'Yeah but he probably did something to deserve it': Comparing ratings of acceptability, humour, frequency, and perpetrator and victim blame in domestic violence scenarios varying on gender of perpetrator and victim

Hine, Ben ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9732-4631 (2016) 'Yeah but he probably did something to deserve it': Comparing ratings of acceptability, humour, frequency, and perpetrator and victim blame in domestic violence scenarios varying on gender of perpetrator and victim. In: Male Psychology Conference 2016, 24-25 June 2015, London, UK. (Unpublished)

[thumbnail of BH_Male DV Presentation_24.06.16.pdf] PDF
BH_Male DV Presentation_24.06.16.pdf - Presentation
Restricted to Repository staff only

Download (2MB)

Abstract

Background: Data suggests that an increasing number of women are being arrested for intimate partner assault (Martin, 1997). Research also suggests that men and women in homosexual couples experience similar levels of domestic violence (Donovan, Hester, Holmes, & McCarry, 2006). However, relatively little is known about how male-to-female, male-to-male, female-to-male and female-to-female domestic violence (DV) is judged by others.

Methods: This study presented 100 male undergraduates and 100 female undergraduates with vignettes depicting a scenario of either male-to-female, male-to-male, female-to-male and female-to-female DV. Participants rated these scenarios on how acceptable and humorous the scenario was, how often they believed these scenarios occur in society, as well as how much they attributed blame to the victim and perpetrator.

Results: 2 (Gender: M vs. F) x 2 (Vignette Type: MF, MM, FM, FF) ANOVAs were computed for each scale. Results showed acceptability higher for M-M scenarios than any other, although this was borderline in terms of significance. In addition, men believed that DV happens less overall, and participants believed that FF DV happens least often. Finally, victims in FM scenarios were judged as most to blame, followed by MM victims, then MF and FF victims. There were no differences in humour or victim blame.

Conclusions: These results indicate that participants view some forms of DV as more acceptable than others, notably, when the victim is a man at the hands of another man. They also believe that, when the victim is a male, he is more to blame in these scenarios – suggesting that DV towards men may be taken less seriously. There are also interesting results regarding awareness, as participants clearly believe that some forms of DV are less likely to occur. This study demonstrates that awareness regarding male victims of DV, and victims within homosexual couples, needs to be promoted.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Subjects: Psychology
Depositing User: Ben Hine
Date Deposited: 23 Jun 2016 14:15
Last Modified: 28 Aug 2021 07:21
URI: https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/2681

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Menu