Predictors of dating violence among Batswana [i.e. Botswana] college students : a multivariate cross-cultural analysis

• Main Author: Moagi-Gulubane, Sophie M.
• Other Authors: Bowman, Sharon L.
• Format: Others
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: Dating violence > Botswana.; College students > Violence against > Botswana.
• Online Access: http://cardinalscholar.bsu.edu/handle/handle/178681; http://liblink.bsu.edu/uhtbin/catkey/1266038

This study used multiple regression analysis to determine which of the Riggs and O'Leary's (1989) background-situational model variables best predict the pattern of dating violence in heterosexual Batswana college students' relationships. The background variables included in the study are (a) exposure to interparental violence, (b) gender-role attitudes, and (c) acceptance of aggression as a response to conflict. One situational variable-the partner's use of aggression is included in this study. This situational variable was included because of its central role in the background-situational model and because Riggs and O'Leary (1989) identified it as a potentially important situational predictor of dating aggression. Although the variables selected for use in this study are far from exhaustive, the use of restricted models has been identified as a useful heuristic in the study of interpartner aggression (O'Leary, 1988). The use of multiple regression procedures in this study can be expected to yield a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that are associated with the likelihood of Batswana college students to engage in dating violence. It also permits for the study of the predictive power of variables within the context of other more or less powerful predictors.The study's sample were 135 female and 118 male undergraduate students recruited from a university in Botswana. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 25 years old, were unmarried, were involved in a heterosexual dating relationship or had been involved in one such relationship in the past. Participants completed a set of questionnaires, including the revised Conflict Tactics Scales, the parents' version of the Conflict Tactics Scales, the partners' version of the Conflict Tactics Scales, the Attitudes Toward Women Scale, and the Attitudes About Dating Violence Scale. The combination of exposure to interparental violence, gender-role attitudes, acceptance of aggression as a response to conflict, and partners use of aggression, with demographic variables held constant, was significant and accounted for 89% of the variance in participants' perpetration of dating violence. Results indicated that partner's use of violence is a strong predictor of dating violence perpetration. Implications from this study are offered. === Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services