Study questions: Although most women who are subjected to intimate partner violence attempt to leave their abusive partners, many return, and resultantly are at risk for even greater violence. Research to date has documented relations between several factors (income and economic dependence, frequency of intimate partner violence (IPV), fear of violence escalations, history of childhood abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms) and women’s returning to their abusive partners. Nevertheless, the contribution of women’s emotional bonds with their violent partners, known as identification with the aggressor (IWA), in explaining their perceived likelihood of going back to the relationship, has remained unclear. Subjects: The current study, conducted among 258 Israeli women who had left their violent partners, aimed to fill this void. Methods: An online survey was conducted. Demographic variables, history of childhood abuse, frequency of IPV, economic dependence on former partner, fear of future violence escalation, post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, IWA, and perceived likelihood of returning to the relationship, were assessed via self-report questionnaire. Findings: Results indicated that two aspects of IWA—becoming hyper-sensitive to the perpetrator and adopting the perpetrator’s experience—were related to women’s perceived likelihood of returning to the relationship. Furthermore, a logistic regression analysis indicated that only two factors—income and becoming hyper-sensitive to the perpetrator—uniquely contributed to explaining the likelihood of returning to abusive partners. Major implications: The current findings suggest that women’s tendency to be highly attuned to their partners’ feelings and needs, as a part of IWA, may impede their ability to permanently leave abusive relationships.

中文翻译：

---

对施暴者的高度敏感和恢复虐待关系的可能性

研究问题：尽管大多数遭受亲密伴侣暴力的女性试图离开施虐的伴侣，但许多女性会返回，因此面临更大暴力的风险。迄今为止的研究已经记录了几个因素（收入和经济依赖、亲密伴侣暴力（IPV）的频率、对暴力升级的恐惧、儿童虐待史和创伤后应激障碍症状）与女性重返施虐伴侣之间的关系。然而，女性与暴力伴侣的情感纽带，即对攻击者的认同（IWA），在解释她们认为有可能回到这段关系中的作用仍不清楚。对象：目前的研究是在 258 名离开暴力伴侣的以色列妇女中进行的，旨在填补这一空白。方法：进行了在线调查。通过自我报告问卷评估人口统计变量、童年虐待史、IPV 频率、对前伴侣的经济依赖、对未来暴力升级的恐惧、创伤后应激障碍症状、IWA 和感知恢复关系的可能性。结果：结果表明，IWA 的两个方面——对施暴者过度敏感和采纳施暴者的经历——与女性回归关系的感知可能性有关。此外，逻辑回归分析表明，只有两个因素——收入和对施暴者过度敏感——唯一有助于解释回到施虐伴侣的可能性。主要影响：