Abstract
Background: For school medical services and the staff responsible for sex education for adolescents, it is important to understand the factors that may influence gender violence. The aim of this study is to determine whether the presence of sexist attitudes, double standards and/or romantic myths contributes to the risk of gender violence. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out at five secondary schools in the province of Malaga (Spain). In total, 879 adolescents aged 12–18 years were included, studying years 1–4 of compulsory secondary education. Their attitudes were measured on the following scales: Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI), Double Standard Scale (DSS) and Romantic Love Myths Scale (EMA). Results: Significant differences were observed among the age/year groups for the mean scores obtained on each of the above scales (DSS, p < 0.01; EMA, p < 0.01; ASI, p < 0.01). By gender, the boys recorded higher scores for ASI and lower ones for DSS (p < 0.01). The Spearman’s rho value revealed significant relationships between the presence of sexual double standards and that of romantic myths and ambivalent attitudes (p < 0.01). Conclusions: Adolescents commonly express romantic love myths, sexist attitudes and sexual double standards. These three factors, which are significantly correlated, influence the presence of violence in dating relationships.
Highlights
The purpose of this study was to describe the presence of romantic love myths among adolescents, their expressions of sexist attitudes, and sexual double standards towards women
In line with studies on gender-based violence and cyber violence in the general population, we found that in relationships, the presence of factors such as romantic love myths, sexist attitudes and sexual double standards facilitates gender-based violence, especially against women [31,36,39,40]
The adolescents in our study population presented romantic love myths, sexist attitudes and sexual double standards, a pattern that was especially evident among the male population
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. For health educators and school medical services, it is important to understand the factors that may influence sexual health and gender violence in adolescence. Intimate partner conflicts can become violent, and relationships between adolescents may present this behavior [1]. Many national and international organizations have published data showing that violence against women is a major social, health, and political issue, affecting all areas of society. The World Health Organization (WHO) has defined it as a global public health problem and the 1979 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women describes this violence as an attack on human rights [2]
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