previous experience of sexual violence and general attitudes towards violence against women (e.g., rape myths, sexist ideology) should be considered in future studies, since past research has found these attitudes are crucial for understanding reactions and behaviours towards victims and aggressors (e.g., Herrera et al, 2014Herrera et al, , 2018.…”

The Recognition of Emotional Abuse: Adolescents’ Responses to Warning Signs in Romantic Relationships

“…There is a common assumption that men are perpetrators of violence, which in turn can mean that when the same behaviours are displayed by both men and women, the behaviour is likely to be perceived as more serious when elicited by a man. In terms of physical abuse, studies reveal harsher judgements of male perpetrators compared to female perpetrators (Basow, Cahill, Phelan, Longshore, DeLisi, 2007;Hammock, Richardson, Williams & Janit, 2015). These perceptions of physical abuse may be so firmly established that they effect perceptions of emotional abuse and result in harsher judgements of males (Capezza, D'Intino, Flynn, Arriaga, 2017).…”

Perceptions of Psychological Abuse: The Role of Perpetrator Gender, Victim’s Response, and Sexism

“…One factor that may affect gendered perceptions of psychological abuse is the perceiver's own gender. Past studies examining whether a person's gender affects her or his perceptions have yielded mixed results (e.g., sex differences only emerge in one or two dependent variables, but not others, Capezza & Arriaga, 2008a, or have no impact at all, Hammock et al, 2015).…”