Confusing Stalking for Romance: Examining the Labeling and Acceptability of Men’s (Cyber)Stalking of Women

Bridging the Gap: The Predictive Roles of Emotion Dysregulation and Stalking-related Attitudes on Offline and Online Stalking and Intrusive Harassment

Stalking and intrusive harassment (SIH) are prevalent and serious public health issues associated with significant psychological, social, and economic consequences. Further exacerbating this problem is the growing use of technology and the internet, which has facilitated the perpetration of SIH behaviors via electronic means. Given its prevalence and negative impact, it is imperative to identify precursors of cyber and offline SIH to better predict and mitigate its detrimental effects. Thus, the current study examined whether overall emotion dysregulation and stalking-related attitudes are predictive factors of SIH perpetration. In addition, it was determined whether specific difficulties with emotion regulation and stalking supportive attitudes were differentially associated with online and offline SIH perpetration. Participants consisted of 874 university students who completed an online survey comprised of a battery of self-report measures, including the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale, Stalking-related Attitudes Questionnaire, Obsessive-Relational Intrusion Pursuit Short Form, and the Cyber-Obsessional Pursuit scale. Logistic regression analyses revealed that overall emotion dysregulation and greater endorsement of stalking supportive attitudes predicted SIH perpetration. Moreover, emotion regulation difficulties distinguished the domain(s) in which an individual was more likely to perpetrate SIH behaviors. Specifically, those who reported more problems with emotion regulation, particularly a lack of emotional awareness, were more likely to engage in both offline and online SIH behaviors concurrently than to perpetrate purely offline or purely online. These findings have significant implications for stalking risk assessment and prevention efforts. In particular, understanding the predictive roles of emotion dysregulation and stalking-related attitudes on online and offline SIH perpetration can inform the development and improvement of evidence-based prevention and intervention programs, as well as stalking risk assessment instruments.

I've been thinkin' bout you: socially distant relationship pursuit during COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically altered everyday interactions, potentially disrupting the process of romantic relationship formation. Prior research suggests that threats to the basic psychological need for relatedness, along with negative mental imagery, can lead to an obsessive preoccupation with a romantic interest. The present research examines how the relatedness-threatening nature of the pandemic may similarly facilitate problematic relationship behaviors. Two studies-a small-scale natural experiment with measurements before and during the pandemic (Study 1) and a daily diary study (Study 2)-investigated how relatedness frustration and negative fantasies predict presumptuous romantic intentions. In Study 1 these threats unexpectedly corresponded to reduced presumptuous romantic intentions, though no such main effect was present in Study 2. Replicating prior experimental work, in both studies, more negative fantasies about a romantic target predicted greater presumptuous romantic intentions. Study 2 also revealed that at the between-person level the combinatory effect of relatedness frustration and negative fantasies led to greater intentions. At the within-person level, this combinatory effect led unexpectedly to reduced intentions. Finally, there was substantial heterogeneity in the within-person effect of COVID-induced relatedness frustration: although frustration stoked intentions for some individuals, for others it reduced intentions. This work suggests that for many, the early social ramifications of COVID-19 reduced motivation to presumptuously pursue romantic relationships. Yet, certain individuals, particularly those with more negative fantasies, are more prone to pursue presumptuously amidst the pandemic.

Ambivalent Sexism and Women’s Reactions to Stranger Harassment: The Case of

Piropos, a form of stranger harassment typical in Spain, consist of appearance-related comments that unknown men direct at women in public spaces, such as on the street. There is some controversy within Spanish society as to whether piropos should be rejected or accepted––at least a certain type of them. In this research, we analyzed how young Spanish women perceive piropos and tested whether women’s evaluation and emotional reactions to them depend on the type of piropo (“mild” or “lewd”) and participants’ ambivalent sexism. Women participants ( N = 288) indicated their evaluation and emotional reactions to a mild or lewd piropo (having also a control condition where no piropo was presented) in a between-participants design. Results showed that the lewd piropo elicited lower happiness and feelings of power and greater anger-hostility than the mild piropo and the control condition. Similarly, the mild piropo also generated lower happiness and feelings of power and greater anger-hostility and anxiety than the control condition. We also conducted eight moderated mediation analyses, four each with participants’ hostile sexism scores and participants benevolent sexism scores as the predictor variable, using participants’ evaluation of the piropo as the mediator and the type of piropo (i.e., lewd or mild) as the moderator. The dependent variable on each analysis constituted the reactions of happiness, feelings of power, anger-hostility, and anxiety. Results revealed that relation between endorsing hostile sexism beliefs, while controlling for benevolent sexism beliefs, and emotional reactions to both types of piropos can be explained through participants’ evaluations of the piropos. In contrast, no indirect effect was found between benevolent sexism beliefs, when controlling for hostile sexism beliefs, and emotional reactions. Our results suggest that educating the public about the negative consequences of both types of piropos on women and reducing hostile sexism beliefs may help to eradicate street piropos. Additional online materials for this article are available on PWQ’s website at http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/suppl/10.1177/03616843221115339 .