Violence and Commitment

Abstract

Dating couples were given the Conflict Tactics Scale and measures of emotional commitment. Members of a couple were tested at the same time with no opportunity to compare responses during the session. For violence and verbal aggression, participants reported on acts inflicted and received. For commitment, they indicated their own level of commitment and rated the commitment of their partners. This permitted an examination of three sorts of similarity: between the partners, between self-rating and one's perception of the partner, and between rating of the partner and the partner's self-report. One third of couples had at least one member who reported violence, but prevalence dropped to less than 20% when both members' responses were taken into account. There was little agreement about who did what to whom. Violent couples reported greater commitment to the relationship but were also more likely to disagree with one another's level of emotional commitment.