Many questions about how couples construe violence between intimate partners remain unanswered. In order to examine the "labeling" of violence, attitudes about intimate violence, and victims' reactions to assault, 125 undergraduate students completed a three-part questionnaire, including a Battering Empathy Scale (BES), a section assessing the respondent's personal history as victim or abuser, and evaluation, perception, and attribution questions concerning a hypothetical scenario involving intimate partner violence. Analysis of respondents' labeling of intimate violence showed that most respondents (victims, abusers, or both) were unwilling to apply the label to themselves; those who have suffered more serious physical injury were more willing to use the label battering; and the use of force (and its consequences) affected respondents' labeling in the scenario. BES responses showed that those who were both victims and abusers had lower victim empathy than others (victims, abusers, neither). The degree of resistance offered by the victim in the violence scenario affected respondents' identification with the victim, assignments of responsibility to the victim, perceptions of the victim's control, and attributions about the abuser's intelligence and motivation. (The Battering Empathy Scale and numerous data tables are included). (BH)