Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

The investment model of close relationships has focused on satisfaction and dependence (as it pertains to viable alternatives) as important indicators of relationship commitment and success. In this review, I apply a dehumanization perspective to understanding why abusive relationships can increase dependence in the context of low relationship satisfaction. I will argue that abusive relationships are likely to continue when (a) perpetrators of abuse fail to self-dehumanize, but continue to dehumanize their partner; (b) victimized partners self-dehumanize, but fail to dehumanize the perpetrator of their abuse; and (c) third-party observers dehumanize victimized partners. This pattern of dehumanization facilitates dependence due to a tendency for (a) perpetrators and victims to justify ongoing abusive behavior, (b) victimized partners to view themselves as unworthy of available relationship alternatives or incapable of developing economic alternatives, and (c) third-party observers to downgrade the social value of victims. Finally, I will review potential precipitators of these dynamics, drawing from research on Dark Triad traits to understand the longer term conditions under which dehumanizing processes may contribute to high levels of dependence under conditions of low levels of satisfaction. Applying a dehumanization perspective to abusive behavior within close relationships opens new lines of inquiry and provides an alternative framework for understanding how people may become entrapped and vulnerable in relationships where maltreatment persists.

The ability to regulate anger facilitates harmonious interactions with strangers, colleagues, friends, and romantic partners. We review the influence of four emotion regulation strategies (i.e., cognitive reappraisal, suppression, angry rumination, and mindfulness) on subjective anger experience, cardiovascular reactivity, and aggressive behavior. All studies included a real or implied social interaction (e.g., with a fictitious participant). We included research on individual differences in emotion regulation as well as experiments that manipulated emotion regulation strategies. The evidence suggests that cognitive reappraisal and mindfulness can buffer anger-related responses in interpersonal contexts. Angry rumination perpetuates anger and aggression. The effects of suppression are mixed. Our review highlights the need for additional research into the extent to which emotion regulation strategies influence provoked anger and aggression in different interpersonal contexts.

Intimate partner aggression (IPA) is a critical public health problem that requires clear and testable etiological models that may translate into effective interventions. While alcohol intoxication and a pattern of heavy alcohol consumption are robust correlates of IPA perpetration, there has been limited research that examines this association from a dyadic perspective. In the present review, we discuss compelling reasons for understanding dyadic factors that assist our understanding of alcohol-facilitated IPA, review the relatively small number of studies that have investigated such factors, and provide a theoretical and methodological framework for researchers to conceptualize how to model alcohol-facilitated IPA from a dyadic framework.

Attachment insecurity (i.e., levels of attachment anxiety and avoidance) is associated with interpersonal violence and aggression. However, evidence suggests that the associations are more consistent for attachment anxiety than for attachment avoidance. This raises questions as to whether there are particular moderators that may help to explain the lack of consistency in findings for attachment avoidance. In this article, we focus on a novel moderator regarding the association between attachment avoidance and aggression. Drawing on attachment theory, the aggression literature, and research into systems of threat detection, we suggest that the association between attachment avoidance and aggression may reflect a defensive fight (DF) response in situations of high relationship threat. Across two studies (Study 1, a self-report cross-sectional design; N = 128; Study 2, a cross-sectional experimental design, N = 126), we tested the extent that DF moderated the association between attachment avoidance and aggression under perceived relationship threat. In line with our suggestion, a three-way interaction was found across both studies between attachment avoidance, relationship threat, and DF. The findings have important theoretical and practical implications for the study of interpersonal aggression from an attachment theory perspective.

The stress that arises during the transition to parenthood often places significant strain on marriages that can result in marital problems such as aggression victimization. In this research, we use an I³ framework to identify specific partner variables that are likely to promote physical aggression victimization across the transition to parenthood. Examining both intercepts (i.e., mean levels of aggression victimization estimated at childbirth) and slopes (e.g., changes in aggression victimization estimated over time), we find support for a three-way interaction anticipated by the I³ framework. Specifically, male partners were more likely to report being the victim of aggression at childbirth and also during the 24 months that followed when their female partner reported experiencing greater parental stress (an instigator to aggression in the I³ framework), greater relationship-specific attachment avoidance (an impellor to aggression), and lower relationship satisfaction (the lack of an inhibitor to aggression). Implications for the prevention of marital aggression associated with these I³ factors are discussed.

Little research has investigated the associations between abuse and subtle sexual coercion within romantic relationships and the mechanisms that may underpin this association. Specifically, no previous research has investigated whether approach and avoidance motivations for engaging in sexual coercion explain this association. The aim of this research was to investigate whether approach and avoidance motivations pertaining to the perpetration of subtle sexual coercion may mediate the perpetration of psychological and physical abuse and the perpetration of sexual coercion. A total of 117 heterosexual couples (mean age = 30.42 years) completed measures assessing their approach and avoidance motivations for sexual coercion, as well as reports of abuse perpetration (physical and psychological) and sexual coercion against their romantic partner. Findings revealed that men and women’s perpetration of psychological abuse (but not physical abuse) was positively associated with their own avoidance motivations for sexual coercion perpetration and that women’s perpetration of psychological abuse was positively associated with their partner’s approach and avoidance motivations for sexual coercion perpetration. Avoidance motives were also found to mediate the association between psychological abuse and sexual coercion perpetration for both men and women. The results of this study highlight the importance of exploring motives as a potential mechanism to help explain the associations between abuse and sexual coercion within romantic relationships.

Despite the role that dehumanization is thought to play in facilitating maltreatment toward others, there is a dearth of research regarding the extent to which the perpetration of dehumanization is associated with intimate partner abuse. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to delineate the longitudinal association between the perpetration of dehumanization and the perpetration of emotional and physical abuse within romantic relationships. Latent growth curve modeling was used to determine whether the trajectory (i.e., intercept and slope) of dehumanization across a 6-week period predicted changes in the perpetration of abuse. It was found that a cubic nonlinear increase in dehumanization perpetration (defined by a combination of small decreases and large upsurges) was positively associated with increases in both outcome variables (i.e., emotional and physical abuse). This work directly affirms theory and past empirical evidence that dehumanization is a factor that facilitates the maltreatment of others in the form of abuse. The findings extend on past research by suggesting that the maltreatment of others by way of dehumanization is not confined to intergroup contexts, but rather, can be perpetrated against those whom we regard as our most intimate and closest of ties.

According to life history theory, exposure to harshness and/or unpredictability early in life should promote a fast life history strategy. Such a strategy entails, among other traits, elevated aggression and impaired relationship functioning. While detrimental under safe and stable conditions, these characteristics become more evolutionary adaptive in a harsh and/or ever-changing environment in which risks are uncertain and the future is difficult to predict. Hence, individuals who experienced harshness and/or unpredictability in their early home environment should grow up to have more conflictual relationships and be at greater risk for experiencing or perpetrating intimate partner violence (IPV). We tested this hypothesis on 179 participants in the Minnesota Longitudinal Study of Risk and Adaptation, an ongoing prospective longitudinal study that has followed individuals from before they were born into adulthood. IPV was assessed by the Conflict Tactics Scale at ages 23, 26, and 32. As expected, experiencing more unpredictability during the first 5 years of life (indexed by frequent changes in parents’ employment status, cohabitation status, and residence) prospectively predicted both perpetrating and being the victim of IPV between ages 20 and 32. Experiencing harshness during the first 5 years of life (indexed by low socioeconomic status) only predicted being the victim of IPV. The early unpredictability effect on IPV perpetration was partially mediated by having more conflictual friendships during adolescence (assessed by a coder-rated friendship interview at age 16). These findings highlight the roles of early-life harshness and unpredictability both in promoting interpersonal conflict and violence and in impairing the capacity of individuals to maintain satisfying romantic relationships.