Neighbors’ Negative Emotional Responses to Intimate Partner Violence: The Role of Gender

Abstract

The proximity of neighbors places them in an opportune position to detect in-home emergencies and provide critical assistance. The aim of this study is to test neighbors’ negative emotional responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) emergencies and differences in emotional responses depending on the victim’s gender and the bystander’s gender. A total of 384 adults from Israel participated in the study. Four vignettes were presented as hypothetical cases, with differences in the victim’s gender. Following each vignette, participants were asked to rate the intensity of the negative emotions that they experienced (frustration, helplessness, anger, worry, and sadness). The highest levels of negative emotional responses were observed in the three cases in which the victim was a woman, and the lowest was observed in the case in which the victim was a man. According to the results, IPV directed at women caused more negative emotions than IPV directed at men. Generally, a low emotional response predicts lower engagement or simply disengagement from a perceived threat, while a higher emotional response predicts greater engagement.