Self-esteem and couple relationships in young women from the state of Hidalgo, Mexico

Abstract

Self-esteem is related to the individual's attitudes towards himself. These are made up of cognitive, affective, emotional and behavioral factors. The World Health Organization mentions that one of three women in the world suffers or has suffered abuse by their partner or ex-partner, it is 35% of all women in the world. Nowadays violence against women is a public health problem with serious consequences for mental health, it affects women of all cultures, socioeconomic and educational levels; a violent woman who has low self-esteem is considered vulnerable, and it affects her development. The main objective, identifies and understands the relationship between self-esteem and possible existence of violence in couple relationships, in young women between 18 and 24 years of age in the state of Hidalgo. A mixed approach was used, with a sequential transformative design. In the quantitative results, a considerable percentage of young women with low self-esteem (58%) was found. In the qualitative results, it was found that self-esteem is related to life experiences in the family and couple, stereotyped gender roles were identified that denigrate women, allowing vulnerability in their relationships. It is concluded that low self-esteem is a factor that is built at an early age and it derives significant experiences, which may be involved in the development of intra-family and couple relationships with violent dynamics.