The Influence of Female University Students’ Perception of Dating Violence on Dating Violence Victim Behavior : Mediating effect of Violence Tolerance

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the mediating effect of female university students' perception of dating violence on the dating violence victims behavior. A questionnaire was distributed and collected to a total of 161 female students enrolled in four departments of U University. Frequency and percentage, correlation analysis, simple regression analysis, and hierarchical multiple regression analysis were performed, and the Sobel test was performed to verify the significance of the indirect effects. Findings First, it was found that female university students' perception of dating violence had a negative effect on the behavior of victims of dating violence, and the explanation power was 5%. Second, violence tolerance was found to have a positive effect on the behavior of all dating violence victims, and the explanatory power was 12%. Third, in the first stage, female university students' perception of dating violence significantly explained the tolerance of violence. In step 2, perception of dating violence significantly explained the behavior of dating violence victims, and in step 3, the tolerance of violence explained the behavior of victims of dating violence. When violence tolerance was introduced in step 4, the influence of dating violence perception on the victimization behavior of dating violence decreased, but it was not significant. That is, violence tolerance showed a partial mediating effect in the effect of dating violence perception on dating violence victim behavior. It is necessary to develop and implement practical programs that can raise perception of violence and lower the tolerance for violence to prevent victims of dating violence.