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Previous research has suggested that the occurrence of dating violence is influenced by various motivations, including self-defense. While some data have suggested that females are more likely to use physical aggression in self-defense, assessment measures of self-defense have been limited in several notable ways, hindering efforts at fully understanding the myriad of reasons contributing to self-defensive aggression. The current study sought to examine motivations for physical aggression among male and female college students using a contextual self-report measure of self-defensive aggression designed specifically for the current study. Results showed that numerous motivations for physical aggression were endorsed by both males and females and, contrary to expectations, females were not more likely to use aggression in self-defense. Implications of these findings for future research and dating violence prevention programming are discussed.
Keywords : dating ; aggression ; violence ; self-defense ; domestic violence
Violence between intimate partners is a serious health and social problem in the United States and throughout the world. In fact, increasing evidence suggests that violence between couples in dating relationships is as problematic as violence between married couples ( Shorey, Cornelius, & Bell, 2008a ). Research on dating violence has shown that rates of physical, psychological, and sexual aggression among adolescents and young adults is shockingly high. For instance, research has consistently shown that physical aggression occurs in approximately 20% to 45% of dating relationships ( Bell & Naugle, 2008 ; Riggs & O'Leary, 1996 ; Wolfe et al., 2001 ), psychological aggression occurs in approximately 60% to 90% of dating relationships ( Harned, 2001 ; Neufeld, McNamara, & Ertl, 1999 ), and sexual aggression occurs in approximately 3% to 20% of dating relationships ( Hines & Saudino, 2003 ; Humphrey & White, 2000 ; Silverman, Raj, Mucci, & Hathaway, 2001 ). Evidence also suggests that males and females perpetrate similar amounts of physical and psychological aggression, with males routinely perpetrating more sexual aggression ( Shorey et al., 2008a ). Furthermore, victims of dating violence often evidence serious health problems, including depression, anxiety, somatic complaints, and physical injuries ( Amar & Gennaro, 2005 ; Kaura & Lohman, 2007 ; Straight, Harper, & Arias, 2003 ). Thus, it is clear that dating violence is a prevalent problem in need of research aimed...