Survey vignette methodology was employed to investigate student beliefs abo
ut what constitutes abusive behaviors in dating relationships. A packet of
15 unique vignettes depicting incidents that might be considered to be viol
ent was distributed to randomly selected graduate and undergraduate student
s who were asked to rate physical abusiveness. Based on multiple regression
analysis, both contextual and student demographic characteristics were fou
nd to influence abusiveness ratings. Significant predictors of abuse judgme
nts were nature of the aggressive act and victim's gender and sexual orient
ation. Moro severe acts of aggression, female victims, gay and lesbian vict
ims, a history of violence in the relationship, injurious outcome, male per
petrator, and alcohol consumption significantly increased abusiveness ratin
gs. More advanced students and female students tended to make higher abuse
ratings, whereas being in a relationship was associated with lower ratings.
Although both contextual and demographic factors affected student judgment
s of abusiveness, student characteristics explained relatively little beyon
d what was accounted for by situational variables in the scenarios depicted
.