Status Compatibility, Physical Violence, and Emotional Abuse in Intimate Relationships

Abstract

This article analyzing national data (N = 7,408) examines the connection between men's and women's relative economic contributions in families and the risk of husband‐to‐wife physical violence and emotional abuse. Family violence researchers have conceptualized the association between economic variables and the risk of intimate partner violence with respect to the structural dimensions of sociodemographic factors, whereas feminist researchers connect economic power to family dynamics. Marital dependency and stress frustration theories treat income, education, and employment as socioeconomic resources, whereas some feminist research points to the need for research that treats these economic variables as symbolic resources. Although income and educational attainment reduce women's risk of physical violence and emotional abuse by husbands, I find that status incompatibilities between partners that favor women increase the likelihood of emotional abuse.

Emotional Abuse and Controlling Behaviors in Heterosexual Relationships: The Role of Employment and Alcohol Use for Women and Their Partners

“…Relationships of equally dependent partners that embrace egalitarian decision making and an equal division of power within the family are found to report higher relationship satisfaction (Tichenor 1999;Schoen et al 2002), and studies report that such couples experience low levels of conflict, aggression, emotional abuse, and physical harm (Nock 2001;Kaukinen 2004). However, if females break away from historically held gender roles (i.e., stay-at-home mother or working at a menial job), this might be viewed as a challenge to their partner's masculinity as provider or breadwinner, which may ultimately result in violence (Macmillan and Gartner 1999).…”

“…The use of nonphysical violence in abusive relationships is well established in the literature (Strauchler et al 2004;Margolin et al 1998;Kaukinen 2004;Felson and Messner 2000;Outlaw 2009;Schwartz 2005). We argue, however, that research on emotional abuse and controlling behaviors can be advanced by simultaneously examining factors such as employment compatibility and alcohol consumption by both the offender and the victim.…”

“…Studies have documented that the composition of the relationship makes certain women prone to violence when compared to other forms of relationships. For example, studies by Kaukinen (2004) and Macmillan and Gartner (1999) documented that women who were in marriages that threaten the traditional male identity as the primary financial provider (i.e., the wife is making more money than her husband) were more likely to experience physical and emotional abuse than women whose husbands were the primary breadwinner (i.e., the wife is not working or made less money). Although both studies highlighted the importance of employment status between couples, MacMillan and Gartner (1999) encourage us to further explore this connection using a sample of women in the United States.…”

“…Lack of research on these latter topics can largely be contributed to the ways in which scholars first defined terms such as domestic violence and intimate partner violence. For example, defining these incidents as simply physical acts perpetrated against an intimate partner fails to capture other abusive acts, such as the verbal, mental, and emotional abuse that victims endure in abusive relationships (Loring 1998;Kaukinen 2004;Demaris and Kaukinen 2005;Carbone-López et al 2006;Stark 2007;Outlaw 2009). Because emotional abuse often exists along with other severe forms of violence, there is still more to be learned about how emotional and controlling abuse is used in intimate relationships.…”

“…Early studies utilizing the then-newly created Conflict Tactics Scale (Straus 1979) focused on physical violence (i.e., slapping, punching, kicking, etc. ), that did not encompass other forms of violence including emotional abuse, threatening physical harm, and attempting to control a partner's behavior (Dobash and Dobash 1979;DeKeseredy 1995DeKeseredy , 2000Loring 1998;Felson and Messner 2000;Kaukinen 2004;Strauchler et al 2006;Johnson 2006). Lack of research on these latter topics can largely be contributed to the ways in which scholars first defined terms such as domestic violence and intimate partner violence.…”