Battering and the male rejection of influence from women

The propensity of men to reject influence from women and individual differences in this tendency were examined in the present report as potentially related to two types of domestically violent men. We operationalized rejection of influence in sequential analyses of emotional behavior during a 15 min marital interaction. In our previous research, we identified two types of batterers: Type-1, whose heart rates decelerated below baseline during the marital interaction; and Type-2, whose heart rates accelerated. We found that only Type-1 husbands reject any and all influence from their wives. We postulate that Type-1 batterers reject influence as a means of maintaining power and control. Aggr. Behav. 23:375–388, 1997.