Predictors of Courtship Stalking Behaviors in Male College Students

Abstract

This study investigated factors predicting the courtship stalking behavior of male college students. Data were collected from 164 male college students who were described as men who wanted to date women who did not want to date them. Participants were from either a four-year university or a two-year college located in A-city, Korea. Courtship stalking behaviors were measured using Sinclair and Frieze's Courtship Stalking Behaviors Scale. The collected data were analyzed using a χ 2-test, a Mann-Whitney U-test, and a binomial logistic regression. As male students' dating frequency decreased, so did courtship stalking behaviors (Exp (B) = .093, p = .001). As male students' attachment anxiety increased, so did courtship stalking behaviors (Exp (B) = 1.065, p = .046). Moreover, as male students' experience with physical violence increased, so did courtship stalking behaviors (Exp (B) = 1.339, p = .019). Finally, if male college students have had childhood experience with physical violence and have high attachment anxiety, there is a need for the early detection and management of their relationship with the opposite sex.

Childhood Abuse Experience, Appraisal of Partner Control, Perception of Stalking, and Courtship Stalking Behaviors among College Students

“…According to Lee and Oh [4], people who have experienced childhood abuse have difficulty in controlling anger, and those who tend to be angry have a stronger desire to control others when they experience stress or pressure in interpersonal relationships. Therefore, the possibility of using violence increases when such a person is in a conflicting situation because he or she cannot solve the conflict with other methods [6]. Previous research on the perception of violence and violent behavior has reported that socially permissible violence affects violence at the individual level, and people with a high level of violence justification are more likely to commit dating or domestic violence [5].…”