A total of 115 male and 181 female undergraduate students from the University of Georgia participated in the study. Subjects first supplied information on their demography, violent behavior, and alcohol consumption. The subjects were then randomly assigned to one of four groups and asked to read a scenario of marital violence. The scenarios among the groups varied by the gender of the aggressor and the role of the alcohol consumer. Subjects were then asked to distribute percentages of responsibility for the incident among the husband, the wife, the situation, and chance. Subjects rated both husband and wife more negatively when they were depicted as the perpetrators. Alcohol consumption did not affect evaluations of the spouses as perpetrators; however, drinking by the victim, whether husband or wife, was associated with more negative evaluations of the victim than when the victim had not been drinking. The study concludes that alcohol consumption by the victim rather than the perpetrator may play a more significant legitimizing role in spousal violence. 1 figure, 2 tables, and 12 references