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The Resident-intruder Paradigm: A Standardized Test for Aggression, Violence and Social Stress
Published on: July 4, 2013
Power, sexism, and aggression in intimate relationships
Nickola C Overall1, Matthew D Hammond2, Emily J Cross3
1School of Psychology, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
None:
Power and sexism contribute to men's and women's aggression in distinct ways. Prior perspectives focus on structural power inequalities or power within relationships, overlooking how both generate aggression. We apply ambivalent sexism theory to show that the tensions between asymmetries in structural power and mutual power in intimate man-woman relationships combine to explain aggression by men and women. Men's hostile sexism involves protecting structural and relationship power, amplifying aggression toward women partners to fight against losing power. Women's benevolent sexism involves accepting structural disadvantages to hold power within relationships, promoting aggression toward men partners when expected power is not realized. Addressing men's and women's aggression requires understanding how they negotiate needs for relationship power within contexts of gendered power asymmetries.
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