Psychology of Human Relationships
Outcomes
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To what extent do biological, cognitive, and
sociocultural factors influence human relationships?
Evaluate psychological research (that is, theories and/or
studies) relevant to the study of human relationships
Psychology of Human Relationships
• investigates the nature and causes of
relationships between people.
– Attraction
– Friendship
– Romantic relationships
– Relationship termination
– Altruism
– Anti-social behaviour
– Violence
Methods used:
– Experiments
– Interviews
– Questionnaires
• Why qualities make these most useful?
Social Responsibility
• Outcomes
– Distinguish between altruism and prosocial
behaviour
– Contrast two theories explaining altruism in
humans
– Using one or more research studies, explain crosscultural differences in prosocial behaviour
– Examine factors influencing bystanderism
Prosocial behaviour and altruism
• Prosocial behaviour – any behaviour intended to benefit others
– Variants of helping behaviour – volunteering, donations, rescuing
– Also – factors influencing NOT helping
• Egoistic motivation – prosocial behaviour that benefits the actor
intrinsically – makes them feel good
• Altruism – performance of prosocial actions without expectation of
self-benefit
– Is it possible to derive some level of benefit on any level for prosocial
actions?
– Psychological hedonism – the idea that the ultimate goal of all
behaviour is seeking pleasure and avoidance of pain
• Altruistic motivation – performance of prosocial actions with the
expectation of benefit to others and of a potential cost to the self
• Baston (1991) – altruism – a motivational state with the ultimate
goal of increasing another’s welfare
2 theories regarding altruism:
• 1) Empathy-altruism hypothesis
• 2) Kin selection hypothesis
Empathy-altruism hypothesis - Baston
1. Empathy - An emotional response generated
when another person is perceived to be in
need
– This emotional response becomes the motivation
to help for another’s sake
2. Need – when another person’s current state
is recognized as less than their potential state
– Assumes that the observer has the ability to
perceive both states in another
3. Evaluation follows of potential
rewards and costs
• Recognition of potential rewards
• Recognition of personal distress that would be
reduced if a helping act takes place
• OR
• The observer adopts the perspective of the
person in need – empathic response
The strength of the empathy is
affected by:
• the perception of the magnitude of the need
• the strength of the observer’s attachment to
the person in need.
***Empathic response lacks personal distress –
reduction of this would constitute egoistic
response***
Validity and reliability
• What are some validity and reliability
problems you can identify – based on your
own experience – with studying altruism?
• Testing hypothesis is difficult – impossible to
observe the motivation of the actors and
motivation may be unknown even to them
Toi and Baston (1982)
• Aim – to determine the effects of emotional focus or
informational focus on empathy in observers
• Method – female psychology students viewed an interview
with a confederate fellow student who had recently broken
both legs. Participants were told to focus on how the victim
felt in her interview and others were told to focus on the
facts of the story. Participants were also informed that the
subject of the interviews may be attending class with them
in the future. They were then asked to take notes for the
subject for upcoming classes.
• Conclusions – participants told to focus on the emotions of
the subject were more likely to respond with note taking.
This factor was shown to be more important than the
presence of the subject in the class at a later date
Evaluate the following for…
• The methods used to induce altruism
• The extent to which the act of giving is
altruistic or egoistic
– Current state-potential state perception
– Cost-benefit evaluation
– Personal distress of the viewer
– Empathy
– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dksyep_z-Po
Kin-selection hypothesis
• Evolutionary explanation for altruism
• Helping others in your family group will increase
the chances of the gene that caused the helping
behaviour to be passed on.
Sime (1983) – unrelated individuals would flee a
burning building and get separated, related
individuals would stay together and flee as a unit.
Simpson and Kendrick (1997) – kin selection results
from ingroup bias effects –we are more likely to
help people we perceive as similar to us
Madsen et al. (2007)
• Aim – to determine the effect of perceived
relation proximity on altruistic behaviour
• Method – participants were asked to assume a
painful position for which money would be paid
to a relative for the duration of their tolerance.
The study was repeated for UK students and
South African students
• Conclusion - participants made more of an effort
to tolerate the position for relatives that were
biologically closer to them.
Cross-cultural factors
• Levine (2001)
• Studied prosocial behaviour in several cities
worldwide according to several variables such as
population size, and individualism/collectivism
and by using observations of helping situations in
these cities.
• Focused on concepts of simpatia and simpatico
– Generally proactive socio-emotional orientation and
concern with the social well-bring of others
Discussion
• Cities were ranked - top Rio de Janeiro, last Kuala
Lumpur
• Cultural factors – found to be less important but there
was a relationship between high purchasing power and
low helping behaviours
• What reasons can you find to explain these
differences?
• Religion?
• Cultural scripts? – simpatia/simpatico
• Traditional values?
• Industrialization?
Cultural factors
• Individualism vs collectivism – prosocial
behaviour?
• Defined borders between social groups in
collectivist societies - Ingroup vs outgroup
favoritism?
• Behaviours transmitted during child-rearing
(Whiting and Whiting, 1975)
• Frequency of anticipated contacts – population
size
• Competition for resources –perception of scarcity
• Social norms surrounding need and reception of
charity
Whatever happened to Kony2012?
• http://faculty.babson.edu/krollag/org_site/soc
_psych/darley_samarit.html
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZVon_I
bTBw&app=desktop
Bystander Intervention
• Bystanderism – the phenomenon of a person or
people not intervening despite the awareness of
another person’s need.
Latane and Darley (1970)
• Number of bystanders is inversely proportional to
the likelihood someone will intervene
– People must notice event
– People must assess need in event
– People must assume responsibility with knowledge of
positive effect of intervention
Latane and Darley (1968)
• Aims – to determine the impact of observer number on the inhibition to
intervene in a helping situation
• Method – 72 participants deceived that they were taking part in a study
looking at the personal problems of other students. Participants were
isolated and given earphone and a microphone and told that the others
were participating aw well but the researcher could not hear anyone.
They would listen to a recording of a person’s problems and comment in
turns on these. In reality, they were the only ones who could hear the
recordings and respond. One of the recorded respondents would ask for
help and indicate a seizure was in progress then fall silent. The time taken
to forgo the experiment and notify the experimenter of the distress of the
respondent was measured. The number of people the participant believed
to be also hearing the respondent was the independent variable.
• Conclusions – the number of people believed to be observing the seizure
was important. 85% of people who thought they were alone acted within
2 minutes. 31% if they thought they were with a group of 4, 100% within 6
minutes – alone, 62% - with 4 others
Validity and reliability?
• Diffusion of responsibility – with more
witnesses, the responsibility to act is shared
and overall obligation drops
• Social influence – in ambiguous situations we
look to others for guidance in action taking
• Audience inhibition – inaction from fear of
overreacting or committing social blunders
• Others????
Arousal, Cost, Reward – Piliavin et al.
(1981)
Arousal – we experience the fight or flight response in observing an
emergency. We then desire to act in a way that returns us to a normal state –
the higher the arousal, the more likely we are to act. (Amato (1986)
• However, if aroused in a state of ambiguity, we are less likely to act as we
will be unsure if acting will reduce the arousal. Sterling and Gartner (1983)
Cost-Reward
• Cost-reward model – an evaluation of the consequences of intervening.
• Cost of intervening – time, effort, danger
• Cost of NOT intervening – guilt, social criticism
• When the cost of NOT outweigh the cost – action is likely
Similarity, victim attributes and responsibility
• Piliavin (1981) – people are more likely to help people similar to them –
race, gender, age, nationality
Piliavin et al. (1969)
• Aims – to test the effect of race and victim type on helping
behaviour on a New York subway.
• Method – Field experiment – staged emergencies between the
same two stop on a subway carriage. Tow observers, one model
who would help after a specified amount of time, and one victim
confederate of varying race and character – either an old man with
a cane or a drunk.
• Conclusions – spontaneous help - cane; 62 of 65 times, drunk; 19
of 38 times. Helpers were 90% males, 64% white – same as
proportion on the train.
– Victims who are sick are helped more than those who are drunk –
responsible for own situation
– In mixed groups, men more likely to help men, same race more likely
to help same race
– Diffusion of responsibility not observed in the cane situation.
Factors moderation bystanderism
• Political affiliation at a protest (Suedfeld et al. ,
1972)
• Sport affiliation with victims wearing the same
shirt of the observer’s favorite soccer team
(Levine et al. 2006)
• Not observed with gender interactions – men
more likely to help women especially after
viewing erotic films (Przybyla, 1985)
Mood, competence, and experience
• Mood – Berkowitz (1987) – effort on behalf of others
was reduced when participants had higher selfawareness.
– Self-awareness linked to bad moods.
– Being in a good mood encourages attraction to strangers
and attention to positive features
• Competence - Huston et al (1981) - interviews of those
who had intervened in criminal events showed they
tended to be larger, heavier, had more training in police
or medical, self-described as principled and aggressive
• Experience – Pantin and Carver (1982) – being shown a
first aid video increased action in a choking situation
Interpersonal relations
Outcomes
• Examine biological, psychological and social
origins of attraction
• Discuss the role of communication in
maintaining relationships
• Explain the role that culture plays in the
formation and maintenance of relationships
• Analyze why relationships may change or end
Attraction – theories regarding the
origin of formation of relationships
1. Biological factors – eg. Genetics and evolution
2. Cognitive factors – schemas and group
formation
3. Socio-cultural factors – gender and cultural
influences in mate selection
– Applies to romantic and friend selection
Gross and Crofton (1977) – ratings of attractiveness
are higher for photos of people about whom
participants have just read a favorable story.
Opposite sex attraction
Evolutionary approach - Buss (1994) identified
two aspects of sexual selection:
1. Male ritual behaviour – displays of
dominance
2. Characteristics that increase attractiveness to
females
Males would have evolved to conform to these
two principles, females would conform their
preferences to these as well
Female preferred characteristics:
• Ambition
• Dependability
• Intelligence
• Height
• Good health
Buss – females in majority of countries rate
social status of males as more important than
males do in females
Male desired characteristics
• Males tend to be attracted to youth and health –
reproductive ability
• Culture wide evidence of age disparity in coupling - males
older by two years
• Buss (1994) – age differences by marriage; 1st - 3 years, 2nd
– 5 years, 3rd – 8+years
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Smooth skin
Full lips
Lustrous hair
Facial and body symmetry
• Evidence shows that male preference for body shape
affected by resource availability – food scarcity causes
preferences to change
Singh (1994) – men interested in fat distribution rather than
overall body mass. Ideal - Hip to waist ratio of .7
Same sex attraction
• Homosexual men similar to heterosexual men in
preference – 1) youth and 2) health
• Homosexual women similar to heterosexual
women in preference – however, less interested
in body shape
Function of attraction
• Hypothalamus triggers arousal – conscious or
unconsciously. However, thoughts alone can
cause arousal but thoughts alone cannot trigger
attraction.
Pheromones
• Wedekind et al (1995) – asked men to wear a
clean shirt for two nights and then had women
rate the smell of the shirts for attraction. Both
men and women were then screened for genetic
immune system characteristics. Ratings of
attractiveness were correlated with the gene
tests.
• Greater difference in genotype correlated with
higher ratings of attraction. This would provide a
reproductive advantage to have a diversity in
genetic structure.
Social and cognitive origins of
attraction
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Proximity
Familiarity
Reciprocity
Similarity
Social comparison
Reward Theory
Gain-loss hypothesis
Proximity
• People we are around more are more likely to
become our friends or partners. Festinger et
al. (1950) – 65% of pairs of university friends
lived in the same building, 44% were
neighbours. As distance increases, the
friendships decrease.
• This must also include the likelihood of
interaction not just proximity (Darley and
Berscheid, 1967)
Familiarity
• People find faces more attractive the more often they
see them (Jorgensen and Cervone, 1978) “mere
exposure effect” – the more often we see a person the
more attractive we will find them.
• Moreland and Beach (1992) – students rated research
assistants as more attractive the more often they had
appeared in their class.
• Mita et al (1977) – we rate our own face and the faces
of others as less attractive as a mirror image. More
common to see the photo face rather than the mirror
image face. Effect reversed for ourselves – we rate our
mirror face higher than our photo face.
Reciprocity
• We are more attracted to those who are
attracted to us.
• Dittes and Kelley (1956) – anonymous
feedback given to participants of a group
discussion regarding the attitudes of the other
participants toward them. The subjects
reported more attraction to those group
members they believed liked them.
Similarity
• We experience a more powerful attraction to those
who are similar to us in terms of values, beliefs and
attitudes.
• Aronson and Cope (1968) - participants were more
likely to respond for a help request to a supervisor who
they had just witnessed chiding another person for
being rude, they were also more likely to respond to a
request if the supervisor and third person were both
kind.
• Matching phenomenon – cognitive process in which
moderates attraction favoring those who somehow
match us.
Social comparison
• Moderates ratings of attractiveness. A person
appears more attractive when preceded by
less attractive individuals and less attractive
when preceded by more attractive individuals.
• Kenrick and Gutierres (1980) – subjects rated
women less attractive after watching T.V. show
Charlie’s Angels
Reward Theory
• Function of operant and classical conditioning. We are
more likely to spend time with people who make us
feel good or confer social status or other benefit.
People associated with positive emotions become a
source of positive emotions themselves. Extended to
our tendency to like people who remind us of other
positive relationships that have conferred benefits such
as parents.
• Lewicki (1995) – subjects rated friendliness of facial
images. When rating images similar to faces of
experimenters with whom they had a positive
experience, the images were rated as more friendly.
Gain-loss hypothesis
• We are more likely to like someone if we
initially disliked them but now have changed
our views.
• Aronson and Linder (1965) - evaluations
moving from negative to positive increase
liking
Communication and Relationships
Focused on romantic relationships but not exclusive.
• Dindia and Canary (1993) – 4 types of relationship
maintenance:
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Continuing a relationship
Keeping a relationship in a specified state
Keeping a relationship in a satisfactory state
Preventing or correcting relationships
• Centripetal forces – drive relationships together, eg.
Communication/conversation
• Centrifugal forces – drive relationships apart, eg.
Distance, time
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-son3EJTrU
Canary and Stafford (1994) – 5
relationship maintenance strategies:
• Positivity – positive demeanor, doing favors, spontaneity
• Openness – establishing joint history, disclosures
• Assurances – comfort, affirming commitment, checking on status of
partner
• Social networking – doing things with mutual friends
• Sharing tasks – completing tasks together
Gottman’s magic ratio – emphasizes positivity in relationship – successful
relationships must maintain positive statements or acts must outweigh
negative ones by 5:1.
• Limitations on relationship research:
• Strongly correlational – bidirectional ambiguity
• Relies heavily on self-reported data – lacks reliability and subject to bias
• Does not account for individual differences in maintenance strategies
across genders and cultures
Weingel and Ballard-Reisch (1999) -3
communication types in relationships:
• Traditional – couple view themselves as
interdependent, communicate well but avoid
or deny conflicting issues
• Independent – more freedom and egalitarian
roles, negotiate and renegotiate relationship,
confront conflicts
• Separate – less expressive
Weingel and Ballard-Reisch (1999)
• Studied 141 heterosexual couples using questionnaires
containing relationship maintenance strategy use, type of
relationship, levels of satisfaction and levels of
commitment. Couples were mostly Caucasian, distributed
by students to couples they knew. Median length of
marriage was 10 years.
• Traditional couples used more strategies than separates
• Separates used less openness and assurance
• Traditional couples used social networking and sharing
tasks differently
• No significant differences in satisfaction levels although
within groups specific strategies were correlated with
higher levels of satisfaction, commitment, and love.
• Reliability, validity, and ethical concerns with this study?
Culture and Relationships
• Most research on relationships has focused on
individualistic societies
• Large proportion of arranged marriages are successful
– Buss (1990) – universals in attraction of mates still exist but
cultural differences exist in traditional cultures where chastity
and home making skills are more valued in women.
– Yelsma and Athappilly (1998) – while collectivist societies find
mate selection for males easier than Western societies where
the emphasis is on romance and passion, this has little impact
on reports of marital satisfaction.
Validity and reliability issues – most research involves
questionnaires - responses subject to cognitive dissonance,
bias, and cultural norms against discussing relationship
difficulties
Ahman and Reid (2008)
• Definitions of “good marriage” differ across
cultures. Indo-Pakistani marriages emphasize
religion, financial security, and high status.
Snowball sample used to discover particular
communication styles in arranged marriages.
• Findings –traditional marriages showed less
satisfaction and more listening to respond rather
than listening to understand. Expectations of
equality in relationships led to increased listening
to understand and subsequent increases in
satisfaction.
Ending Relationships
• Model for the growth and termination of relationships
through 10 steps
Knapp and Vangelesti (1996) Coming together
• Initiation – first meeting, first impressions formed
• Experimenting – small talk, testing and establishing
common ground
• Intensifying – friendship formation, disclosures occur
• Integrating – separate lives become linked, common
plans. Public awareness of relationship – use of “we”
• Bonding – overt ritual of commitment – ceremony, cohabitation, engagement, etc.
Knapp and Vangelisti (1996) Coming apart
• Differentiating – differences become more
obvious, arguments, use of “I” and “my”
• Circumscribing – avoidance of difficult topics,
communication is restricted though public couple
persona is maintained
• Stagnating – maintaining relationship as aversion
to greater pain of break-up. Deepening restriction
of communication.
• Avoiding – avoidance of contact with partner,
expressions of disinterest.
• Terminating – preparation for individuality,
physical distancing/separation
Issues with Knapp and Vangelisti (1996)
• This offers a description but not an
explanation of changes in relationships.
• Key emphasis on communication
• Applies to friendships as well as romantic pairbonding
• Impact of social-networking, online
communication?
Other theories in relationship
termination
• Duck (1985) – relationships are filtered based on
sociological factors, how and where we allow ourselves
to get involved in relationships. Pre-interaction
information and post interaction information –
cognitive cues, biases, prejudices, etc,
• Causes of breakdown in relationships – (Duck 1982)
– Predisposing personal factors – personal habits and
cultural differences causing background instability and
resentment.
– Precipitating factors – can be external or internal, work
interventions, extended absences, or infidelity
Levinger (1980) – relationships end
when…
1. No other possible resolution exists.
2. Other partners present themselves
3. Expectation of failure is present
4. Lack of commitment
• Byrne and Clore (1970) – learning theory – classically
conditioned association between difficult times and a
lack of partner support or reinforcement
• Canary and Dainton(2003) – relationships are destined
to fail – problems become catalysts rather than causes.
Kurdek (1991)
• 13 homosexual couples who had broken up in the course of a long
term study of homosexual relationships. Inductive content analysis
of responses:
Causes cited for ending relationships
• Non-responsiveness
• Sexual issues (infidelity)
• Fusion – exclusion of self-needs
• Incompatibility
• Control issues
• Breakdown of communication was a key factor in dissolution of
relationship – same as in heterosexual couples.
Reliability, validity and ethical strengths and limitations to this study?
Violence
Outcomes
• Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins
of violence
• Discuss the effects of short-term and long-term
exposure to violence
• Discuss the relative effectiveness of two
strategies for reducing violence
• Focus on socio-cultural origins only – Greater
explanatory power
1) Social Learning Theory - Violence
Bandura – children are more
likely to engage in violent
behaviour if exposed to
violent model.
• Model is similar or authoritative
• Observed media
• Causing disinhibition or desensitization
• Huesmann et al. (1984) – preference for violent T.V. by age 8 has a
strong correlation of peer ratings for violent tendencies by age 18
and with committing violent crime.
• Although….
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-11/icanlf102814.php
Limitations to S.L.T. approach:
• Research is limited
• Ethical limitations on controlled studies
• Low ecological validity in studies to remain
ethical
• Circularity of origin explanation – where do
models originate from if violence originates from
models?
• Biological and cognitive factors – hormones,
physiological arousal, social and cultural antisuppression
Strengths of S.L.T. approach:
• High applicability
• Convincing non-experimental evidence –
violence affected by exposure to violent media
• Group membership plays a role in violent
behaviour: social identity theory and
intergroup conflict theory – violence is an
important behaviour in group conflicts,
intragroup relationships
2) Social interaction – violence
Tedeschi and Felson (1994) – violence is a form of social
interaction – a means to achieve a social or material
outcome
• Works well with Social Identity Theory – violence as a
means for establishing group position or face saving
• Further explanation of violence as an acceptable
means of achieving group goals. Children of parents
with high levels of conflict in their relationships were
more likely to consider aggression as an appropriate
behaviour in some situations (Fite 2008)
Cohen et al (1996) - Culture of Honour
• Culture where small insults are conditioned to be responded with
violence as a cultural obligation. Focus on southern USA – loose gun
control laws, endorsement of violence in the name of protection.
• Comparison experiment between southern (41) and northern (42)
US college students
• Participants performed questionnaires, during which half were
bumped and insulted by a confederate. After which, emotional
content of face tasks and story completion tasks were performed.
• Northerners insulted – reacted with reported amusement, no
significant difference in negativity on faces but increased happiness.
• Southerners insulted – more likely to end scenario completions
with violence or threat of violence
• When repeated - cortisol and testosterone levels were recorded in
saliva of participants. Insulted southerners had higher levels of
cortisol
• Analysis – Southerners have different scripts for dealing with
surprise rudeness. Scripts and schemas play important roles in
interpreting conflicts and evaluating solutions
• Reliability, validity, ethical strengths and limitations to this study?
3) Feminist Theory - violence
• Feminist Theory – domestic violence is a
symptom of a male dominated society.
Violence becomes a means to defend
dominance in the home over distribution of
resources. Existence of a culture of honour
among males regarding dominance in the
home that can reward violent behaviour and
punish non-violent compromise.
Exposure to violence- Domestic
violence
• Exposure levels are high:
• 80% hear violence between parents with as
many witness violence between parents
• 30-60% become victims of abuse in the same
family units.
Cahn (2006) - Short term effects of
witnessing violence
• Increased anxiety and depression
• Feelings of fear, anger, grief, shame, distrust, and
powerlessness
• Increased risk of suicide
• Increased risk taking, school truancy, early sexual
activity, substance abuse
• Diminished school performance
• Increased learning difficulties – eg. Dyslexia
• Problems maintaining relationships
Cahn (2006) Long term effects
• Boys become potential abusers later on
• Females will tolerate violent relationships
• Continuing depression/low self-esteem for
males and females
• Rosenbaum and O’Leary (1981) – it is typical
in domestic violence situations is that male
perpetrators come from homes where they
witnessed or were victims of violence
Issues with domestic violence studies
• Mostly correlational studies are used -these
are difficult to prove cause-effect
• Much data comes from shelters – data is
them excluded or supressed from those who
chose to remain in home lives or biased by the
shelter transition itself. (Edelson 2002)
Rhodes et al. (2002)
• Aims – to discover what mental health problems
exist in those involved in intimate partner
violence
• Methods – convenience sample of 1122 men.
Questionnaire implemented at trauma centre of a
public hospital. 37% reported IPV were then
compared to the 63% who reported no IPV.
• Results – Depression, traumatic stress, suicidality,
substance use and low overall health all common
among the victims and perpetrators of IPV.
Battered Woman Syndrome
• Used to explain behaviour patterns of women
in abusive relationships:
– Develop appeasement behaviours toward their
abusers
– Acquire passivity or a lack of attempt to avoid
punishment.
– Can escalate to significant physical injury or death
– psychological condition cited in defense cases
for murder of abusive spouses
Saunders (1986)
• 52 battered women completed lengthy
surveys regarding conflict tactics, motivation
to violence, and social desirability bias. Most
common reason for violence was self-defense,
incidents were pre-emptory, and of lowintensity violence.
• Origins of violent behaviour - Shows that
violence begets violence and that attacks
would escalate till deadly
Strategies for reducing violence
Group therapy and the Duluth Model
• Focus of psychological treatment for the perpetrator - CBT therapy
showing how males use behaviours to control families including
multi-agency attention to domestic situations
• Robertson (1999) – three factors that complicate therapy for
perpetrators of IPV
– 1. Cultural acceptance of IPV
– 2. The effectiveness of violence to achieve the goals of the perpetrator
– positive reinforcement
– 3. Power and control tendencies inhibit voluntary treatment –
submission to therapist and reduction of power.
• Group treatment allows for establishment of powerful group norms
that do not permit violence
• Focus on anger management, CBT work on developing insight into
cost-benefits of violence
Issues with group therapies and
domestic violence
• Difficult to assess success of therapies – recidivism
often goes underreported (Shepard 1992) 40% of men
were convicted of IPV five years after therapy
• Group approaches can transmit methods of battery
and methods of avoiding detection.
Criticisms of Duluth Model
• Focus on males as perpetrators and females as victims.
• For lack of focus on other contributing factors to IPV
• Has only recently been adapted for specific cultures
and to be less gender biased
Primary prevention – school programs
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Efforts to control violence before it happens
Focus in school education programmes
Males - dealing with norms that enable IPV
Females – identifying situations where IPV can
occur
• Remember Safeteen?
Preventative programmes
• Brozo et al (2002) – students in novel studies about
masculinity and violence completed media exposure
logs on violence after the Columbine School Shooting.
Pre and post surveys on attitudes on violence showed a
decrease in violence instigation and culture-of-honour
responses
• Smithey and Straus (2004) – 67% of students are
exposed to anti-violence programmes
• Difficult to assess the effectiveness of programmes,
longest follow-up study on violence reduction was 16
months (Edelson 2000) which is not considered long
enough to established sustained reduction.