Beauty and Blame: How Gender and Attractiveness Shape Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators

• In Event: Roundtable: Domestic/Intimate Violence

Abstract

This study explores how perpetrator gender and physical attractiveness influence third-party judgments of intimate partner violence (IPV). Specifically, it examines perceptions of perpetrators’ culpability, harm to victims, warranted punishment, and the normalization of their violence. Guided by feminist criminology, the study asks: (1) How do gender and attractiveness shape perceptions of heterosexual IPV perpetrators? (2) Does attractiveness moderate the effects of gender, suggesting a gendered halo effect? A 2x2 factorial survey-based experiment with vignettes and perpetrator images was conducted using a nationally representative U.S. sample (n = 935). ANOVA results with post hoc Tukey tests show that female perpetrators are viewed as less harmful and less deserving of punishment than male perpetrators. Gender and attractiveness interact in shaping culpability perceptions: Attractive female perpetrators are judged less responsible for their violence, while unattractive women are judged similarly to men. The gendered halo effect also influences the normalization of IPV, with respondents more likely to excuse jealousy and violent reactions to jealousy when the perpetrator is an attractive woman. These findings demonstrate how gendered understandings of relationship violence and feminine beauty expectations distort public responses to IPV and may contribute to unequal treatment of offenders and their victims.

Authors

• Mallory Otten, Elon University

• Rena Zito, Elon University