Warning Signs of Partner Abuse in Intimate Relationships: Gender Differences in Young Adults’ Perceptions of Seriousness

Abstract

In response to the high rates of intimate partner abuse (IPA) among young adults and related negative health effects, this study examined 18- to 26-year-old Australians' perceptions of unhealthy partner behaviors that may constitute early warning signs of abuse in intimate relationships. This research is the first to examine gender differences on this issue in a young adult population. A convenience sample of 49 males and 152 females ( N = 201) completed an online survey, rating how seriously they viewed a list of partner warning sign behaviors (WSBs). WSBs consisted of three subscales: Dominance-Possessiveness, Denigration, and Conflict-Retaliation. Participants' perceived seriousness of WSBs was analyzed by gender and WSB type. Results revealed large and significant gender differences in perceptions of WSBs, with females likely to rate all WSBs more seriously than males. Furthermore, females' responses were negatively skewed and leptokurtotic indicating high levels of convergence in the view that such behaviors are a concern. Analysis by WSB type revealed that conflict-retaliation behaviors were perceived most seriously by both genders, with more than half of males and 67% of females rating these as very serious. In contrast, significantly lower levels of perceived seriousness were observed for denigration and dominance-possessiveness behaviors. Half to two thirds of females viewed dominance-possessiveness and denigration WSBs as very serious, respectively, whereas just one third of males endorsed both these WSB types as very serious. Findings reveal that females have a heightened awareness of the subtle warning signs of abuse in intimate relationships and that as partner WSBs become more overt, both genders are more likely to recognize them as serious. Findings also indicate that subtler WSBs, such as control and denigration, are less readily identified as unhealthy, particularly among males.

Social Abuse in Intimate Partner Relationships: A Hybrid Concept Analysis

“…Problem recognition is an important part of a victim’s escape from a violent relationship; however, this is not an easy task regarding social abuse. While visibly violent behaviors such as verbal aggression or physical attacks are easily perceived as IPV by victims, social restriction—which is relatively invisible forms of violence—is not often considered an example of IPV (Murphy & Smith, 2010; Towler et al, 2017). According to a previous survey, about 32.1% of the female victims believed that their perpetrators restricted their social engagement out of love, and 39.9% did not consider these behaviors as examples of violence (Son & Cho, 2016).…”

Intimate partner violence on campus: A victim-centered case study.

“…It is essential to recognize that many subtle abusive behaviors that could be warning signs of IPV are psychological, as opposed to the more overt physical warning signs, and should not be overlooked (Towler et al, 2020). Of the warning signs mentioned above, stalking merits further discussion given its close association with IPV.…”

286. Australian Young Women's Perceptions of Dating and Dating Violence

“…The prevalence of dating violence is known to be challenging to determine. This is because dating violence is under-recognised and under-reported (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018;Helms, Sullivan, Corona, & Taylor, 2013;Towler, Eivers, & Frey, 2017), and there is a lack of consistency in defining and measuring it (Exner-Cortens, Gill, & Eckenrode, 2016a). Several scales to measure dating violence exist, and these have all been developed within diverse populations and contexts, but the applicability of these scales to Australia, is unknown.…”

“…The PSS is conducted approximately every four years by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), funded by the Australian federal government. The estimated prevalence of dating violence victimisation among Australian young women is about 1 in 4 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2016), but this is likely to be an underestimate if underrecognition and under-reporting of dating violence are taken into account (Barter et al, 2017;Chung, 2007;Mitchell, Patrick, Heywood, Blackman, & Pitts, 2014;Towler et al, 2017;Webster, 2016). The reasons for under-recognition and under-reporting of dating violence are multifactorial and discussed further in Chapter 2.…”