Perception of Psychological Abuse in Spain
Perception of Psychological Abuse in Spain The Role of Sexism and Myths of Romantic Love
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Objective: This study aimed to explore how individuals perceive psychological abuse in romantic relationships, specifically examining the influence of romantic love myths and ambivalent sexism on these perceptions. Method: A 2×2×2 experimental design was employed, manipulating three variables: the type of psychological abuse (control versus emotional abuse), the myth of marriage (dating versus marriage), and the myth of romanticism (with versus without romance). Participants were recruited using a snowball sampling method, resulting in a final sample of 211 individuals from the general population in Spain. The sample consisted predominantly of women (62.1%), with an average age of 33.82 years (SD = 17.18). Data analysis was conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics version 23, employing various statistical techniques including Pearson correlation (r), one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and effect size calculations. Results: The findings confirmed three out of the five tested hypotheses and partially supported a fourth. The study revealed that romantic love myths are inversely related to the perception of psychological abuse, meaning that those who strongly endorse these myths are less likely to recognize psychological abuse. Additionally, ambivalent sexism was found to diminish the perception of psychological abuse. Conclusion: The results indicate that while romantic love myths alone do not significantly reduce the perception of psychological abuse, ambivalent sexism significantly influences this relationship. This underscores the critical need to challenge and dismantle sexist beliefs that contribute to the normalization of psychological violence in intimate relationships.
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