Intimate partner violence as a social problem was recognized in the 1970s and represents a complex phenomenon on an individual, partnership, social and global scale. Psychological violence, as the most common form of partner violence, is still under-explored due to the large number of categories, situations and combinations in which it occurs, which consequently results in a large ominous number. There's no universal answer for the occurencce of (psychological) violence in intimate partnerships. Many authors have sought the answer to this question by studying causes in biological traits, then in individual characteristics and in the behavior of the individual, all the way to the study of culture and the general social system. Most existing theories focus on only one cause or explanation of violence. As research has shown, multiple factors influence on the occurrence of violence, and more and more theories are emerging today. They seek to link the identified causes and risk factors for violent behavior into a single, integrative theory. The aim of this paper is to review and describe the most significant theories of intimate partner violence and to identify risk factors for the occurrence of violence in heterosexual partnerships. For a better understanding of the topic, the beginning of the paper describes partner-based violence with an emphasis on psychological violence, followed by an overview of the most significant and “well-known” theories divided into four categories: biological, psychological (psychopathological, social learning theory), sociological (feminist theory) and integrative (socio-ecological theory). At the end of the paper there is a discussion with marked out risk factors for the occurrence of violence and psychological violence in intimate relationships.