Women's Use of Intimate Partner Aggression: Associations with Everyday Sexism

dc.contributor.advisorMurphy, Christopher M
dc.contributor.authorMiles-McLean, Haley A
dc.contributor.departmentPsychology
dc.contributor.programPsychology
dc.date.accessioned2022-02-09T15:53:02Z
dc.date.available2022-02-09T15:53:02Z
dc.date.issued2020-01-01
dc.description.abstractResearch has indicated that women engage in intimate partner aggression (IPA) at similar rates relative to men and that women's IPA negatively impacts their survivor partners. However, studies also document important differences among women's use of IPA compared to men, contributing to ongoing discourse regarding the relevance of gender to IPA. This investigation uses an intersectional feminist lens to evaluate why women's gender may be relevant to their use of IPA, specifically considering if women's experiences of oppression in the form of everyday sexism is associated with their IPA use. Prior studies have documented that experiences of heterosexism and racism are related to IPA use, raising questions about whether women's experiences of sexist discrimination are also associated with IPA. This investigation explores this novel research question among 626 women recruited online through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Study participants reported on everyday sexist experiences (i.e., sexist events, benevolent sexism, and partner-enacted sexism), emotional IPA, physical IPA, gender-based violence, recent stressful experiences, and psychological distress symptoms. Overall, the results supported the hypothesis that women's everyday sexism experiences are associated with their use of IPA. Women's experiences of sexist events, benevolent sexism, and partner-enacted sexism were all significantly and positively correlated with emotional and physical IPA use with small to medium effects. In addition, women's sexism experiences were related to IPA use both directly and indirectly through psychological distress and were associated with IPA even when controlling for recent stressful experiences and gender-based violence exposure. The findings support intersectional feminist theories of IPA by recognizing the importance of considering sociocultural context when working to conceptualize why identity factors such as gender may be relevant to IPA. They further demonstrate the need to develop gender-responsive IPA prevention and intervention efforts and the need to consider broader sociocultural changes that can reduce women's experiences of sexist discrimination.
dc.formatapplication:pdf
dc.genredissertations
dc.identifierdoi:10.13016/m2rtaj-ow8k
dc.identifier.other12332
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11603/24232
dc.languageen
dc.relation.isAvailableAtThe University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Psychology Department Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Theses and Dissertations Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Graduate School Collection
dc.relation.ispartofUMBC Student Collection
dc.sourceOriginal File Name: MilesMcLean_umbc_0434D_12332.pdf
dc.subjectdomestic violence
dc.subjectgender discrimination
dc.subjectgender-based violence
dc.subjectintimate partner aggression
dc.subjectmental health
dc.subjectsexism
dc.titleWomen's Use of Intimate Partner Aggression: Associations with Everyday Sexism
dc.typeText
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