Abstract
Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health issue worldwide and a serious violation of human rights. Recognizing IPV as a form of violence is essential for both victims who need help and offenders who can join treatment programs. Furthermore, only a society able to identify violence can effectively deal with IPV. The present study is aimed at investigating the role of sociocultural dimensions (i.e., ambivalent sexism toward women, ambivalence toward men, and lay theories about gender differences) in sustaining myths about IPV and moral disengagement. The participants were 359 university students (76.5% female). The results show that hostile sexism toward women plays a key role in sustaining both myths and moral disengagement. Moreover, benevolence toward men and biological lay gender theories (i.e., “naïve” theories assuming that sex differences are a product of biology and genetics) significantly affected the endorsement of IPV myths. The implications are discussed.
Highlights
Intimate partner violence (IPV) represents a public health issue worldwide, as well as a gross violation of human rights
The results show that hostile sexism toward women plays a key role in sustaining both myths and moral disengagement
The present study aims at investigating the role of sociocultural dimensions in sustaining myths about IPV and moral disengagement in sexual harassment
Summary
Intimate partner violence (IPV) represents a public health issue worldwide, as well as a gross violation of human rights. It takes several forms, such as physical and sexual violence, emotional and social abuse, threats and intimidation, and economic deprivation [1]. Two main theoretical perspectives have analyzed violence myth acceptance: the feminist approach and the defensive attribution theory. According to the feminist approach [8,9], IPV is rooted in the patriarchy, as social relationships between men and women are organized hierarchically According to this perspective, IPV is a consequence of gender inequality and the myths legitimizing violence sustain patriarchal abuse against women [5,10]. IPV, as individual cognitive processes may be reinforced within the social and cultural environment, which in turn is influenced by individuals’ attitudes and perceptions
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