Exploring the Association between Hostile Attribution Bias and Intimate Partner Violence in College Students: Romantic Relationships and Friends with Benefits

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study sought to investigate the relationship between the hostile attribution bias (HAB) and five forms of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration (physical abuse, threatening behavior, sexual abuse, relational aggression, and emotional and verbal abuse) using a sample of college students. This study was the first in the literature to investigate the association between HAB and IPV in college students’ friends with benefits relationships (FWBRs), and one of the few studies to study the association between HAB and IPV in college students’ romantic relationships. College students (N = 241) who reported being involved with at least one romantic relationship or FWBR in the past year were recruited from an undergraduate pool of Introduction to Psychology students. Participants took an online survey that measured IPV perpetration in romantic relationships and FWBRs during the past year and general HAB to instrumental and relational provocations. Data were analyzed using a series of logistic regressions. Results were only partially consistent with hypotheses and should be interpreted as exploratory. In romantic relationships, higher levels of HAB were associated with male physical abuse and threatening behavior and female sexual abuse. In FWBRs, higher levels of HAB were associated with female emotional and verbal abuse, and threatening behavior and sexual abuse for the full sample. Findings suggest that HAB may relate to IPV in college students’ romantic and FWBRs.