A few said they participated because they wanted to know what caused their behavior. Ou recruited a comparison group of nonabusers with a newspaper ad. Her research adviser was assistant professor of psychology Jordan Peterson. The cavalier attitude of some abusers distressed Ou. Others completely denied battering anyone, even though they had been arrested for it.
Denial is a big problem.
To help ease the tension, Ou shared the interviewing with a male friend, Sebastian Conley '96. Some of the results of the study were what you might expect. They tend to be more neurotic, less agreeable, less extroverted, open, and conscientious than the average American man. They are more authoritarian. In fact, Ou found that unquestioned obedience to authority defined abusers more than their attitudes toward women or wife beating.