Abstract
This research aimed to explore the interplay of sexism and moral disengagement (MD) in the explanation of psychological and physical dating aggression. The sample comprised 1113 Spanish adolescents (49.2% girls, n = 552) between the ages of 12 to 17 (M = 14.44). A latent profile analysis conducted with sub-sample of 432 adolescents with sentimental experience identified four configurations: (1) benevolent; (2) less disengaged and sexist; (3) highly disengaged and sexist; and (4) moderately disengaged and sexist. Regarding gender and age, boys were more present than girls in the moderately disengaged and sexist group, as well as in the highly disengaged and sexist profile. The highly disengaged and sexist and benevolent groups were the youngest. Regarding dating aggression, the highly disengaged and sexist group had the highest engagement in physical and psychological aggression. However, the others three profiles showed a similar engagement in aggression. These findings confirmed the moderating role of MD on the relationship between sexism and dating aggression and suggested that the association between MD, sexism, and dating aggression was exponential; that is, the risk appeared when adolescents were extremely hostile and disengaged. The results have implications for the design of tailored dating aggression prevention programmes.
Highlights
Isabel Cuadrado-Gordillo, Dating aggression in adolescent couples is defined as all the aggressive behaviours that occur among members of a romantic relationship or between persons that meet up to go out together
National studies show that Spanish adolescents presented similar rates of psychological dating aggression in comparison to international studies [11], revealing that these psychological tactics are widespread in different societies
As our results showed, dating aggression was not present in the romantic relationships of those adolescents who displayed moderate levels of benevolent sexism and low moral disengagement (MD), and neither was it evident for those adolescents belonging to the moderately disengaged and sexist group
Summary
Isabel Cuadrado-Gordillo, Dating aggression in adolescent couples is defined as all the aggressive behaviours that occur among members of a romantic relationship or between persons that meet up to go out together. Dating aggression is considered a specific type of intimate partner violence that occurs in first adolescent romantic relationships [1] and is manifested in the form of psychological, physical, sexual, or cyber aggression [2,3]. The most common type of violence is that of a psychological nature [7], followed by moderate or mild forms of physical aggression [4], with severe physical and sexual aggression being the least frequent [8,9]. National studies show that Spanish adolescents presented similar rates of psychological dating aggression in comparison to international studies [11], revealing that these psychological tactics are widespread in different societies. Different authors have pointed out that these higher levels of physical aggression would be an expression of a higher acceptance and normalisation of violence in Spanish adolescents than in other countries
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