The Propensity for Abusiveness Scale (PAS) as a Predictor of Affective Priming to Anticipated Intimate Conflict

The current study used the Propensity for Abusiveness Scale (PAS; Dutton, 1995) to predict emotional response to conflict among university students. The participants were 162 first- and second-year undergraduate students at the University of British Columbia. Participants listened to taped conflict and filled out a battery of questionnaires. The PAS correlates significantly with pre-anger, anxiety, subanger, and general arousal levels, suggesting that a type of emotional priming takes place when persons high on the PAS know they are about to be exposed to an interpersonal conflict. It is concluded that anticipation of intimate conflict appears to heighten negative affect in some young adults and that this response may interfere with future intimate conflict-resolution strategies.