Acceptability of violence, gender, and dating violence

Abstract

Several studies have reported what seems to be a counter-intuitive finding, that dating violence perpetration increases with relationship commitment. A variable closely associated with relationship commitment, jealousy, has also been related to dating violence perpetration. Acceptability of violence, another variable related to violence perpetration, may moderate the influence of both relationship commitment and jealousy on dating violence perpetration. Specifically, for relationships characterized by high levels of acceptability of violence, it was expected that the greater the commitment and jealousy the greater likelihood that dating violence perpetration would occur. In contrast, in relationships where high acceptability of violence was not present, relationship commitment and jealousy were expected to have weaker relationships with dating violence perpetration. Using a sample of 155 male and 417 female college students, t-tests showed that women reported higher perpetration levels than men. Hierarchical regression analyses found that only jealousy was associated with dating violence perpetration and only for women. Neither relationship commitment nor acceptability of violence was predictive of dating violence perpetration for either men or women. Additionally, acceptability of violence did not emerge as a significant moderator between relationship commitment and dating violence or jealousy and dating violence perpetration for men or women. However, the three-way interaction of acceptability of violence, relationship commitment, and jealousy for dating violence perpetration was