The Lumen scholar and her mentor presented their research on perceptions of intimate partner violence perpetrators at the criminology conference
Lumen scholar and public health major Mallory Otten ’26 and her faculty mentor, Associate Professor of Sociology Rena Zito, presented their research, “Beauty and Blame: How Gender and Attractiveness Shape Perceptions of Intimate Partner Violence Perpetrators,” at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology on Nov. 12 in Washington, DC. Their talk was included in the session “New Research: Understanding the Role of Gender and Victimization.”
Otten and Zito’s project uses a survey-based experiment to explore how a perpetrator’s gender and physical appearance shape the way people interpret heterosexual intimate partner violence (IPV). Using original data from a nationally representative sample of 935 U.S. adults, they examined how respondents assessed culpability, the harm experienced by victims, deserved punishment, offense severity and the extent to which violent behavior was viewed as “normal” within relationships.
Their findings show that perpetrator gender influenced judgments across all of these areas. They also found evidence of an “attractiveness premium,” in which physically attractive perpetrators were viewed as more justified in their actions or as engaging in behavior that was less troubling, but only when female. Drawing on a feminist criminological perspective, Otten and Zito suggest that cultural norms surrounding gender and violence can lead observers to minimize violence committed by women who fit conventional standards of femininity.
These patterns help explain why some male victims of female-perpetrated IPV struggle to identify their experiences as abuse and often hesitate to seek support. This research is part of Otten’s larger, ongoing research program on perceptions of IPV, supported by the Lumen Prize.