Aggressive behavior within relationships has been a topic of much discussion and research in past decades. Research has found that a rise of conflict within relationships mirrors an increase of physically and verbally aggressive methods of conflict resolution. Also, once aggression enters a relationship, it is likely to escalate as the couple becomes more serious and committed. In studying college-aged heterosexual relationships at a variety of commitment levels, we hypothesized that men, typically stereotyped as more dominant and aggressive, engage in more physical aggression. In contrast, women were hypothesized to engage in more verbal aggression. However, results found the contrary. In this study, women were found to use more physical aggression than men. Also, it was found that couples involved in more committed relationships are more likely to use both physical and verbal aggression.


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Faculty Supervisor: Debra Oswald, Marquette University

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