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Acceptability of marital violence among college men and women: does gender and current relationship status matter?

Article Excerpt
The purpose of this study was to examine the role of gender, current relationship status, and the interaction between gender and relationship status on the acceptability of marital violence among college men and women. Participants completed a questionnaire containing measures of marital violence acceptability and current relationship status. Findings revealed that female college students are less accepting of marital violence, regardless of the sex of the perpetrating spouse. Current relationship status of both men and women does not appear to be a significant predictor of marital violence acceptability. However, there is an interaction between gender and current relationship status which indicates females who are not currently in a relationship are more accepting of wife-perpetrated marital violence than female college students currently in a dating relationship. This study lends insight into the mechanisms that make men and women more accepting of violence among marital partners.

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Though much attention has been given to rates and contexts of intimate partner violence, less research has focused on attitudes toward violence and variables affecting degrees of acceptability. One construct lacking empirical research is the association between current relationship status and attitudes toward intimate partner violence among college students. Acceptability of violence, or acceptability of partner's rationalizations for violence, can determine how likely a victim is to seek formal or informal intervention or to terminate the relationship (Miller & Simpson, 1991). This data highlights a critical need for scientific understanding of how relationship status (often indicative of the level of relationship intimacy/seriousness) affects individual attitudes toward violence as it is well established that acceptance of violence strongly predicts future abuse and victimization (Falchikov, 1996; Lichter & McCloskey, 2004; Riggs & O'Leary, 1996; Slep, Cascardi, Avery-Leaf, & O'Leary, 2001). The goal of this study is to explore the concept of acceptability of violence and how attitudes vary based on current relationship status, gender, and the interaction between relationship status and gender.

Importance of examining attitudes toward marital violence

Despite diverse family structures (Cherlin, 2004) and commonality of divorce (Martin & Parashar, 2006), marriage is still considered the symbolic pinnacle of intimate relationships--regardless of individual expectations to marry (Manning, Longmore, & Giordano, 2007). It is important to examine acceptability of violence occurring within the context of marriage versus other relationship types because of the psychological and emotional meaning the concept of marriage still has (Cherlin, 2004), especially in late adolescence and early adulthood when lifelong tenets of marriage and family first develop (Kapinus, 2004). In addition, violence is endured in marital relationships more frequently and for longer periods than in other, more casual, relationships (Cate, Henton, Koval, Christopher, & Lloyd, 1982; Luthra & Gidycz, 2006, Stets & Pirog-Good, 1987). Regarding the decision to leave a violent partner, social exchange theorists would posit that when more is at stake (i.e. divorce), individuals would have a different rationalization process than when there is less to lose (i.e. breaking up). Therefore, it is vital to understand how people perceive and accept marital violence and how these attitudes vary based on current levels of relationship intimacy and seriousness.

Current relationship status and acceptability of marital violence

Women in marital or cohabitating relationships experience similar rates of intimate partner violence (Shannon, Logan, & Cole, 2007) and women in dating relationships perpetrate more violence (i.e.

pushing, grabbing, shoving, slapping, and throwing things) against their partner than men (Luthra & Gidycz, 2006). Acceptability of aggression...

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