Fight-seeking motivation in dating partners with an aggressive relationship

The author studied aggression among dating couples to determine if partners' fight-seeking motivation could explain the phenomenon. Intact dating couples were classified as aggressive if either partner reported having perpetrated 2 or more acts of assaultive violence in the past year. The author asked participants to rate the extent to which they and their partners intentionally physically or verbally fought with one another, felt calmer after physical or verbal conflict with their partners, and sought to increase sensory stimulation by taking part in high-risk activities. Together, these ratings constituted a measure of fight-seeking motivation. Results of a logistic regression analysis showed that couples classified as aggressive (48%) had relationships longer in duration than did nonaggressive couples. In addition, both men and women in aggressive relationships had greater fight-seeking motivation than did individuals in nonaggressive relationships.