A Policy Capturing Investigation of Battered Women's Decisions to Stay in Violent Relationships

Based on theories of social exchange and cognitive decision-making, the current research was an initial attempt to analyze battered and nonbattered women's decision-making processes using a policy capturing methodology. Participants included 28 battered and 30 nonbattered women who responded to several questionnaires and vignettes about violent relationships. Overall, both groups of women reported they would be unlikely to stay in the described relationships. Further, the cue of violence intensity was overwhelmingly the most heavily weighted variable for women in both samples, and a comparison of subjective reports and objective policies found that both groups lacked insight into which variables they were weighing when deciding to stay. Results suggest that when making the intellectual decision to stay in an abusive relationship, battered and nonbattered women respond similarly.