Violence in Interpersonal Relationships: A Field Study in a Population of Psychologists in Panama

Abstract

A field study was carried out to measure interpersonal violence (violence scale) in a group of fifty Panamanian psychologists. The instrument was made of 35 items on a Likert Scales of 5 options. The reliability was calculated to be 0.89 (Cronbach’s Alpha), and via a factorial analysis, the validity of the construct had a total calculated percentage of the explained variance of 51.57%. The instrument has four factors: control, threat, battery, and death threats. Each factor obtained values greater than 0.7, which is reliable for each factor. The sample is a non-probabilistic for convenience, with the experimental death of two participants. It is a cross-sectional, correlational study with a non-experimental design. It was found gender violence is increasing, partly because of the complacency showed to international organisms by implementing measures that do not consider the trait of the cultures. The authors conclude that being a victim is currently associated with weakness, failure, defeat, and cowardice; therefore, social psychology through active minorities, attitudes, and social representations of the victimizer and masculinity must approach interpersonal violence.