The Role of Intrasexual Competition and the Big 5 in the Perpetration of Digital Dating Abuse.

Previous research has explored offline intimate partner violence from an evolutionary perspective, primarily focusing on the role of individual differences in perpetration and victimization. However, a current form of intimate partner violence is digital dating abuse, which involves abuse toward a romantic partner, occuring online through the use of electronic communication technology. This form of abuse differs from offline abuse, in that physical proximity is not required. Although research has focused on the effects digital dating abuse has on victims, little research has focused on the perpetration of digital dating abuse. This is important as research focused on perpetration can inform a wide range of initiatives geared toward understanding the factors which drive this behavior. Recent research has focused on evolutionary mating-relevant factors that drive the perpetration of digital dating abuse. Here, we extended and replicated previous work by reporting two studies (study 1, n = 114; study 2, n = 162) which explored the roles of mate value discrepancy, intrasexual competition, and relationship-contingent self-esteem in the perpetration of digital dating abuse. We found that mate value discrepancy (studies 1 and 2) and intrasexual competition (study 2) positively predicted the perpetration of digital dating abuse. To our knowledge, this article is the first to provide support that those who report high intrasexual competition, engage in greater levels of digital dating abuse, thus furthering theoretical advancements in this field by showing digital dating abuse is a mate retention tactic. Our findings further our understanding of online behavior in romantic relationships through an evolutionary psychological lens.

Understanding digital dating abuse from an evolutionary perspective: Further evidence for the role of mate value discrepancy

Research suggests that individual differences in attachment style predict the perpetration of digital dating abuse. In addition to attachment style, no research, to our knowledge, has explored the role of mate value in the perpetration of digital dating abuse. In this paper, we argue that digital dating abuse is a contemporary cost-inflicting mate retention behaviour, where larger mate value discrepancies between partners are associated with higher levels of digital dating abuse (n = 167). As expected, high mate value discrepancy and attachment anxiety were associated with high levels of digital dating abuse. We provide novel support for the relationship between mate value discrepancy and digital dating abuse. Our findings provide support for additional, unexplored factors which lead to the perpetration of digital dating abuse.

Digital dating abuse (DDA), the use of technology to coerce, control, harass, threaten, monitor, or pressure a romantic partner, is a widespread form of dating violence among adolescents that is associated with adverse mental health outcomes. Previous research shows that adolescents misinterpret some DDA behaviors as normative relationship behaviors, increasing the risk for more severe DDA. These misinterpretations may stem from DDA occurring within positive (e.g., affection and joking) contexts, and who is experiencing and/or engaging in DDA. Yet, it remains unclear how the context in which DDA occurs (DDA only, DDA with affection, or no DDA) and roles (perpetrator, victim, or mutual) influence adolescents' recognition of and emotional responses to DDA. Two between-subjects experiments using hypothetical text messages examined how DDA context and role influenced DDA recognition and anticipation of feeling upset among Hispanic and Latino high school adolescents (Study 1: N = 422, Mage = 15.76, SD = 1.02, 54.7% female; Study 2: N = 384, Mage = 16.52, SD = 0.98, 51.8% female). Across experiments, adolescents' recognition of DDA behaviors and anticipation of feeling upset were significantly higher in both the DDA-with-affection and DDA-only contexts compared to the no-DDA context. Findings suggest that even when affectionate behaviors are present, DDA behaviors were still recognized by adolescents. There were no significant main effects of role on DDA recognition or anticipation of feeling upset. The findings of this work highlight the importance of addressing both overt and mixed-message forms of DDA in future adolescent prevention and intervention efforts.

Although measurement and prevalence of digital dating abuse (DDA) in young people’s relationships is of growing research interest, youth perceptions of the behaviours and the impact on victims are yet to be fully understood. This study explored thirty-eight (16–24 year old) youth’s perceptions of DDA behaviours and descriptors of the emotional impact of the behaviours on victims. A predominant theme of gender differences emerged, with five subthemes: (a) men tend to engage in sexual-related behaviours, (b) men and women undertake different controlling and monitoring behaviours, (c) the role of reputation shapes the impact on men, (d) serious negative emotions characterise the impact on women, and (e) some men misconceive the severity of the impact on women. Findings move discussions beyond DDA prevalence and frequency to reveal that young people perceive DDA to have significant emotional consequences for victims and that there are gender differences in the perpetration and impact of DDA. These perspectives provide a valuable contribution to the development of gender-sensitive DDA measures, DDA prevention initiatives and support programmes for youth experiencing DDA.

As dating in the online setting becomes increasingly prevalent, the potential for engaging in abusive behaviors within this context also rises. Digital dating abuse (DDA) is a repeated pattern of digital media use to threaten, harass, pressure, monitor, control, or coerce a dating partner. Building on previous work examining gender schema theory and intimate partner violence, this study aims to extend the inquiry into the digital realm to better understand college students' perceptions of what behaviors constitute DDA and the correlates of these perceptions. Participants were undergraduate college students (aged 18-25), including 320 women and 166 men (N = 486), from the southeastern region of the United States, who completed online surveys. Results demonstrated that participants, on average, reported that acts of digital direct aggression, digital sexual coercion, and digital monitoring/control were abusive. However, young women generally rated these behaviors as more abusive than young men, male perpetrator-to-female victim DDA was viewed as more abusive than female perpetrator-to-male victim DDA, and digital direct aggression was considered the most abusive form of DDA, followed by digital sexual coercion, which was rated as more abusive than digital monitoring/control. Among participants with a history of DDA perpetration and victimization, DDA acts were generally perceived as less abusive. These data underscore the importance of the inclusion of psychoeducation about the seriousness of all forms of abuse in DDA prevention programming and the importance of situation-specific and targeted DDA prevention messages.

“It was a joke:” Patterns in girls’ and boys’ self-reported motivations for digital dating abuse behaviors

Technology plays a key role in young people's relationships. While its benefits are well known, less is known about its negative impacts and experiences, such as digital dating abuse. Most studies originate from North American and European countries and have not framed digital dating abuse as a multidimensional phenomenon. Exploring this social and public health issue in the Global-South is necessary because it significantly impacts youths' lives. I use Brown and Hegarty's framework of digital dating abuse as a wide range of harmful behaviours and a gender perspective to review the extant literature on adolescent victimisation in digital dating abuse in heterosexual relationships from a southern perspective. This perspective is demonstrated by drawing primarily from the scholarship of two countries in the Global-South, Brasil and Australia. I argue that digital dating abuse is a multifaceted and gendered phenomenon and suggest a qualitative approach across multiple southern countries aids researchers to compile and study adolescent digital dating abuse experiences, contexts and impacts. This contemporary phenomenon of adolescent digital dating abuse merits scholarly attention as a social and public health problem.

Digital dating abuse (DDA) is a form of intimate partner violence facilitated through technology that has high prevalence rates, especially among young adults. There is a lack of consensus among researchers as to what behaviours constitute DDA, and little is known about young adult perceptions of DDA behaviours. A survey given to 354 university students asked: (1) how harmful they believed 16 DDA behaviours to be; and (2) if they had ever perpetrated or been victimized by each of the behaviours. On average, participants rated DDA behaviours as very or extremely harmful. Women and gender diverse individuals rated pressuring partners into sexual acts, pressuring partners to send sexual material, and receiving unsolicited sexual material as significantly more harmful than men. While most behaviours were perceived similarly across age groupings, monitoring behaviours appear to be perceived as less harmful by younger students. The majority of participants rated one monitoring behaviour as only somewhat harmful or lower. This study suggests a general awareness of the harms of DDA among university students, that gender may impact victimization and perception of harm, and that certain monitoring behaviours may not constitute DDA. This study advances understanding of perceptions of DDA among Canadian university students.

Young adults engage in digital dating abuse (DDA), or threatening, monitoring, and controlling behavior towards a romantic partner through technology. Alcohol use and jealousy are well-established risk factors for in-person partner abuse but have not yet been investigated in couples in the context of DDA. Jealousy might be a relevant moderator in the digital context, potentially amplifying the negative associations between problematic alcohol use and DDA. Thus, we examine dyadic associations between young adults’ problematic alcohol use and DDA perpetration, with romantic jealousy as a moderator. Participants are young adult heterosexual couples ( N = 91 couples, M age = 21.03 years, 54.4% White, 19.2% Latino, 26.3% other). Results from actor-partner interdependence models suggest that men’s jealousy significantly moderates both the actor effect for men and the partner effect for women. In contrast, women’s jealousy significantly moderates the partner effects for both men and women. Men’s problematic alcohol use is a risk factor for their own DDA perpetration at high levels of jealousy and is a risk factor for their partner’s DDA perpetration across their own or their partner’s jealousy. Women’s problematic alcohol use is a risk factor for their partner’s DDA perpetration across levels of their jealousy. These findings underscore the importance of considering individual and relational factors in understanding DDA. The study highlights the need for dyadic interventions targeting problematic alcohol use and jealousy to prevent DDA. Future research should utilize longitudinal designs and diary studies to investigate in-the-moment processes and within-person variability.

“You liked that Instagram post?!” Adolescents’ jealousy and digital dating abuse behaviors in reaction to digital romantic relationship threats

Gender matters: Experiences and consequences of digital dating abuse victimization in adolescent dating relationships

This study analyses teenage narratives of digital dating abuse (DDA) by focusing on how the sense-giving processes of social media usage practices interplay with sexist stereotypes and gender scripts. The theoretical framework draws upon gender-oriented studies on DDA and upon literature on gender and technology, which accounts for the mutual shaping relationship between gender-based social norms, and user negotiations with social media affordances. We carried out seven focus groups in Rome with 43 high school students aged 14 to 16. Responses show that, although both girls and boys perpetrate and suffer DDA on social media, participants interpret it according to gender scripts and classify users based on sexist stereotypes. Findings also reveal that perception of the seriousness of DDA is blurred by the combination of gender scripts and the meanings attached to social media usage practices. DDA is likely to be tolerated unless it has concrete fallout offline, where abuse is tangible.

Digital dating abuse is a term used to describe physical, sexual, or psychological/emotional violence that occurs between romantic partners through the use of texting, social media, and related online mediums. Survey data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 2,218 American middle and high school students (12-17 years old) who have been in a romantic relationship. About 28% of students in a relationship in the previous year had been the victim of digital dating abuse. Males were more likely to report having experienced it (32% compared to 24%), though no other demographic differences emerged. Several covariates did emerge as significantly related to experience with digital dating abuse, including depressive symptoms, sexual intercourse, sexting, and being the victim of cyberbullying. Experiencing offline dating abuse was by far the strongest correlate. Implications for prevention and policy within schools and the community are discussed, along with considerations for future research in this important area.

Digital dating abuse measures: A critical review