Psychology

Using the Voodoo Doll Task to Explore Predictors of Female-Perpetrated Intimate Partner Violence: An Experimental Design

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Background: Intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration by women is a largely understudied and complex phenomenon. Aims/Purpose: Informed by the I3 Theory of Violence (Finkel, 2008), the current experimental study explored how an impelling force (emotion dysregulation), instigating factor (provocation from partner), and disinhibiting factor (cognitive depletion that mimics effect of alcohol) may interact to increase risk for aggressive behavior in women. Methods: Study participants were recruited and screened online via Prolific. Eligible participants were invited to complete the online experimental study, which included completion of self-report measures, a cognitive depletion manipulation, a vignette manipulation, and the Voodoo Doll Task (DeWall et al., 2013), which is a behavioral measure of aggression. The current analysis included 221 participants. Results: Zero-inflated Poisson regression results revealed that a significant two-way interaction between cognitive depletion and emotion dysregulation predicted the probability of inserting at least one pin in the voodoo doll; a significant three-way interaction between all three factors predicted the number of pins inserted, such that co-occurring emotion dysregulation, provocation, and cognitive depletion was related to the greatest number of inserted pins. Conclusions: Our findings provide partial support for the I3 theory of violence in the current sample of women with a history of IPV perpetration and alcohol use. Findings indicate that when women with emotion dysregulation difficulties experience both instigation and cognitive depletion they are at greater risk of severe violence perpetration. Further exploration of the nuanced interaction effects will be discussed alongside implications. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2025.

Publication Title

Journal of Family Violence

Publication Date

2025

ISSN

0885-7482

DOI

10.1007/s10896-025-00878-1

Keywords

emotion dysregulation, female-perpetrated, I3 theory, intimate partner violence

Cross Post Location

Student Publications

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