Effects of alcohol, gender, and role of spouses on attributions and evaluations of marital violence scenarios.

The effects of spouses' alcohol consumption, gender, and role in a marital dispute on observers' attributions of responsibility and evaluations of the spouses were examined. A major goal of the investigation was to determine whether the effects of alcohol on attributions and evaluations are gender related or role related. Based on the participation of 115 male and 181 female undergraduate students, the results partly supported the role-related effects of alcohol consumption. Respondents rated both husband and wife more negatively when they were depicted as the perpetrators than as victims. Alcohol consumption did not affect evaluations of the spouses as perpetrators. However, drinking by the husband and wife before their victimization was associated with more negative evaluations than when their victimization was not preceded by drinking. It is argued that alcohol consumption of the victim and not the perpetrator may play a more significant legitimizing role for spousal violence.