Definition
Intimate partner violence (IPV) refers to when an individual attempts to harm or control their current/former romantic partner, in a manner that is against that partner’s will (Chester and DeWall 2018). Broadly, IPV includes physical, psychological/emotional, and/or sexual forms of abuse (Arnocky et al. 2015; Caldwell et al. 2012). Intimate partner stalking has also been conceptualized as a form of IPV (Norris et al. 2011).
Introduction
Worldwide, IPV prevalence estimates are high, with World Health Organization statistics indicating that almost one third of women almost one third of women report having experienced some form of physical and/or sexual violence by their intimate partner in their lifetime (World Health Organisation 2017). Although women, particularly younger women, are more likely to experience IPV (Sugg 2015), it should be noted that women also...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Arnocky, S., Sunderani, S., Gomes, W., & Vaillancourt, T. (2015). Anticipated partner infidelity and men’s intimate partner violence: The mediating role of anxiety. Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, 9, 186–196. https://doi.org/10.1037/ebs0000021.
Bonduriansky, R., Maklakov, A., Zajitschek, F., & Brooks, R. (2008). Sexual selection, sexual conflict and the evolution of ageing and life span. Functional Ecology, 22, 443–453. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01417.x.
Brase, G. L., Caprar, D. V., & Voracek, M. (2004). Sex differences in responses to relationship threats in England and Romania. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 21(6), 763–778. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407504047836.
Brownmiller, S. (1975). Against our will: Men, women and rape. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Buss, D. M. (1994/2003/2016). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating. New York: Basic Books.
Buss, D. M., & Duntley, J. D. (2011). The evolution of intimate partner violence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 16, 411–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2011.04.015.
Buss, D. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (1997). From vigilance to violence: Mate retention tactics in married couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 346–361. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.72.2.346.
Buss, D. M., Abbott, M., Angleitner, A., Asherian, A., Biaggio, A., Blanco-Villasenor, A., … Ekehammar, B. (1990). International preferences in selecting mates: A study of 37 cultures. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 21, 5–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022190211001.
Buss, D. M., Larsen, R. J., Westen, D., & Semmelroth, J. (1992). Sex differences in jealousy: Evolution, physiology, and psychology. Psychological Science, 3, 251–256. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.1992.tb00038.x.
Caldwell, J. E., Swan, S. C., & Woodbrown, V. D. (2012). Gender differences in intimate partner violence outcomes. Psychology of Violence, 2, 42–57. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026296.
Chester, D. S., & DeWall, C. N. (2018). The roots of intimate partner violence. Current Opinion in Psychology, 19, 55–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2017.04.009.
D’Alessio, S. J., & Stolzenberg, L. (2010). The sex ratio and male-on-female intimate partner violence. Journal of Criminal Justice, 38, 555–561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.04.026.
Daly, M., Wilson, M., & Weghorst, S. J. (1982). Male sexual jealousy. Ethology and Sociobiology, 3, 11–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/0162-3095(82)90027-9.
DeWall, C. N., Gillath, O., Pressman, S. D., Black, L. L., Bartz, J. A., Moskovitz, J., & Stetler, D. A. (2014). When the love hormone leads to violence: Oxytocin increases intimate partner violence inclinations among high trait aggressive people. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5, 691–697. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550613516876.
Figueredo, A. J., & McCloskey, L. A. (1993). Sex, money, and paternity: The evolutionary psychology of domestic violence. Ethology and Sociobiology, 14, 353–379. https://doi.org/10.1016/0162-3095(93)90024-C.
Figueredo, A. J., Gladden, P. R., & Beck, C. J. (2012). Intimate partner violence and life history strategy. In T. K. Shackelford & A. T. Goetz (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of sexual conflict in humans (pp. 72–99). New York: Oxford University Press.
Fisher, M., Cox, A., Bennett, S., & Gavric, D. (2008). Components of self-perceived mate value. Journal of Social, Evolutionary, and Cultural Psychology, 2, 156–168. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0099347.
Flynn, A., & Graham, K. (2010). “Why did it happen?” A review and conceptual framework for research on perpetrators’ and victims’ explanations for intimate partner violence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 15, 239–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2010.01.002.
Gladden, P., Sisco, M., & Figueredo, A. (2008). Sexual coercion and life-history strategy. Evolution and Human Behavior, 29, 319–326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2008.03.003.
Goetz, A. T. (2010). The evolutionary psychology of violence. Psicothema, 22, 15–21. Retrieved from https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/727/72712699004.pdf.
Goetz, A. T., & Shackelford, T. K. (2009). Sexual coercion in intimate relationships: A comparative analysis of the effects of women’s infidelity and men’s dominance and control. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 38, 226–234. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-008-9353-x.
Goetz, A. T., Shackelford, T. K., & Camilleri, J. A. (2008a). Proximate and ultimate explanations are required for a comprehensive understanding of partner rape. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 13, 119–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2008.02.002.
Goetz, A. T., Shackelford, T. K., Starratt, V. G., & McKibbin, W. F. (2008b). Intimate partner violence. In J. D. Duntley & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), Evolutionary forensic psychology: Darwinian foundations of crime and law (pp. 65–78). New York: Oxford University Press.
Johnson, W. L., Giordano, P. C., Manning, W. D., & Longmore, M. A. (2015). The age–IPV curve: Changes in the perpetration of intimate partner violence during adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 44, 708–726. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0158-z.
Kaighobadi, F., Starratt, V. G., Shackelford, T. K., & Popp, D. (2008). Male mate retention mediates the relationship between female sexual infidelity and female-directed violence. Personality and Individual Differences, 44, 1422–1431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2007.12.010.
Kaighobadi, F., Shackelford, T. K., & Goetz, A. T. (2009a). From mate retention to murder: Evolutionary psychological perspectives on men's partner-directed violence. Review of General Psychology, 13, 327–334. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0017254.
Kaighobadi, F., Shackelford, T. K., Popp, D., Moyer, R. M., Bates, V. M., & Liddle, J. R. (2009b). Perceived risk of female infidelity moderates the relationship between men’s personality and partner-directed violence. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 1033–1039. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2009.08.001.
Kirsner, B. R., Figueredo, A. J., & Jacobs, W. J. (2003). Self, friends, and lovers: Structural relations among Beck Depression Inventory scores and perceived mate values. Journal of Affective Disorders, 75, 131–148. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0327(02)00048-4.
La Mattina, G. (2013). Armed conflict and domestic violence: Evidence from Rwanda (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of South Florida, Florida.
Miner, E. J., Shackelford, T. K., & Starratt, V. G. (2009a). Mate value of romantic partners predicts men’s partner-directed verbal insults. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 135–139. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2008.09.015.
Miner, E. J., Starratt, V. G., & Shackelford, T. K. (2009b). It’s not all about her: Men’s mate value and mate retention. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 214–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.03.002.
Norris, S. M., Huss, M. T., & Palarea, R. E. (2011). A pattern of violence: Analyzing the relationship between intimate partner violence and stalking. Violence and Victims, 26, 103–115. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.26.1.103.
Perilloux, C., & Buss, D. M. (2008). Breaking up romantic relationships: Costs experienced and coping strategies deployed. Evolutionary Psychology, 6, 164–181. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490800600119.
Peters, J., Shackelford, T. K., & Buss, D. M. (2002). Understanding domestic violence against women: Using evolutionary psychology to extend the feminist functional analysis. Violence and Victims, 17, 255–264. https://doi.org/10.1891/vivi.17.2.255.33644.
Promislow, D. (2003). Mate choice, sexual conflict, and evolution of senescence. Behavior Genetics, 33, 191–201. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022562103669.
Puente, S., & Cohen, D. (2003). Jealousy and the meaning (or nonmeaning) of violence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 449–460. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202250912.
Sagarin, B. J., Becker, D. V., Guadagno, R. E., Nicastle, L. D., & Millevoi, A. (2003). Sex differences (and similarities) in jealousy: The moderating influence of infidelity experience and sexual orientation of the infidelity. Evolution and Human Behavior, 24, 17–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1090-5138(02)00106-X.
Shackelford, T. K., & Duntley, J. D. (2008). Evolutionary forensic psychology. In J. D. Duntley & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.), Evolutionary forensic psychology: Darwinian foundations of crime and law (pp. 3–19). New York: Oxford University Press.
Shackelford, T. K., & Goetz, A. T. (2004). Men's sexual coercion in intimate relationships: Development and initial validation of the sexual coercion in intimate relationships scale. Violence and Victims, 19, 541–556. https://doi.org/10.1891/vivi.19.5.541.63681.
Smuts, B. (1992). Male aggression against women. Human Nature, 3(1), 1–44. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02692265
South, S. J., & Messner, S. F. (1987). The sex ratio and women's involvement in crime: A cross-national analysis. Sociological Quarterly, 28, 171–188. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.1987.tb00289.x.
Starratt, V., & Shackelford, T. K. (2008). Risk of female infidelity and male sexual coercion in intimate relationships: An evolutionary psychological perspective (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. Florida Atlantic University, Florida.
Starratt, V. G., & Shackelford, T. K. (2012). He said, she said: Men’s reports of mate value and mate retention behaviors in intimate relationships. Personality and Individual Differences, 53, 459–462. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2012.04.020.
Starratt, V. G., Shackelford, T. K., Goetz, A. T., & McKibbin, W. F. (2007). Male mate retention behaviors vary with risk of partner infidelity and sperm competition. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 39, 523–527. Retrieved from http://journal.psych.ac.cn.
Sugg, N. (2015). Intimate partner violence: Prevalence, health consequences, and intervention. Medical Clinics, 99, 629–649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcna.2015.01.012.
Thomson, J. W., Patel, S., Platek, S. M., & Shackelford, T. K. (2007). Sex differences in implicit association and attentional demands for information about infidelity. Evolutionary Psychology, 5, 569–583. https://doi.org/10.1177/147470490700500307.
Wilson, M., & Daly, M. (1993). An evolutionary psychological perspective on male sexual proprietariness and violence against wives. Violence and Victims, 8, 271–294. Retrieved from https://www.springerpub.com/violence-and-victims.html.
Wilson, M. I., & Daly, M. (1996). Male sexual proprietariness and violence against wives. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 5, 2–7. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.ep10772668.
Wilson, M., & Daly, M. (1998). Lethal and nonlethal violence against wives and the evolutionary psychology of male sexual proprietariness. In R. E. Dobash & R. P. Dobash (Eds.), Rethinking violence against women (pp. 199–230). Thousand Oaks: Sage.
World Health Organisation. (November, 2017). Violence against women. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/violence-against-women
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
March, E. (2020). Evolutionary Psychology and Intimate Partner Violence. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1783-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1783-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences