Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
Psychology
Date of Award
8-2012
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Chad E. Lakey
Committee Members
Ginette Blackhart, Peggy Cantrell, Stacey Williams
Abstract
Intimate partner violence (IPV) involves physical, psychological, and/or emotional violence within intimate (e.g., dating) relationships. In this thesis, I examined narcissism as a predictor of IPV. I used an offensive- and defensive-trait framework to come up with 10 potential mediator variables that often typify narcissism and underlie IPV. Correlation analyses confirmed the expected link between narcissism and IPV. Subsequent bootstrapping mediation analysis of IPV-frequency revealed significant indirect effects for 2 mediators - social dominance orientation and the hostile attribution bias-based tendency to retaliate in the face of ambiguous but potentially malevolent social interactions. Bootstrapping analysis of IPV-prevalence also revealed an additional significant indirect effect for hypercompetitiveness. In both bootstrapping analyses the mediator variables only provided partial mediation of the narcissismto- IPV link. In the discussion I focus on the implications for IPV perpetration and research, including avenues for future research and potential interventions for IPV centered on mitigating narcissism.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Fields, Samantha K., "Narcissism and Intimate Partner Violence: An Establishment of the Link and Investigation of Multiple Potential Mediators" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1222. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1222
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.