Abusive men--Psychology

Sperm competition theory states that in species 111 which females mate with
multiple males within a short period of time, not only will males have to compete
for mates, but they will have to compete for fertilizations and will subsequently
evolve tactics associated with competition for fertilization. It has been
hypothesized that sexual coercion in the context of an intimate relationship may
function as a sperm competition tactic, with its occurrence related to a man's
suspicions of his pmtner' s sexual infidelity. Sexual coercion in response to cues
of his partner's sexual infidelity might function to introduce a male's sperm into
his partner's reproductive tract at a time when there is a high risk of cuckoldry.
Four studies are presented which lend support to the sperm competition
hypothesis and encourage others to consider sperm competition theory when
studying men's sexual coercion in intimate relationships.

I present the development and initial validation of a new measure designed to
assess the specific content of insults used by men against their intimate partners. I used
feedback from battered women, along with a review of the relevant literature, to identify
specific insults for inclusion in the Partner-Directed Insults Scale (PDIS) (Preliminary
Study). I administered the PDIS to a sample of United States participants (Study 1) and a
sample of New Zealand participants (Study 2), allowing for a cross-national investigation
of the specific insults that men use to derogate their partners. The results demonstrate the
practical need for such a scale and provide evidence for the discriminant validity of the
PDIS by documenting that men's use of insults predicts their use of controlling behaviors
and physical violence. It is this predictive utility that makes the PDIS a valuable tool for
researchers and clinicians alike.

Men sometimes insult their intimate partners and these insults predict intimate
partner violence. No research has investigated the function of men's partner-directed
insults. I hypothesize that men's partner-directed insults are designed to retain their longterm
mate and, therefore, that men's use of partner-directed insults will covary with other
mate retention behaviors. Using the Mate Retention Inventory and the Partner-Directed
Insults Scale, I conducted two studies to test this hypothesis. Study 1 included 245 men
who reported their mate retention behaviors and partner-directed insults. Correlations and
multiple regression analyses documented the predicted relationships between men's
partner-directed insults and mate retention behaviors. Study 2 included 372 women who
reported their partner's mate retention behaviors and insults that their partner directed at
them. The results replicated the results of Study 1. Discussion highlights future directions
for investigating the relationships between men's partner-directed insults and mate
retention behaviors.

Mate-retention behaviors are designed to solve several adaptive problems, such as deterring a partner's infidelity and preventing defection from the relationship. Although many mate-retention behaviors appear to be innocuous romantic gestures (e.g., giving flowers), some may be harbingers of violence. Here, the relationship between men's mate-retention and violence against women was investigated. In Study 1, men reported their use of mate-retention behaviors and violence in their relationships. Study 2 assessed women's reports of their partners' mate-retention behaviors and their partners' violence against them. Study 3 secured husbands' reports of their mate retention and wives' reports of their husbands' violence. As predicted, and across all studies, men's mate-retention behaviors predicted violence against romantic partners.