How Dating Violence Victims Guess Perpetrators' Personality Traits:

A Comparison of Current and Pre-dating Recall

Abstract

　Recognizing risk factors in advance could be critical for victims of dating violence. In this study, we focused on the personality traits of perpetrators as a risk factor and examined how victims estimated perpetrators' personality before a relationship. An internet survey of 264 young people (mean age = 23.93 years; SD = 3.44; 99 males, 163 females, 2 of undisclosed gender) with dating partners was carried out. Analysis of variance was conducted, controlling for gender and timing. The results showed that the victims guessed their partners' “low agreeableness,” “low conscientiousness,” “high neuroticism,” and “high anger expression” since before the relationship. These results suggest that it is possible to identify the personality of a potential perpetrator even before the occurrence of violence. The results of this study may be applied to identify both the risk of violence before it occurs and high-risk couples.