1. LAUREN MARIE VERLAQUE GEORGINA HAMMOCK DEBORAH RICHARDSON KENNETH BROCK LAMM ELIZABETH TAYLOR CINDY BORGES-SUAREZ WHEN LOVE HURTS: PERCEPTIONS OF AGGRESSION IN SAME-SEX AND CROSS-SEX RELATIONSHIPS Georgia Regents University Augusta

2. INTRODUCTION  Perceptions:  Psychological aggression  Less serious and less negative than physical aggression  (eg. Capezza & Arriaga, 2008a; 2008b; Hammock et al., 2013)  Physical Aggression  More blame and more abuse for perpetrator  (eg. Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Shlien-Dellinger, Huss, & Kramer, 2004)  Impact of gender on perceptions  Female perpetrator  less impact  (eg. Hammock et al., 2013)  Male perpetrator  more impact  (eg. Hammock et al., 2013)

3. SAME-SEX INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE (IPV)  Same-sex couples report a similar nature and scope of intimate partner violence (IPV) as heterosexual women  (eg. Sorenson & Thomas, 2009)  Perceptions and Recommendations:  More likely to recommend abandoning the relationship  Less likely to recommend police interventions  (eg. Poorman, Seelau, & Seelau, 2003)  Mental health professionals  (eg. Wise & Bowman, 1997)

4. HYPOTHESES  Rationale:  Perceptions of cross-sex relationships & perceptions of same-sex relationships  Remove confound of gender  Gender nature of Perpetration  males  Gender nature of Victimization  females  Interaction: Male perpetrators & Female victims  Physical > Psychological

5. DESIGN  Study design:  2 (sex of participant)  2 (sex of perpetrator)  2 (sex of victim)  2 (type of aggression: physical or psychological)  Repeated measure – type of aggression

6. DEMOGRAPHICS  85 Males (33.9%) and 166 Females (66.1%)  Ages 18 to 57 (M = 23.9, SD = 7.3)  Ethnicity  African American 30.7%  Caucasian 49.8%  Mixed or Bi-racial 10.8%  Hispanic 4.8%,  Asian-American 3.2%  Other.8%  Sexual Orientation  Heterosexual 95.2%  Homosexual 2.8%  Bisexual 1.6%

7. PHYSICAL AGGRESSION SCENARIO Imagine that you are witnessing the following encounter in a neighborhood yard: The couple living next door, Jennifer and David, has a rocky relationship as evidenced by frequent arguments. They are in their back yard fighting about the state of the yard. As the fight worsens, Jennifer picks up a lawn chair and angrily throws it at David. He ducks to get out of the way, and the throw barely misses. Jennifer then runs up to David and knocks him to the ground. He struggles to get up, but she slaps him down again. Jennifer then leans in, grabs his face in her hand and pushes his head into the ground before turning and storming back into the house.

8. PSYCHOLOGICAL AGGRESSION SCENARIO Imagine that you are witnessing the following encounter in a neighborhood yard: The couple living next door, David and Jennifer, has a rocky relationship as evidenced by frequent arguments. They are in their back yard fighting about the state of the yard. As the fight worsens, Jennifer turns to David and screams, “You are an idiot !” David shrinks away, but she continues to yell, “No one else would put up with your shit!” Jennifer then runs up to David and threatens again: “I’m taking away all of your credit cards!” She snatches his wallet off a lawn chair and throws it in the trash. She scowls: “ No gift for your mother’s birthday tomorrow,” before turning and storming back into the house.

9. PERCEPTIONS OF ENCOUNTER Abuse - "To what extent was the perpetrator's behavior abusive?" Harm - "How much harm do you think the victim suffered?" Punish - "How much should the perpetrator be punished for what they did?" Psychological Aggression α =.80 Physical Aggression α =.71 1 = not at all abusive 7 = very abusive 1 = not at all 7 = very much 1 = very little 7 = very much

10. RESULTS Main Effect for Type of Aggression Physical (M = 6.25, SD = 0.81 ) > Psychological (M = 5.09, SD = 1.29), F (1, 240) = 221.38, p <.001, η 2 =.48 Main Effect for Sex of Participant Female (M = 5.92, SD = 1.04) > Male (M = 5.42, SD = 1.43) F (1, 240) = 19.21, p <.001, η 2 =.07

11. RESULTS Main Effect for Sex of Perpetrator Male (M = 5.83, SD = 1.24 ) > Female (5.52, SD = 1.25) F (1, 240) = 7.33, p <.01, η 2 =.03 Main Effect for Sex of Victim Female (5.83, SD = 1.27) > Male (M = 5.51, SD = 1.22) F (1, 240) = 7.77, p <.01, η 2 =.03

12. SUMMARY  Type of Aggression  Physical aggression is consistently perceived more negatively than psychological aggression.  Perceptions of male-female dyad  Male aggressor  Female victim  No interactions  Gendered nature of perpetration  Gendered nature of victimization

13. REFERENCES Capezza, N. M., & Arriaga, X. B. (2008a). Factors associated with acceptance of psychological aggression against women. Violence Against Women, 14, 612-633. doi: 10.1177/1077801208319004 Capezza, N. M., & Arriaga, X. B. (2008b). You can degrade but you can’t hit: Differences in perceptions of psychological versus physical aggression. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 25, 225-245. doi: 10.1177/0265407507087957 Hammock, G., Richardson, D., S., Lamm, K. B., Taylor, E. (Submitted). Perceptions of psychological and physical aggression in the context of heterosexual intimate partner violence. Journal of Personal and Family Violence Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., Shlien-Dellinger, R.K., Huss, M.T., & Kramer, V.L. (2004). Attributions about perpetrators and victims of interpersonal abuse: Results from an analogue study. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 19, 484-498. doi:10.1177/0886260503262084 Martin, Z., Cox, J., Williams, C., Coleman, A., Hammock, G.S., & Richardson, D.S. (2010, March). Sticks and stones: Perceptions of physical and psychological aggression. Poster presented at the meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Chattanooga, TN. Poorman, P. B., Seelau, E. P., & Seelau, S. M. (2003). Perceptions of domestic abuse in same-sex relationships and implications for criminal justice and mental health responses. Violence and Victims, 18, 659-669. Sorenson, S. B., & Thomas, K. A. (2009). Views of intimate partner violence in same- and opposite-sex relationships. Journal of Marriage and Family, 71, 337-352. Wise, A., & Bowman, S. (1997). Comparison of beginning counselors’ responses to lesbian versus heterosexual partner abuse. Violence and Victims, 12, 127-134.