Witte Tricia H, Kopkin Megan R, Hollis Sean D
a Department of Human Development and Family Studies , University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa , Alabama , USA.
b Department of Psychology , University of Alabama , Tuscaloosa , Alabama , USA.
Subst Use Misuse. 2015;50(11):1421-6. doi: 10.3109/10826084.2015.1018539. Epub 2015 Nov 7.
Previous research has shown a strong bias for laypersons to believe alcohol use and aggression to go hand-in-hand (see Quigley & Leonard, 2006 ). Furthermore, research has shown that alcohol use can be seen as a mitigating circumstance for aggression, resulting in a reduction of blame and accountability (Bullock, 2002 ; Katz & Arias, 2001 ; Tryggvesson, 2004 ).
The present study investigated observers' judgments of intimate partner violence (IPV) when the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol. We hypothesized that participants would view violent behavior as more common and less abusive if they thought the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol.
College students (n = 79) viewed a video depicting an increasingly abusive interaction between college-age dating partners (see Witte & Kendra, 2010 ) and half of the participants were lead to believe that the perpetrator was drinking alcohol prior to the interaction. Participants rated the videotaped vignette at four timepoints to assess the degree to which they believed the interaction was normal/common and abusive.
Observers judged the abusive behavior as more common and less abusive when alcohol was involved, but only for psychologically abusive behaviors and moderately severe physically abusive behaviors.
CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE: The results of this study provide support for the notion that direct observers of IPV judge moderately abusive behavior as more common and less abusive when alcohol is involved. With this, theories concerning alcohol expectancies and interpretations of interpersonal violence can be more readily applied to real-life scenarios, such as in the validity of eye-witness testimony.
先前的研究表明，外行人普遍强烈倾向于认为饮酒与攻击性密切相关（见奎格利和伦纳德，2006年）。此外，研究表明，饮酒可被视为攻击行为的一种减轻情节，从而导致责备和问责的减少（布洛克，2002年；卡茨和阿里亚斯，2001年；特里格维松，2004年）。
本研究调查了观察者对亲密伴侣暴力行为（IPV）的判断，施暴者当时处于酒精影响之下。我们假设，如果参与者认为施暴者受到酒精影响，他们会认为暴力行为更常见且虐待性更低。
大学生（n = 79）观看了一段视频，视频描绘了一对大学年龄情侣之间逐渐升级的虐待性互动（见威特和肯德拉，2010年），一半的参与者被引导相信施暴者在互动前饮酒。参与者在四个时间点对录像短剧进行评分，以评估他们认为互动正常/常见和具有虐待性的程度。
当涉及酒精时，观察者认为虐待行为更常见且虐待性更低，但仅适用于心理虐待行为和中度严重身体虐待行为。
结论/重要性：本研究结果支持了这样一种观点，即亲密伴侣暴力行为的直接观察者在涉及酒精时，会认为中度虐待行为更常见且虐待性更低。据此，关于酒精预期和人际暴力解释的理论可以更容易地应用于现实生活场景，比如在目击证人证词的有效性方面。
