Low Self-Control, Expected Utility, and Intimate Partner Violence

This study examines the extent if any by which the effect of low selfcontrol on crime is mediated by assessments of the costs and benefits of crime. It examines this idea with self-report survey data on intimate partner violence. The findings reveal that the effect of low self-control is partially mediated by the respondents’ cost considerations but not by their assessments of the anticipated benefits of intimate partner violence. While expected utility also partially mediated the effect of low self-control, we conclude that this is due primarily through the element of cost considerations.