ABSTRACT
This chapter is male physical violence perpetrated against an intimate female partner. Indeed, social learning models of husband violence assume that high levels of anger and hostility increase the risk of violence. The earliest, and the most common, research on the relationship between husband violence and anger/hostility involves studies using questionnaires assessing men's self-reported levels of general anger and hostility. To understand husband violence, rather than men's general anger and hostility, it is potentially more useful to examine directly men's anger and hostility at their own wives. In addition to studies using questionnaire measures of anger and hostility, a few researchers have demonstrated that violent husbands experience more anger than nonviolent husbands in response to simulated conflict vignettes. In considering directions for future research, it is important to end with some caveats—concerns that should give the reader pause in a rush to consider the relevance of anger and hostility to husband violence.
