It's Complicated: Incident- and Observer-Level Predictors of Blame and Justification for Reciprocated Psychological and Minor Physical Violence

Abstract

We examined whether incident- and observer-level factors found previously to influence blame assignment and foster justification for severe unidirectional partner aggression would replicate in the context of reciprocated psychological and minor physical dating violence. We employed a factorial vignette methodology, simultaneously varying the form of the violence (i.e., psychological or minor physical), gender of the initiator and retaliator, alcohol use, history of aggression, and commitment status. Observer-level variables included participant gender, history of dating violence perpetration and victimization, and social desirability. Using a sample of 321 undergraduates, we found that initiating violence with physical versus psychological tactics was judged comparably in terms of blame, but responding with symmetrical physical violence was viewed more negatively than the reciprocation of psychological aggression. Men's aggression was more negatively evaluated only in situations involving physical force, except in cases where the woman's capacity to inflict physical harm was comparable. Other characteristics of the incident (e.g., alcohol use) and observer (e.g., gender) were also relevant, but their effects were tethered to the particulars of the violent exchange or the type of attribution being solicited. Asymmetrical violence (e.g., physical response to psychological initiation) appeared to elicit the most attributional activity with respect to the predictors. Exploratory analyses also revealed that participants with intimate partner violence (IPV) histories responded differently to vignettes wherein the violence initiator had aggressed previously. The overall pattern of results highlights that attributions about dating violence are complexly determined and contextualized, and that the form and relative symmetry of the violence may shape how incident- and observer-level variables impact evaluations of blame and justification.