{{short description|Canadian psychologist}} {{Infobox academic | name = Donald G. Dutton | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|10|9}} | birth_place = Canada | alma_mater = University of Toronto (PhD, 1970) | workplaces = University of British Columbia | discipline = Psychology | sub_discipline = Social psychology, Intimate partner violence }}
'''Donald George Dutton''' (born October 9, 1943)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dutton, Donald G., 1943- |url=https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85092703.html |access-date=2021-12-30 |website=Library of Congress Name Authority File}}</ref> is a Canadian psychologist who is known for his work on traumatic bonding and misattribution of arousal.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Traumatic bonding – Knowledge and References – Taylor & Francis |url=https://taylorandfrancis.com/knowledge/Medicine_and_healthcare/Psychiatry/Traumatic_bonding/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116021532/https://taylorandfrancis.com/knowledge/Medicine_and_healthcare/Psychiatry/Traumatic_bonding/ |archive-date=16 January 2025 |access-date=28 December 2025 |website=Taylor & Francis}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> He is an expert on forensic psychology who has served as an expert witness in legal cases, including in the prosecution of O. J. Simpson.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Todd |first=Douglas |date=15 April 2016 |title=Don Dutton: Controversy ensues when science butts heads with liberal ideology |url=https://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-controversy-ensues-when-science-butts-heads-with-liberal-ideology |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416034921/http://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/douglas-todd-controversy-ensues-when-science-butts-heads-with-liberal-ideology |archive-date=16 April 2016 |access-date=28 December 2025 |website=Vancouver Sun}}</ref><ref name="NPR1995" /><ref name="Province1996">{{cite news | title = Vernon-massacre inquest told of change | work = The Province | date = 27 September 1996 | page = A18 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/503321531/ }}</ref>
He received his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Toronto in 1970, and is currently Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=About - Welcome to Dr. Don Dutton's Personal Website |url=https://drdondutton.com/about/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251229022401/https://drdondutton.com/about/ |archive-date=29 December 2025 |access-date=28 December 2025 |website=drdondutton.com}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Don Dutton - UBC Department of Psychology |url=https://psych.ubc.ca/profile/don-dutton/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20251229020756/https://psych.ubc.ca/profile/don-dutton/ |archive-date=29 December 2025 |access-date=28 December 2025 |website=University of British Columbia}}</ref>
== Career == Dutton's research interests include the psychology of violence, social science epistemology, criminal justice, social psychological explanations for clinical syndromes, and personality disorders.<ref name=":0" />
In a famous experiment on misattribution of arousal, Dutton and Arthur Aron found that subjects were more sexually attracted to an experimenter when crossing a rickety bridge.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Chatel |first=Amanda |date=2015-02-26 |title=When It Comes to Romance, Science Has Good News for Adrenaline Junkies |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/111382/when-it-comes-to-romance-science-has-good-news-for-adrenaline-junkies |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250914021835/https://www.mic.com/articles/111382/when-it-comes-to-romance-science-has-good-news-for-adrenaline-junkies |archive-date=14 September 2025 |access-date=2025-12-29 |website=Mic |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Stampler |first=Laura |date=3 June 2014 |title=This Is The Bachelorette’s Scientific Formula to Make Couples Fall in Love |url=https://time.com/2815148/bachelorette-andi-dorfman-science-date-fall-in-love/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250320160510/https://time.com/2815148/bachelorette-andi-dorfman-science-date-fall-in-love/ |archive-date=20 March 2025 |access-date=28 December 2025 |website=Time Magazine}}</ref>
Along with his co-author Susan Painter, Dutton coined the term "traumatic bonding",<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dutton |first=Donald G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6M5CWnHjLDsC |title=The Domestic Assault of Women: Psychological and Criminal Justice Perspectives |date=1995 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=978-0-7748-0462-2 |pages=189–190 |language=en}}</ref> referring to emotional attachments which "develop from two specific features of abusive relationships: power imbalances and intermittent good-bad treatment".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Young |first=Yvette |title=Civic Nation BrandVoice: The Bond That Harms: The Impact Of Trauma Bonding On Human Trafficking Victims |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/civicnation/2019/11/06/the-bond-that-harms-the-impact-of-trauma-bonding-on-human-trafficking-victims/ |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20240207153728/https://www.forbes.com/sites/civicnation/2019/11/06/the-bond-that-harms-the-impact-of-trauma-bonding-on-human-trafficking-victims/ |archive-date=2024-02-07 |access-date=2025-12-29 |work=Forbes |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dutton |first=Donald G. |last2=Painter |first2=Susan |date=1993 |title=Emotional Attachments in Abusive Relationships: A Test of Traumatic Bonding Theory |url=http://connect.springerpub.com/lookup/doi/10.1891/0886-6708.8.2.105 |journal=Violence and Victims |language=en |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=105–120 |doi=10.1891/0886-6708.8.2.105 |issn=0886-6708|url-access=subscription }}</ref>
Dutton is known for his research on intimate partner violence and the psychology of abusive behavior.<ref name="NPR1995" /> In 1979, he co-founded the Assaultive Husbands Project, a court-mandated treatment program for men convicted of spousal assault in Vancouver.<ref name="NPR1995">{{cite news | title = Psychologist Donald Dutton is a pioneer in the study and treatment of abusive men | url = https://www.npr.org/1995/10/25/1108616/psychologist-donald-dutton-is-a-pioneer-in-the-study-and-treatment-of-abusive-me | work = Fresh Air | publisher = National Public Radio | date = 25 October 1995 | access-date = 17 February 2026 }}</ref> Dutton has been outspoken about the reality of domestic violence, that despite stereotypes it is actually perpetrated by both men and women.<ref name=":3" />
==Books==
Dutton has authored or co-authored several books on domestic violence, including ''The Batterer: A Psychological Profile'' (1995, with Susan Golant), ''The Abusive Personality: Violence and Control in Intimate Relationships'' (1998), and ''Rethinking Domestic Violence'' (2006).<ref name="NPR1995" /><ref name="JFT2008">{{cite journal | last = Yorke | first = Clifton | title = The Abusive Personality: Violence and Control in Intimate Relationships (2nd edn) by Donald Dutton | journal = Journal of Family Therapy | volume = 30 | issue = 3 | pages = 315–316 | date = July 2008 | doi = 10.1111/j.1467-6427.2008.00433_5.x }}</ref> ''The Batterer'' has been translated into French, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, and Polish.<ref name="Irwin">{{cite web | title = Donald Dutton | url = https://irwinlaw.com/contributor/donald-dutton/ | publisher = Irwin Law | access-date = 17 February 2026 }}</ref>
The second edition of ''The Abusive Personality'' (2007) received positive reviews in academic journals. A review in the ''Journal of Family Therapy'' described it as providing "a clear, concise, authoritative and inspiring account of the empirical, theoretical and treatment literatures on relationship abusiveness."<ref name="JFT2008" /> The ''Canadian Journal of Psychiatry'' reviewed the work,<ref>{{cite journal | last = Lantos | first = V. | title = The Abusive Personality: Violence and Control in Intimate Relationships. 2nd ed | journal = Canadian Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 53 | issue = 3 | pages = 207 | year = 2008 }}</ref> as did the academic journal ''Choice''.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Mathews | first = D. A. | title = Book Review: Dutton, Donald G. Rethinking domestic violence | journal = Choice: Reviews Online | volume = 44 | issue = 4 | year = 2006 | doi = 10.5860/CHOICE.44-2396 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://psych.ubc.ca/profile/don-dutton/ Faculty profile] at the University of British Columbia * {{Google Scholar id|tSqgaS8AAAAJ}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutton, Donald}} Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian psychologists Category:Social psychologists Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Category:Domestic violence