Frequency of Physical Aggression in Heterosexual and Female Homosexual Dyads

Abstract

75 self-identified heterosexual and 55 self-identified homosexual women between the ages of 19 and 58 yr. completed a 24-item anonymous questionnaire to determine whether men or women were more violently aggressive in the form of attempted or completed rape, physical abuse, or infliction of pain beyond that which was consensual in the practice of sadomasochism in dyadic relationships. z tests for the significance of differences between proportions in analyzing questionnaire data indicated that men committed violent acts against women significantly more often than did women against men, which supports the hypothesis that the frequency of aggressive violence would be significantly higher for heterosexual than in female homosexual dyads. Of 104 incidents of violence, however, 29 acts (28%) were committed by women, which suggests that the nature of the relationship may also be an important variable in dyadic violence. Further research is indicated.