Measurement of emotional blackmail in couple relationships in Hong Kong.

Abstract

Emotional blackmail (EB) is a form of repetitive emotional manipulation in which to exact compliance, a perpetrator threatens to hurt or abandon a person close to him or her, by inducing fear, obligation, or guilt. The term EB is widely used colloquially and is often referenced by psychotherapists, but has not been empirically studied in couples. The objective of this study was to create a psychometrically sound measure of EB in couples. Participants were 199 expatriates of various ethnicities and permanent residents of Hong Kong in committed couple relationships. They completed an initial 25-item EB scale created based on Forward and Frazier's (1997) writings on EB, and other dyadic relationship measures including the Tactics of Manipulation Scale (TMS; Buss, Gomes, Higgins, & Lauterbach, 1987), Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse Scale (FHS; Gottman, 1999), and Couples' Satisfaction Index-16 (CSI;Funk & Rogge, 2007). Exploratory factor analysis retained a 20-item scale with two factors named Fear and Obligation/Guilt explaining 47.8% of variance in EB. Cronbach's ␣s were .92, .87, and .91, for the EB scale and Fear and Obligation/Guilt subscales, respectively. EB was strongly associated with the TMS (r ϭ .61), FHS (r ϭ .79), and CSI (r ϭ -.63). Multiple regression showed that the EB scale explained 41.2% of variance in CSI and explained variance in CSI over and above TMS but not FHS. The 20-item EB scale appears to be a reliable and valid scale that warrants further research. Implications for future research and couple therapy are discussed.

The Association of Emotional Blackmail and Adjustment to College Life Among Warned Female Students at Al-Balqa University Students

“…The study sample consists of all (357) female warned students at Al-Balqa Applied University, according to the statistics of the Deanship of Student Affairs and the Admission and Registration Unit at the university, as shown in Table (1).…”

“…Emotional blackmail is a subtle form of manipulation that may shape some of our closest relationships. 1 Just like any blackmail, emotional blackmail centers around a basic threat; if you don't do this for me, bad things will happen. 2 The subject of blackmail has received great attention in the world, and this concern represented the call for awareness of its dangers, the need to confront it, and the undertaking of special projects in the community to protect it and raise awareness of its effects, the seminars held around it, and the media programs that referred to it.…”