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The development and evaluation of a measure of proximal correlates of male domestic violence

University of British Columbia

This dissertation examined how psychological variables associated with selfcontrol related to abusiveness in situations of intimate conflict. The variables of interest were efficacy, need for power and responsibility. These variables were examined relative to other predictors of abuse such as the Abusive Personality (Dutton, 1994b), a construct of personality features that predispose some men to intensely aversive emotional arousal in their intimate relationship, leading to abusiveness. The research is relevant to the experience of those men with the characteristics of Abusive Personality, as well as those who may not have those predispositional features. The first step of the project was the development of the Power, Conflict Efficacy and Responsibility Questionnaire (PCERQ), with its four sub-scales: (1) Conflict Ineffectiveness (CI; lack of conflict efficacy), (2) N-Power (NP; need for power), (3) Standards of Non-Abusiveness (SNA; one part of responsibility), and (4) Exonerative Rationalizations (ER; cognitions complicit with inconsistent self-control - a second part of responsibility). These sub-scales were developed on the basis of data collected from samples of undergraduate males in dating relationships (n = 147), men in treatment groups for wife assault (n = 50), and a community sample of men (n = 27). Results from regression equations predicting self-reported abuse with the PCERQ sub-scales, along with other theoretically-relevant measures, found that CI was a prominent and consistent predictor of both verbal and physical abuse. The interaction of the NP and ER sub-scales significantly predicted physical abuse, as did the interaction of the CI sub-scale with the Abusive Personality (the most abusive participants had the highest scores on both Abusive Personality and Conflict Ineffectiveness). These results show the importance of considering both situational conflict experiences, along with personality and life history variables, when examining wife assault.

Thesis/Dissertation

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2009-07-03

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/10100

Psychology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

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