Testing Target Congruence Theory on Emotional Abuse Victimization Experienced by Heterosexual and LGBQ College Students

ABSTRACT

Criminological theories traditionally used to explain crime and deviance have now been applied to explain physical intimate partner violence (IPV) experienced by heterosexual and LGBQ victims. Notably missing, however, are studies that test theories that explain why individuals may become victims of emotional abuse by sexual orientation. To this end, we applied target congruence theory to examine the influence of target vulnerability, gratifiability, and antagonism on emotional abuse experienced by college students. Data obtained from two public universities (Heterosexuals=366, LGBQ=113) showed partial support for the theory, with target vulnerability consistently predicting emotional abuse victimization regardless of sexual orientation.

KEYWORDS:

• Emotional abuse
• target vulnerability
• target gratifiability
• target antagonism
• sexual orientation

Notes

¹ Application forms were submitted to both of the universities’ Institutional Review Board (IRB) for review. The study was approved by both IRBs and all participants gave informed consent. All participants were able to decline the research invitation and were also allowed to discontinue the study at any time without consequences.

² It is important to note that although the response rate is low, it is consistent with other studies using noncompensated, online surveys (see Zavala, 2017a).

³ The individual items that constitute all scales in this study are available upon request from the first author.

⁴ Nevertheless, it is important to note that the Revised Conflict Tactics Scale has been criticized for not capturing the context in which violence occurs or the motivations for using violence (Kimmel, 2002).

⁵ Because the majority of respondents reported jealousy or possessiveness, a variety index (i.e., a count of the numbers of different types of IPV perpetrated or victimized) was not constructed due to the low variations of other acts reported by respondents. In addition, the decision to dichotomize the dependent variable was influence by the fact that we are more interested in the occurrence of IPV rather than the frequency or types of IPV. It should be noted that this practice is common among studies who utilize the Conflict Tactics Scale and is consistent with the previous studies.

⁶ The decision to measure only impulsivity and risk-seeking behaviors was influenced by studies that have shown these two dimensions of self-control carry the most explanatory power (Arneklev, Grasmick, & Bursik, 1999). It should be noted that other scholars have used the same eight items to measure self-control in studies testing Gottfredson & Hirschi’s (1990) general theory of crime (i.e., Agnew et al., 2011).

⁷ We focused on trait anger (an enduring characteristic of individuals) rather than situational anger (a reaction to a specific set of circumstances) in order to remain consistent with the literature.

⁸ Although grouping bisexuals and those who are questioning their sexual orientation may not indicate the past same-sex relationships, these individuals were grouped with gays and lesbians as they self-reported nonheterosexual identities. Although the survey did not ask these individuals if they indeed engaged in the same-gender sexual activities, this coding scheme is consistent with prior studies (Zavala, 2017a).

⁹ The majority of respondents were either White or Hispanic. Only 2% said they were African American, 3% said they were Asian, and 7% said they were of mixed race/ethnicity. Due to these low levels of variations, the decision was made to dichotomize this variable.