The Need for Control in Interpersonal Relationships and Courtship Violence.

• Main Author: Dunaway, Marcella Horn
• Format: Others
• Published: Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University 2002
• Subjects: control; courtship; violence; Psychology; Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Online Access: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/723; https://dc.etsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1880&context=etd

This study explored an individual's need for control and the level of violence within a dating relationship. This was a self-report study. Subjects consisted of 175 students from a university in the southern Appalachian region of the U.S. Questionnaires were combined with a scenario depicting violent behavior. Subjects were asked to rate their level of control on the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Inventory (FIRO-B), to complete the Conflict Tactics Scale - revised (CTS-2), and to rate the acceptability of the scenario. Data were analyzed using an ANOVA. Results did not support the main hypothesis. No relationship was found between control and violent behavior, or between men and women and their expression of control. There was no connection between violence and level of expressed control. Men showed more approval for violence than women. Individuals with higher levels of expressed control were more accepting of violence than others without the need to control.