Women\u27s Motives for Violent and Nonviolent Behaviors in Conflicts

Drawing from past research on women\u27s motives for intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration, correlates of women\u27s perpetration, and correlates of nonviolent conflict, we created a scale containing 125 possible motives, representing 14 broad domains (e.g., self-defense, retaliation). Participants were an ethnically diverse sample of women who had perpetrated no physical IPV against their current partner (n = 243), threats but not physical IPV (n = 70), nonsevere physical IPV (n = 193), and at least one act of severe (e.g., choke) physical IPV (n = 93). An exploratory factor analysis yielded a seven-factor solution, representing Partners\u27 Negative Behaviors, Increase Intimacy, Personal Problems, Retaliation, Childhood Experiences, Situation/Mood, and Partners\u27 Personal Problems. Differences by women\u27s IPV perpetration and race and/or ethnicity were tested with means representing these seven factors and a computed variable representing self-defense. Although motives differed by perpetration type, main effects for Partners\u27 Negative Behavior, Personal Problems, Retaliation, and Childhood Experiences were modified by interactions, suggesting ethnicity should be considered when developing interventions