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Theory and evidence suggest that attitudes toward violence are relevant for the explanation, prediction, and reduction of violent behavior. The purpose of the present study was to adapt a measure of violent attitudes—the Evaluation of Violence Questionnaire (EVQ)—for use in Portugal, test the cross‐country equivalence, and test the validity of both versions. We found the expected one‐factor structure, high internal consistency, and cross‐country measurement invariance for the Portuguese and original EVQ with men in Portugal (N = 320) and Canada (N = 298). We also found the expected pattern of correlations with measures of more versus less theoretically relevant constructs: both versions of the EVQ showed the strongest correlations with overall aggression and reactive aggression; slightly lower correlations with proactive aggression; negative correlations with self‐control; and the smallest correlations with self‐esteem. Our results support the equivalence, reliability, and validity of the Portuguese and original versions of the EVQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we sought to capture implicit attitudes toward violence by administering response latency measures. We then examined their associations with explicit (e.g., assessed with self‐report) attitudes toward violence and self‐reported violent behavior in a combined sample of males from a Canadian university and males from the general community (N = 251; 156 students and 95 community members). To date, there have been mixed findings regarding these associations; some of this inconsistency may be due to the difficulty in accurately conceptualizing and assessing implicit attitudes toward violence. Therefore, we administered three response latency measures to assess this construct: a violence evaluation implicit association test (VE‐IAT), a personalized VE‐IAT (P‐VE‐IAT), and a violence evaluation relational responding task, along with three self‐report measures of explicit attitudes toward violence and three self‐report measures of violent behavior. More positive implicit attitudes toward violence were related to more positive explicit attitudes toward violence (for VE‐IAT and P‐VE‐IAT; r = 0.18 to 0.22), greater likelihood of violence (for VE‐IAT; r = 0.18 and for P‐VE‐IAT; r = 0.16), and greater propensity for violence (for the VE‐IAT; r = 0.16). All measures of explicit attitudes toward violence and violent behavior were moderately to strongly associated with one another (r = 0.42 to 0.81). Furthermore, implicit attitudes toward violence explained additional variance in some violent outcomes above explicit attitudes alone. Our findings suggest that scores on certain reaction time measures are important for understanding likelihood and propensity for violence, especially when combined with explicit attitude measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rape-related cognitions (typically defined as encompassing any number of cognitive constructs) are thought to play a role in sexual aggression. However, rape-related cognition scales often assess these cognitive constructs as one. The purpose of this study is to explore the factor structure of these measures using a sample of 191 community men. We found that items from the Rape Myth Acceptance, RAPE, and Illinois Rape Myth Acceptance (IRMA) scales formed one factor, which was significantly related to sexual aggression. We further found that four and six IRMA subscales were significantly related to past and likelihood of sexual aggression, respectively. Additionally, one IRMA subscale was independently related to past and likelihood of sexual aggression. The results are discussed in terms of implications and direction for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inferring causation from correlation can lead to erroneous explanations of violent behavior and the development and implementation of ineffective or even harmful interventions and policies. This article explores the inferences that violence researchers draw from evidence related to violent offending. We invited authors of articles published in violence journals to complete an online survey in which they were asked to identify a factor that may be a cause of violence, cite a study that demonstrates the factor is associated with violence, and provide their inferences from that study. We read each study and coded its research design (description of a sample [n = 9], cross-sectional/retrospective non-experiment [n = 18], single-wave longitudinal non-experiment [n = 10], multi-wave longitudinal non-experiment [n = 0], or randomized experiment [n = 5]) and the appropriate inferences (inter-rater reliability was adequate; κ = 0.73–1.00). Reassuringly, participants (N = 42; 57.1% in United States; 59.5% women) rarely indicated that their identified study demonstrated that their factor was a cause of violence (0.0%–16.7%) when the study was not a randomized experiment. However, many participants failed to acknowledge any plausible alternate interpretations (e.g., reverse causality, third variable) of the results from non-experimental studies (50.0%–88.9%). Moreover, most participants incorrectly selected a causal implication as following from the results of non-experimental studies (77.8%–100%). Our results suggest that even among authors of articles published in peer-review scientific journals on violence, many appear to infer causation from correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty is unavoidable in work with people who have sexually offended, but the particular challenges, standards, and strategies regarding uncertainty can differ widely across the many different roles and contexts of that work. In this manuscript we discuss uncertainty from four perspectives: evidence-based practice, risk assessment, law, and research. Though the manifestations and contingencies regarding uncertainty varied between our different perspectives, we identified some conceptually similar strategies for dealing with uncertainty: recognise uncertainty as much as possible and thoughtfully deal with it in a way that best balances competing personal, professional, legal, and ethical goals and responsibilities. We hope that our discussion highlights the diverse challenges, standards, and strategies regarding uncertainty in work with people who have sexually offended, and thereby fosters greater mutual respect, communication, cooperation, and success in our shared goal of reducing sexual offending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study examined the extent to which evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression (i.e., positive or negative evaluative judgments about sexually aggressive behavior) mediate the association between injunctive norms (i.e., extent to which peers approve or disapprove of sexually aggressive behavior) and self-reported sexual aggression against women. Participants were 200 male undergraduate students. Approximately one in four males reported engaging in at least one sexually aggressive act since the age of 16. Participants with a history of sexual aggression also reported the highest likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior in the future. We tested two separate mediation models to examine the extent to which evaluative attitudes account for the link between injunctive norms and sexual aggression: one model with self-reported history of sexual aggression as the outcome and the other with likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior as the outcome. Results showed that more positive evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression accounted for the association between injunctive norms and self-reported history of sexual aggression. Similarly, evaluative attitudes accounted for the link between injunctive norms and self-reported likelihood of engaging in sexually aggressive behavior in the future. Overall, these findings are consistent with theoretical and empirical explanations of sexual offending and general criminal behavior; however, this is the first study to explore the relationship between injunctive norms and evaluative attitudes in the context of explaining sexually aggressive behavior. If more rigorous research establishes a causal relationship between injunctive norms, evaluative attitudes, and sexually aggressive behavior, this would suggest that targeting these factors in prevention programs may reduce sexual aggression by male undergraduate students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined the extent to which evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression are distinct from other cognitions regarding sexually aggressive behavior. Evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression refer to the extent to which sexual aggression is viewed negatively or positively. In a secondary analysis of online survey data from 495 community men, exploratory factor analysis revealed that items from a measure of evaluative attitudes formed a distinct factor from items designed to measure cognitive distortions regarding rape. These findings suggest that evaluative attitudes may be distinct from cognitive distortions. Furthermore, hierarchical regression analyses indicated that evaluative attitudes explained unique variance in self-reported past sexual aggression, proclivity for sexually aggressive behavior, and likelihood to rape. If future research finds support for a causal relationship between evaluative attitudes and sexual aggression, well-established evaluative-attitude-change procedures from the social psychological literature could be adapted to address evaluative attitudes toward sexual aggression in interventions aimed at reducing sexually aggressive behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]