Generational Differences in Understanding of Psychological Abuse

Research suggests that compared to physical abuse, emotional abuse is less detected by others (Jory, 2004.) This study examines whether there is a difference in the perception of emotional abuse across generations. Specifically this study compared people thirty years or younger to individuals above the age of fifty-five to determine if there is a generational difference in the perception of abuse. For this study, participants were asked to read scenarios of various relationships and then rate how healthy they believed the relationship was and how, as a friend, they would respond. Participants were also asked to complete the adapted Intimate Justice Scale consisting of fifteen questions that examined abuse from relatively minor to more extreme cases. The results of this study showed that older adults are more likely to detect emotional and psychological abuse, but they are not likely to recommend either counseling or leaving a relationship unless the couple is very young and not yet married