Self-regulatory failure and intimate partner violence perpetration.

• DOI: 10.1037/a0015433
• Publication Date: 2009-08-18T13:00:13Z
• Authors: Eli J. Finkel; C. Nathan DeWall; Erica B. Slotter; Megan Oaten; Vangie A. Foshee
• Keywords: Marketing; Adult; Ego; Character; Adolescent; Family Conflict; Verbal Behavior; 05 social sciences; Intention; Violence; 16. Peace & justice; Functional Laterality; Self Concept; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders; Young Adult; 5. Gender equality; Behavior Therapy; Risk Factors; Spouse Abuse; Humans; 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences; Cognitive and computational psychology; Internal-External Control; Psychomotor Performance

Five studies tested the hypothesis that self-regulatory failure is an important predictor of intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Study 1 participants were far more likely to experience a violent impulse during conflictual interaction with their romantic partner than they were to enact a violent behavior, suggesting that self-regulatory processes help individuals refrain from perpetrating IPV when they experience a violent impulse. Study 2 participants high in dispositional self-control were less likely to perpetrate IPV, in both cross-sectional and residualized-lagged analyses, than were participants low in dispositional self-control. Study 3 participants verbalized more IPV-related cognitions if they responded immediately to partner provocations than if they responded after a 10-s delay. Study 4 participants whose self-regulatory resources were experimentally depleted were more violent in response to partner provocation (but not when unprovoked) than were nondepleted participants. Finally, Study 5 participants whose self-regulatory resources were experimentally bolstered via a 2-week training regimen exhibited less violent inclinations than did participants whose self-regulatory resources had not been bolstered. These findings hint at the power of incorporating self-regulation dynamics into predictive models of IPV perpetration.