The Relationship between Egalitarianism, Dominance, and Violence in Intimate Relationships

The aim of this study was to understand the relationship between egalitarianism, dominance, and intimate partner violence within the context of couples’ dynamics. 87 heterosexual dyads completed questionnaires on gender role egalitarianism, dominance/control, sexism, power dynamics, and aggression. The relationship between female and male scores on the dominance, egalitarianism, sexism, and intimate partner violence scales were examined using Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). Findings indicated that the APIM model provided a satisfactory fit to the data. For both sexes, dominance had more explanatory power than sexism and egalitarianism when all else was controlled in the model. Contrary to our expectation, male egalitarian attitude had no significant actor or partner effect on relationship aggression, while female egalitarian attitude had significant actor and partner effects on relationship aggression. Dyadic analysis indicated that cultural pointers of patriarchy, such as egalitarianism among young college students, were not associated with male-to-female violence.