The Moderating Effect of Impression Management on Dating Couples’ Reporting Concordance of Intimate Partner Violence

Researchers examining intimate partner violence (IPV) typically collect only one member’s report of both perpetration and victimization of violence. The research that has included both members’ reports of IPV has consistently indicated low levels of agreement between partners on the presence of specific acts of violence. Impression management, which is a respondent’s intentional attempt at projecting a positive self-image through minimization of negative aspects of oneself, may be one factor that is contributing to the low level of agreement between partners on the presence of violence. In the current study, both dyad members’ reports of IPV were used to examine the overall level of agreement on reports of psychological and physical IPV and examined whether impression management moderated the level of agreement. Participants included 100 heterosexual dating couples (N = 200). Multilevel modeling demonstrated that the sample of dating college student couples typically agreed about the amount of physical and psychological aggression that occurred in their relationship, and that perpetrator impression management was negatively related to couple’s mean level aggression. Overall, impression management was not related to couple concordance. Implications for future research and treatment are discussed.