The influence of Sociosexuality, Gender and Empathy of Participants and Depicted Sexuality on Judgements of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrated by Men Towards Men and Women

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a multifaceted problem affecting individuals of all walks of life. The investigation of IPV judgements is important for identifying risk groups of IPV, unravelling harmful societal beliefs and other mechanisms leading to IPV, and the creation of IPV prevention/treatment interventions. Previous research indicates that their gender, empathy, and sociosexuality influences how participants perceive IPV incidents. Nevertheless, no research on how different facets of empathy (emotional contagion, cognitive empathy, and emotional disconnection) correlate with IPV judgements was done before. Additionally, the sexuality of the individuals experiencing the IPV influences judgements. It is still in question in how far and why these differences occur in western countries. Testing if and how strongly these variables correlate with judgements of IPV (severity, perpetrator perception, and the perceived need of punishment of the perpetrator) is the focus of the current study