Gender Differences between Violence and Intimacy Patterns in Married Iranian College Students

It is an established fact that violence co-occurs with intimate partners in families. The aim of this study was investigation of similarities and differences between intimacy and violence patterns in married college students. Methods: Three questionnaires were used: 1. Marital intimacy questionnaire-Persian form. 2. Aggression questionnaire and 3. General demographic questionnaire. 198 married college students were randomly selected from Tehran Universities. They answered individually to the questionnaires. The data were analyzed by t-test, chi-square and correlation coefficients. Results: There were no significant gender differences in total score of intimacy and other dimensions of intimacy. But there were significant differences between genders according to total the score of violence (p 0.05), physical (p 0.05), sexual (p 0.05) and verbal patterns of violence (P 0.0001). There were also correlations between some dimensions of intimacy and violent patterns. Conclusion: Gender differences revealed important similarities and distinctions in husbands and wives patterns of intimacy and violence. Couples with increasing intimacy dimensions can control the violent patterns of behavior. Satisfaction in close relationships depends on active participation of both partners. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (IJPBS), Volume 3, Number 1, Spring and Sunner 2009: 57-61 .