Profiles of Intimate Partner Violence and Their Differential Association With Gender Hostility Among Men Seeking Help

Intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrated by men has been associated with men’s hostility toward women (HTW). However, no study that has examined HTW has considered every main form of IPV as well as the severity of the acts perpetrated. The purpose of the present study was to identify distinct profiles of IPV perpetration based on the severity of physical, psychological, and sexual IPV and coercive control acts and to examine potential differences in HTW between the resulting profiles in a sample of 969 men seeking help for anger management or domestic violence. In addition, given the association previously found between HTW and IPV perpetration in women, we also investigated whether hostility toward men (HTM) could also be linked to men’s profiles of IPV perpetration. The results of the latent profile analysis suggested four profiles of IPV perpetrators: minor psychological IPV and severe control, severe IPV and control, minor IPV and control, and no/minor psychological IPV. Results also indicated significant differences between the profiles in terms of both HTW and HTM. Specifically, greater HTW was observed among the profiles characterized by the highest proportion of physical IPV perpetration, whereas greater HTM was observed among the profiles characterized by the highest proportions of severe coercive IPV. Findings will contribute to guide intervention strategies tailored to these different subgroups of men.